With all that said, let’s check out two free and open source ways to combine PDFs in Microsoft Windows: PDF Split and Merge and pdftk. PDF Split and Merge As the name implies, the application can do a number of PDF manipulation functions including splitting and (wait for it) merging. Icecream PDF Split and Merge is a simple and versatile app which can help you split large PDF documents into small usable PDF files and merge several small PDF documents into a single PDF file. The good thing about this software is that it gives you fine control over how you split and merge the PDF documents.
Related Articles
Being able to combine PDF files is helpful in an office environment where various documents are collected, scanned and then collated into one document for clients or data history purposes. Merge PDF files, two or more, by using the Adobe Acrobat Reader Combine PDF function. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is the cloud-based version of Adobe Acrobat Pro. Both make it easier for documents stored in the office's cloud network to merge. PDFs can't be combined in Reader alone; they need the tools found in either Acrobat version.
Open Primary Document
Open the primary document that will become the foundation for the combined PDF in Adobe Acrobat. The primary document may already be a saved PDF file or it may be a different source file. For example, you may have a Word document that must be resaved as a PDF document before you can work with it in Acrobat. Additionally, a scanned document might automatically save as a JPEG file. This would also need to be adjusted and saved as a PDF to allow Adobe to merge PDF files.
Tip
Use Adobe Reader Tools to Combine PDFs
When you have the primary PDF document open, select 'Tools' in the top tab in Acrobat to open a menu. Locate and select 'Combine Files.' This prompts you to find the file you want to attach to the primary document. For the sake of this example, call it the secondary document. Choose the secondary document and click the button to 'Add Files.' The two files are merged, with the primary document being the first set of pages and the secondary document pages following those of the primary's document. Save the new document under a new file name for easy searching.
Rearranging Pages in Acrobat
As the Adobe name suggests, Acrobat allows things to jump around. This means you can take the merged documents and rearrange pages to make the document more efficient for your presentation needs. For example, assume you scanned a client's contract into Acrobat and saved it as Doc1. However, the scanner is only capable of scanning front sides, while the contract is printed on both sides of the page. Scan the back pages in as a second PDF called Doc2. Merge the two PDFs into one merged PDF.
With the merged document open, open 'Tools' and select 'Organize Pages.' You will see a small preview thumbnail of the pages on the right. Grab the page you want and insert it after the page it should follow. For example, if the merged document page that is currently page 9 should be page 2, drag and drop page 9 in between pages 1 and 2. Page 9 is inserted and the page numbers are reordered. Keep the original document on hand if possible to keep track of pages as they are renumbered to prevent confusion.
References (3)About the Author
With more than 15 years of small business ownership including owning a State Farm agency in Southern California, Kimberlee understands the needs of business owners first hand. When not writing, Kimberlee enjoys chasing waterfalls with her son in Hawaii.
Cite this Article
Choose Citation Style
Leonard, Kimberlee. 'How to Combine PDF Files With Reader.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/combine-pdf-files-reader-57812.html. 09 April 2019.
Leonard, Kimberlee. (2019, April 09). How to Combine PDF Files With Reader. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/combine-pdf-files-reader-57812.html
Leonard, Kimberlee. 'How to Combine PDF Files With Reader' last modified April 09, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/combine-pdf-files-reader-57812.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.
Active2 years, 4 months ago
Is there a painless way to combine/merge PDF files in Windows? I understand that pdftk will do it on Linux.
Franck Dernoncourt
9,1532424 gold badges9898 silver badges192192 bronze badges
user1413
![]()
1,8811414 gold badges3939 silver badges5656 bronze badges
closed as off-topic by slhckJul 7 '13 at 11:18
9 Answers
There are quite a few free options, as well as some good commercial ones: Cac reader middleware for mac.
Web-based (Free) Outlook pst file reader for mac.
Desktop tools (free)
There are also a lot of commercial tools.
fixer1234
22.1k1414 gold badges5555 silver badges8989 bronze badges
Karl FastKarl Fast
1,53911 gold badge1010 silver badges55 bronze badges
pdftk.exe is available for Windows as well. See here: http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk/#packages and here: http://www.pdfhacks.com/pdftk/pdftk-1.41.exe.zip
Here is an example commandline for
pdftk.exe . It merges all PDF files in the current directory into a combined one:
Another one:
Ghostscript can also combine multiple input PDFs (and PostScript files) into one output PDF:
Update suggested by @sunk818
There is a GUI for
pdftk named PDFTK Builder. This essentially builds a command line based on your option choices for you and executes:
My own update
Since I originally posted this answer,
pdftk has undergone further developments.
9,68511 gold badge3737 silver badges5656 bronze badges
You can use PDFill PDF Tools to perform lots of manipulations on your PDFs for free.
Use the 'Merge PDF Files' button (button #1) in the screenshot below.
Gaff
16.3k1111 gold badges5050 silver badges6565 bronze badges
robrob
12.4k44 gold badges4141 silver badges7979 bronze badges
Try PDFsam, which comes for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
The basic version is free, I'm pretty sure that the basic version will meet your needs. You will need to have Java installed on your computer to run this program.
slhck
171k4949 gold badges476476 silver badges492492 bronze badges
How To Print On Pdf Reader Windows 8
ephilipephilip
I found the best for me: PDF Split and Merge
PDF Split and Merge tool is implemented using the PdfSharp library and is either GUI or command driven.It is useful for automated document creation.It allows bookmarks from the input pdfs to be imported and flexibly embedded in the destination document.
It just merges or splits PDF files, nothing else.
slhck
Add-on Pdf Reader
171k4949 gold badges476476 silver badges492492 bronze badges
How To Change Language On Pdf Reader
PlejPlej
PDF Creator will do the trick -- you can print multiple documents to a single PDF. Relatively painless :)
BarrettBarrett
Also this program named pdfbinder proved to be useful. It has a simple commandline interface for input and uses the same engine as the PDF Split and Merge already mentioned.
HugeHuge
This little app I found with a Google search let me merge image files into a single PDF, which it didn't look like some of these options would. It's very limited, but it did the trick for me just now. Install acrobat reader for windows 7.
thaddeusmtthaddeusmt
I know that you can do this with Adobe Acrobat. I assume that you don't want to pay for this if it's the only use you have. You highlight your PDF files, right-click and select
Combine files in Acrobat.. :
Ghostscript, available on Linux and Windows, should be able to concatenate them, but it uses complicated command-line functions. You can use CutePDF, which has a free version, but I believe the Professional (paid) version is the only one that will concatenate.
How To Merge Pdf Windows On Pdf Reader For MacSun
4,72988 gold badges2525 silver badges4444 bronze badges
Joshua Nurczyk
How To Edit On Pdf ReaderJoshua Nurczyk
2,22611 gold badge1717 silver badges1515 bronze badges
How To Highlight On Pdf ReaderNot the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged windowspdfsoftware-rec or ask your own question.Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |