Output only a subset of pages with pgfpages options in LaTeX

Question

I am trying to make a handout using a subset from a bigger set of pages. So far I succeeded in putting four pages on one page using

\usepackage{pgfpages}
\pgfpagesuselayout{4 on 1}[a4paper,border shrink=2.5mm,landscape]

However, the problem is that I want only a part of the total pages on the handout, say pages 6 to 13. Unfortunately, for example, page 6 is now sharing one page with four other pages including page 5 which I do not want on my handout. So I cannot manually cut out the pages I need on my handouts.

Is it somehow possible to tell LaTeX to output only pages 6 to 13, using my pgfpages options, but keeping all other things equal?

Answer 1

You can use the components from Compiling only a page range or page selection:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfpages}% http://ctan.org/pkg/pgf
\pgfpagesuselayout{4 on 1}[a4paper,border shrink=2.5mm,landscape]

% Taken from https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/96256/5764
\usepackage{multido,atbegshi,etoolbox}% http://ctan.org/pkg/{lipsum,atbegshi,etoolbox}
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\discardpages}[1]{% \discardpages{<csv list>}
  \xdef\discard@pages{#1}% Store pages to discard
  \AtBeginShipout{% At shipout, decide whether to discard page/not
    \renewcommand*{\do}[1]{% How to handle each page entry in csv list
      \ifnum\value{page}=##1\relax%
        \AtBeginShipoutDiscard% Discard page/not
        \gdef\do####1{}% Do nothing further
      \fi%
    }%
    \expandafter\docsvlist\expandafter{\discard@pages}% Process list of pages to discard
  }%
}
\newif\ifkeeppage
\newcommand{\keeppages}[1]{% \keeppages{<csv list>}
  \xdef\keep@pages{#1}% Store pages to keep
  \AtBeginShipout{% At shipout, decide whether to discard page/not
    \keeppagefalse%
    \renewcommand*{\do}[1]{% How to handle each page entry in csv list
      \ifnum\value{page}=##1\relax%
        \keeppagetrue% Page should be kept
        \gdef\do####1{}% Do nothing further
      \fi%
    }%
    \expandafter\docsvlist\expandafter{\keep@pages}% Process list of pages to keep
    \ifkeeppage\else\AtBeginShipoutDiscard\fi% Discard page/not
  }%
}
\makeatother
\keeppages{6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13}% Keep only these pages
\begin{document}
\multido{\iA=1+1}{20}{\scalebox{40}{\iA}\newpage}
\end{document}

Answer 2

I found a way to do it:

First, I compile my full text to full.pdf. And then do a run with the following code:

\usepackage{pgfpages}
\pgfpagesuselayout{4 on 1}[a4paper,border shrink=-30mm,landscape]
\usepackage{pdfpages}
\begin{document}
\includepdf[pages={6-12}]{full.pdf}
\end{document}

I had to adjust the border manually by shrinking them negatively (border shrink=-30mm). Nicely, this solution gives one the possibility to use page ranges (pages={6-12}).