Don't ask why, but today I had to create a PDF document from a folder with over 30 individual PDF files. My first thought was that I would certainly do this with Adobe Acrobat, but then it occurred to me that it might also work with the Preview.App on the Mac.
Chapter in this post:
Open the first file, insert the rest
The way to do this is as follows:
- mark the first PDF file in the Finder and use CMD + D to create a duplicate as a backup
- then open the first PDF file in the "Preview" app
- select the menu item File> Edit> Insert> Page (s) from file
- then select all the PDF files to be added to the first one
- done
You should now have a large PDF document with all the pages from the other PDFs. You can get a good overview if you activate the sidebar with the thumbnails in Preview.
- Read more: Use the preview app to reduce multiple images at once on a Mac
- Read more: Lightweight PDF: Reduce the file size of PDFs
- Read more: Remove PDF Password - How to Crack a Protected PDF File
- Read more: PDF Archiver put to the test: Keyword, organize and archive PDFs
Change the order of the pages in the PDF
If you now notice that the order of the pages is not 100 percent correct, you can also grab individual pages with the mouse in the sidebar with the thumbnails and drag them up or down in the order. You should then insert yourself between the pages where you released the mouse button.
Why backup the first file?
I always make a duplicate of the first PDF file as the preview app has a habit of changing the file immediately when you import other pages. If something went wrong, the first PDF file would have been destroyed in principle. But with the duplicate you still have a backup at hand.
Advanced PDF editing
A tip on the subject of PDF editing: The software developers at Readdle (should be known to everyone about the great, free tool "Documents"For iPad and iPhone) also have paid Mac software for editing PDFs in their portfolio: PDF Expert.
The app is a very practical thing if you have to make changes to PDFs frequently. The preview app can also edit a few things on PDFs, but I find the options a little less comfortable.
I will certainly give the PDF Expert app a little review soon, but that would go beyond the scope of this article.
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.
First of all, I would always work with a copy of the first file. Then Combine PDFs is surely easier to use (https://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/Software/CombinePDFs.shtml).
Hello Beatrix! That's exactly how I wrote it in the text: Always make a backup of the first file. : D
And thanks for the reference to CombinePDFs. It'll work out fine, but I don't like uploading my accounting records to any online service ... I'm a little reluctant to do so. If it's only about 20 PDFs with handicraft instructions, I wouldn't have a problem with that either.