To rotate a PDF document in a few simple steps with PDF.net, you need to open the rotation tool, upload your file, select all or specific pages, apply the rotation, save, and download your document.
Rotating your PDF aligns the text, making it easier to read without tilting your head. It also aligns the file with the auto-rotation option on mobile devices, making the formatting neat and, therefore, the contents easy to read.
In this article, we show you how to flip a PDF document and save it, as well as how to use our PDF.net tool for this process, along with the benefits and best rotation practices.
How to Rotate a PDF Document Using PDF.net Tool
To rotate a PDF document using the PDF.net tool, you need to upload your file, select the pages you wish to rotate, apply the function, and save the file.
Let’s examine the steps carefully:
#1. Open the Rotation Tool and Upload Your File
To begin, open our website, hover your mouse pointer over the More tools button, and click Rotate pages. Then, drag and drop your document to the box on the right or click Choose file to select the file from your drive and upload it.
#2. Select and Rotate Pages
The next step is to select the pages you want to rotate. You can click the Select all button to mark and rotate all pages at once or select only a few of them manually. You can use your mouse to select single pages and rotate them right after selection or hold the CTRL or SHIFT key to select multiple pages.
Once you choose the pages you want to rotate, you can click the Rotate left or Rotate right button for counterclockwise or clockwise PDF rotation, respectively. You can even duplicate or delete pages, depending on how you want to organize your document.
#3. Download Your Document
After you’ve used our online PDF rotator, you can download your file. To do so, press the Download button in the top right corner. The process will start automatically and be over in a few seconds.
Why Should You Rotate PDF Documents?
There are many reasons to flip pages in a PDF, most of which are intended to facilitate the use of PDF files, make them more accessible, and increase users’ productivity.
Here are the most common reasons to flip PDF files:
- Adapting PDF orientation of the entire document. You may accidentally scan your document sideways and realize this later. Instead of rescanning the file, you can adjust PDF orientation by flipping all pages simultaneously (e.g., fixing upside-down PDFs.)
- Adjusting the orientation of particular pages. It may happen that your entire file is in the portrait orientation and that only some pages are in the landscape mode. You can select those pages and perform the PDF page alignment.
- Merging PDFs. Combining two or more documents may require you to make their page orientation uniform. Rotating all or specific pages to match others before merging PDFs is the key to having a neat final output.
- Adapting the view on different devices. Smartphones or tablets may automatically rotate your document. Your file orientation may not be compatible with this and may cause you difficulties in reading. For this reason, you can flip and save PDF files to make them compatible with your device.
3 Pro Tips for Rotating PDF Files
During the rotation process, you should pay attention to several technical aspects to spare time you would otherwise spend looking sideways, rotating your device, or rescanning your documents to fix their orientation.
That said, let’s check the three pro tips for rotating PDF files:
#1. Preview Pages
We advise you to check the final version before downloading your document. This is especially important for large PDF files, where a wrongly oriented page can easily go unnoticed. A great way to check your pages’ alignment is to use a rotate PDF tool with an in-built preview option. Doing this will help you avoid making additional and unnecessary changes.
#2. Use Rotation Shortcuts
Although most online PDF rotation tools have clickable buttons to rotate pages, you can speed up and facilitate the process using keyboard shortcuts. The shortcuts come in handy for those learning how to rotate a PDF document 180 degrees or how to rotate a PDF document clockwise and counterclockwise.
The general rotation procedure remains the same. The only difference is that you do not need to use your mouse to click the rotation buttons; instead, you can press the SHIFT+R keys to rotate pages after you’ve selected them.
#3. Save a Backup of the Original File
Before making any changes to your document, we recommend creating a backup of the original file and saving it. This allows you to keep the original file intact in case the file you want to edit gets damaged or corrupted. The same goes for any accidental or unwanted edits to your file that you cannot undo.
3 Common Issues of Rotating PDF Documents and How to Fix Them
To make the most out of your PDF rotation process, you should know about the potential setbacks and how you can prevent or fix them.
Here are the three most common issues of rotating PDFs:
#1. Rotation Is Not Saved
Sometimes, you may complete all the rotation steps correctly, but you encounter issues with saving your file. This may be because the saving process gets interrupted or you do not have enough storage space.
To prevent this, you should either compress your document or delete files on your drive to create space. It’s important to note that you should also use a tool with the permanent option to rotate and save PDFs online. Some online software may only allow you to rotate pages temporarily but not save your documents, while other tools, such as PDF.net, offer you both options.
#2. The File Is Too Large
Your file may be too large to save, and your PDFs can also be too large for online tools to process. This is mostly the case for documents with formats other than PDFs.
This is why it is essential to convert your files to PDF format (e.g., Word to PDF) and even edit the PDF page layout before using the rotation tool. Doing so will decrease the size of your file and make it suitable for processing. Also, converting any of your non-PDF files to PDF is a must when using PDF rotation tools.
#3. Pages Are Out of Order
After completing the rotation process, you may notice that your pages have the right orientation but not the right order. This is because you may accidentally misalign pages during the rotation process.
The key to resolving this is to rearrange your pages. For instance, the PDF.net rearranging tool allows you to click on a page and drag it anywhere while holding it. Furthermore, using our software can spare you from making unnecessary reorders in the first place, as it is completely reliable and error-free.
How PDF.net Can Make Your PDF Rotation Hassle-Free
PDF.net can make your PDF rotation hassle-free by offering a simple and high-quality PDF rotator. To streamline this process, you need to enter our website, select the rotation tool, perform page rotation, upload your file, select the pages to rotate, save, and download your document.
You can rearrange your pages to ensure that the ones in your final output are aligned. The same applies to using our PDF editor to highlight, edit, add, or remove text before rotating. Finally, you may want to reorder, edit, and rotate your pages to prepare your documents for merging, which you can also easily do using our PDF combiner tool.
How to Rotate a PDF Document FAQ
#1. Can I rotate all pages in a PDF at once?
Yes, you can rotate all pages in a PDF at once using the PDF.net tool. You should open the website, choose the rotate tool, upload your document, click the Select all button, apply the rotation, save, and download the file.
#2. Will the rotated PDF maintain its quality?
The rotated PDF will maintain its quality, provided you use high-quality software to rotate the pages. We suggest you check out our rotation tool, which is designed to preserve the maximum file quality.
#3. Why can't I rotate a PDF file?
You can’t rotate a PDF file because you may be using a free tool version that requires a premium subscription for this feature. Your PDF file may also be damaged, corrupted, or too large for the rotation software to process.