When one page per file is what you need
Sometimes a PDF is a stack of separate things that were scanned or exported together: invoices, receipts, signed pages, certificates or one slide per page. Splitting it into single pages lets each page travel on its own. A contract can be sent to each signer as just their signature page, a batch scan of invoices can be filed one invoice per file, and an upload form that takes one page at a time can be fed from the list.
If you only want a few pages, or several pages together in one file, the tool for extracting PDF pages is quicker. For cutting a document into larger parts, use the full PDF splitter with ranges, cut points or bookmarks.
Scanned documents
A scanner or a phone app saves each page as a picture inside the PDF. Copying a page out of such a file copies the picture as it is, with no new compression, so a single page file is roughly the size of the original divided by the number of pages. A scan of 8 pages and 6.3 MB gives eight files of about 800 KB each.
Each page keeps its own size and rotation. A page that was scanned sideways stays sideways, and pages of different sizes stay different. A scan has no text layer, and ClipLime does not recognise text in pictures, so the files will not be searchable and cannot be named after their content. They are named after their page numbers.
Names, order and the ZIP
Each file is called after your original file and its page: report-page-7.pdf. Page numbers are written as they are, without leading zeros. A program that sorts names as plain text will put page-10 before page-2, while most file managers sort numbers in order. Characters that file systems do not allow are replaced with a space, the name is shortened if it would pass 120 characters, and two files never share a name.
The ZIP is called report-split.zip and holds the pages in page order. It stores the files as they are, without squeezing them further, so it is built in moments even for hundreds of pages. Downloading 200 files one click at a time is slow, which is why the ZIP is the main button.
What a single page file contains
A page is copied together with everything it draws: its text, fonts, images and vector graphics, and the links to websites, highlights and comments on it. Bookmarks, links that jump to another page of the original, the form in a fillable PDF and the title and author are not copied. A filled-in form page keeps its look and its typed values, but is no longer a form you can fill in. Layers keep the setting they had, so a layer that was hidden stays hidden.
Every one-page file has to open on its own, so a font or logo that the whole document shares is copied into each file. That can add up. In a test file of 12 pages that all show the same 1.2 MB picture, every one of the twelve files carried the picture, 14.4 MB in all for a 1.2 MB original. The result card shows the size of all the files next to the size of the original, so you know what you are about to send.