ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How to Combine PDF Files

Updated on March 14, 2011

Do you have 2 or more PDF files that you'd like to combine into one? Maybe you'd like to upload, electronically-fax, or email just one PDF to a recipient, but you only have single-page PDFs. You probably don't have Adobe Acrobat X Pro, and, at $199 and up, it's completely not worth buying for just joining a bunch of PDF documents together (but I do give you directions below if that's the way you want to go).

Here are 4 options that you can consider, depending on how much time and money you have, as well as how technically adept you are. Let me know in the comments if they work for you, too!

Method: Free software (freeware)

I tend to like this option best, because it usually takes less than a minute to download the software on your computer and run the program. Within about 5 minutes, you can have your combined PDF ready.

Pros: Fairly quick and predictable

Cons: Some are only free during a trial period; some require giving your email address; some are difficult to use unless you're technically-inclined

The programs I've used with varying degrees of success have been:

  • Combine PDFs (free trial; $30 to buy) - Mac OSX only
  • Nitro PDF (free trial; Nitro PDF Express costs $50) - Windows only
  • PDF Merger Pro (free 14-day trial; $11 to buy) - Windows only
  • CutePDF Professional (free trial; $50 to buy) - Windows only
  • PDF Splitter & Merger (free 9-day trial; $60 to buy) - Windows only
  • PDF Merge for Mac (free trial - can only combine 3 PDFs at once; $19 to buy) - Mac OSX only
  • PDFTK (truly free, but is command-line only, so a bit more difficult to use) - Windows only
  • PDFedit (free) - Unix/Linux

Method 2: Free website

I've had mixed success with this kind of Website, but they occasionally work well. Sometimes I need to have a merged PDF pretty quickly, and after waiting for 20 minutes with no email, I break down and download some software to do it instead.

Pros: Don't have to install anything new on your computer; don't have to pay for anything

Cons: Can take some time to process the PDF; some leave watermarks on the merged PDF; some will market to you via email or even spam you

The site I suggest trying out is mergepdf.net. Occasionally you can find other services that do the same job, and, sadly, a lot of these companies go out of business after a year or two.

Method 3: Use Adobe Acrobat

This is the most expensive, but easiest, option. If you have a copy of Adobe Acrobat X that you can use, then this method will work in a jiffy.

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat X.
  2. Open what you would like to be the first page of your combined PDF
  3. In the top-left section, find the Combine Files icon and click it.
  4. Select the files from your computer that you want as subsequent pages in your combined PDF.
  5. Rearrange the files in the order you'd like them to appear in your combined PDF.
  6. Choose a file size for the outputted combined PDF. If you want to host the file online only (72 dpi), choose the low setting. If it will eventually be printed out by you or someone else (150 dpi or higher), then choose the high setting.
  7. Choose Single PDF file
  8. Click Create.

Method 4: Geeky options

Know how to code? If you're a programmer, you can make use of open source libraries that enable this sort of thing. Provided you don't plan to sell your product and it's for personal use only, you can use one of the following:

  • iText PDF (Java and C#)
  • Merge PDF (.NET)
  • Apache PDFBox (Java)
  • pyPdf (Python)
  • TCPDF (PHP)

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)