How to merge many PDF files into a single one?
PdfUbuntuPdf Problem Overview
I have 16 pdfs that I want to convert into a single one... I am on Ubuntu 10.10, how can I do it?
Pdf Solutions
Solution 1 - Pdf
First, get Pdftk:
sudo apt-get install pdftk
Now, as shown on example page, use
pdftk 1.pdf 2.pdf 3.pdf cat output 123.pdf
for merging pdf files into one.
Solution 2 - Pdf
You can also use Ghostscript to merge different PDFs. You can even use it to merge a mix of PDFs, PostScript (PS) and EPS into one single output PDF file:
gs \
-o merged.pdf \
-sDEVICE=pdfwrite \
-dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress \
input_1.pdf \
input_2.pdf \
input_3.eps \
input_4.ps \
input_5.pdf
However, I agree with other answers: for your use case of merging PDF file types only, pdftk
may be the best (and certainly fastest) option.
Update:
If processing time is not the main concern, but if the main concern is file size (or a fine-grained control over certain features of the output file), then the Ghostscript way certainly offers more power to you. To highlight a few of the differences:
-
Ghostscript can 'consolidate' the fonts of the input files which leads to a smaller file size of the output. It also can re-sample images, or scale all pages to a different size, or achieve a controlled color conversion from RGB to CMYK (or vice versa) should you need this (but that will require more CLI options than outlined in above command).
-
pdftk will just concatenate each file, and will not convert any colors. If each of your 16 input PDFs contains 5 subsetted fonts, the resulting output will contain 80 subsetted fonts. The resulting PDF's size is (nearly exactly) the sum of the input file bytes.
Solution 3 - Pdf
You can use http://www.mergepdf.net/ for example
Or:
PDFTK http://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/
If you are NOT on Ubuntu and you have the same problem (and you wanted to start a new topic on SO and SO suggested to have a look at this question) you can also do it like this:
Things You'll Need:
* Full Version of Adobe Acrobat
-
Open all the .pdf files you wish to merge. These can be minimized on your desktop as individual tabs.
-
Pull up what you wish to be the first page of your merged document.
-
Click the 'Combine Files' icon on the top left portion of the screen.
-
The 'Combine Files' window that pops up is divided into three sections. The first section is titled, 'Choose the files you wish to combine'. Select the 'Add Open Files' option.
-
Select the other open .pdf documents on your desktop when prompted.
-
Rearrange the documents as you wish in the second window, titled, 'Arrange the files in the order you want them to appear in the new PDF'
-
The final window, titled, 'Choose a file size and conversion setting' allows you to control the size of your merged PDF document. Consider the purpose of your new document. If its to be sent as an e-mail attachment, use a low size setting. If the PDF contains images or is to be used for presentation, choose a high setting. When finished, select 'Next'.
-
A final choice: choose between either a single PDF document, or a PDF package, which comes with the option of creating a specialized cover sheet. When finished, hit 'Create', and save to your preferred location.
- Tips & Warnings
Double check the PDF documents prior to merging to make sure all pertinent information is included. Its much easier to re-create a single PDF page than a multi-page document.
Solution 4 - Pdf
There are lots of free tools that can do this.
I use PDFTK (a open source cross-platform command-line tool) for things like that.