split a multi-page pdf file into multiple pdf files with python?

from PyPDF2 import PdfWriter, PdfReader

inputpdf = PdfReader(open("document.pdf", "rb"))

for i in range(len(inputpdf.pages)):
    output = PdfWriter()
    output.add_page(inputpdf.pages[i])
    with open("document-page%s.pdf" % i, "wb") as outputStream:
        output.write(outputStream)

etc.

I missed here a solution where you split the PDF to two parts consisting of all pages so I append my solution if somebody was looking for the same:

from PyPDF2 import PdfFileWriter, PdfFileReader

def split_pdf_to_two(filename,page_number):
    pdf_reader = PdfFileReader(open(filename, "rb"))
    try:
        assert page_number < pdf_reader.numPages
        pdf_writer1 = PdfFileWriter()
        pdf_writer2 = PdfFileWriter()

        for page in range(page_number):
            pdf_writer1.addPage(pdf_reader.getPage(page))

        for page in range(page_number,pdf_reader.getNumPages()):
            pdf_writer2.addPage(pdf_reader.getPage(page))

        with open("part1.pdf", 'wb') as file1:
            pdf_writer1.write(file1)

        with open("part2.pdf", 'wb') as file2:
            pdf_writer2.write(file2)

    except AssertionError as e:
        print("Error: The PDF you are cutting has less pages than you want to cut!")

The PyPDF2 package gives you the ability to split up a single PDF into multiple ones.

import os
from PyPDF2 import PdfFileReader, PdfFileWriter

pdf = PdfFileReader(path)
for page in range(pdf.getNumPages()):
    pdf_writer = PdfFileWriter()
    pdf_writer.addPage(pdf.getPage(page))

    output_filename = '{}_page_{}.pdf'.format(fname, page+1)

    with open(output_filename, 'wb') as out:
        pdf_writer.write(out)

    print('Created: {}'.format(output_filename))

Changes for PyPDF2 3.0.0

import os
from PyPDF2 import PdfReader, PdfWriter
path = 'pdf_forms/myform.pdf'
fname = 'fname'

pdf = PdfReader(path)
for page in range(len(pdf.pages)):
    pdf_writer = PdfWriter()
    pdf_writer.add_page(pdf.pages[page])

    output_filename =         
     'pdf_forms/splitted/{}_page_{}.pdf'.format(fname, page+1)

    with open(output_filename, 'wb') as out:
        pdf_writer.write(out)

    print('Created: {}'.format(output_filename))

Source: https://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2018/04/11/splitting-and-merging-pdfs-with-python/

I know that the code is not related to python, however i felt like posting this piece of R code which is simple, flexible and works amazingly. The PDFtools package in R is amazing in splitting merging PDFs at ease.

library(pdftools) #Rpackage
pdf_subset('D:\\file\\20.02.20\\22 GT 2017.pdf',
           pages = 1:51, output = "subset.pdf")

import fitz

src = fitz.open("source.pdf")
for page in src:
    tar = fitz.open()  # output PDF for 1 page
    # copy over current page
    tar.insert_pdf(src, from_page=page.number, to_page=page.number)
    tar.save(f"page-{page.number}.pdf")
    tar.close()

The earlier answers with PyPDF2 for splitting pdfs are not working anymore with the latest version update. The authors recommend using pypdf instead and this version of PyPDF2==3.0.1 will be the last version of PyPDF2. The function needs to be modified as follows:

import os
from PyPDF2 import PdfReader, PdfWriter

def split_pdfs(input_file_path):
    inputpdf = PdfReader(open(input_file_path, "rb"))

    out_paths = []
    if not os.path.exists("outputs"):
        os.makedirs("outputs")

    for i, page in enumerate(inputpdf.pages):
        output = PdfWriter()
        output.add_page(page)

        out_file_path = f"outputs/{input_file_path[:-4]}_{i}.pdf"
        with open(out_file_path, "wb") as output_stream:
            output.write(output_stream)

        out_paths.append(out_file_path)
    return out_paths

Note: The same function will work with pypdf as well. Import PdfReader and PdfWriter from pypdf rather than PyPDF2.

from PyPDF2 import PdfFileReader, PdfFileWriter
import os
import sys
import glob
abspath = os.path.abspath(__file__)
dname = os.path.dirname(abspath)
os.chdir(dname)

if getattr(sys, 'frozen', False):
    _location_ = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(sys.executable))
elif __file__:
    _location_ = os.path.realpath(
    os.path.join(os.getcwd(), os.path.dirname(__file__)))

for file in glob.glob(__location__ + "/*.pdf"):
    if file.endswith('.pdf'):
        pdf_file = open(os.path.join(__location__, file), 'rb')
        pdf_reader = PdfFileReader(pdf_file)
        
pageNumbers = pdf_reader.getNumPages()

for i in range (pageNumbers):
    pdf_writer = PdfFileWriter()
    pdf_writer.addPage(pdf_reader.getPage(i))
    split_motive = open('Page ' + str(i+1) + '.pdf', 'wb')
    pdf_writer.write(split_motive)
    split_motive.close()

pdf_file.close()

Link to article

In Windows it would be very simple to use a single line shortcut or "sendto" command and any one of dozens of PDF app's such as ultra-fast MuPDF or even GhostScript.

However, this is a Python question and thus I will show a one-line method for Python.

In windows to process a folder we use a for loop allowing for multiple inputs for example for %f in (*.pdf) do python .....

Thus, we ensure we have a suitable library we can import to replace mutool with pymupdf, and using the following command, all the files (Just two here as MWE, one with spaces for assurance) are instantly split.

for %f in (*.pdf) do @python -c "import pymupdf; import os; fn=r'%f'; src=pymupdf.open(fn); [ (lambda p: (d:=pymupdf.open(), d.insert_pdf(src, from_page=p.number, to_page=p.number), d.save(f'{os.path.splitext(fn)[0]}_page_{p.number+1}.pdf'), d.close()))(p) for p in src ]"

If you need multiple lines or Python file handling then consider one of the more complex answers, but this is a basic, use a command line task.

To save it as a CMD file, convert the %f to %%f and edit the file mask to allow for an argument.