split_pdf

small ruby script to split large pdf scan result into single documents

Background

I wrote this script to add this functionality to the MacOS Service menu by creating an Automator workflow.

To add a new menu item so the service menu follow these steps:

add the combine_pdf gem to your ruby by calling gem install combine_pdf from Terminal
open Automator on MacOS
click on File/New (Cmd + N)
select "Quick Action" as your document type
at the top of the document set the options for "Workflows receives current" to "PDF files" in "Finder"
add the "Run Shell Script" action from the utilities category
set the "Shell" option to "/usr/bin/ruby"
paste the content from automator/split_pdf_service.rb into the action
save the workflow as "split pdf"

If you right click on a pdf file you should see now a new service "split pdf".

Note: Automator uses the built-in ruby of MacOS. If you use a different version, be sure to add the gem combine_pdf to the built-in ruby!