Combining two PDF files on a Mac

[RogerS]

but with new page numbering ?

If I have a PDF with page numbering from, say, 1 to 10 and a second PDF that is numbered, say, 1 to 5 then does anyone know how or what program to use to combine them such that the combined bundle now numbers 1 to 15 ?

TIA

 

[9fingers]

I would surprised if it were possible without going via a word processor

Bob

 

[Dr.Al]

I don't know of a user friendly way of doing this (but I'm sure they exist), but PDFTK makes this very easy if you're happy using a command line. There's a Mac version available.

If you open a terminal and navigate to the folder ("cd /path/to/folder") with your PDF files, it should be as simple as:

pdftk first.pdf second.pdf cat output combined.pdf

("cat" is short for concatenate)

You can even mess around with page order if you want (this example gives pages 1, 3 & 2 of first.pdf and then pages 1, 3 & 4 of second.pdf):

pdftk A=first.pdf B=second.pdf cat A1 A3 A2 B1 B3 B4 output combined.pdf

I don't have a Mac so I can't help with how you install software or open a terminal.

If that sounds too hard, send me the files and I can do it in a few seconds.

 

[woodstalker]

I use PDF Expert and PDF Converter apps on my iPhone.

They allow you to merge PDFs and add and remove pages in a sort of ‘slide sorter’ view that you get with PowerPoint. Not sure if there is a Mac OS version but I just access the files on the cloud from my phone to edit them.

 

[Dr.Al]

It looks like there are a few online tools for this sort of thing too, assuming the PDFs are of a sort you don't mind posting onto random websites and trusting them not to do anything nefarious with them.

Examples:

https://combinepdf.com
https://smallpdf.com/merge-pdf
https://www.ilovepdf.com/merge_pdf
https://www.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/online/merge-pdf.html

(I haven't tried any of them though as I'm happy with pdftk)

 

[9fingers]

Merging pdfs and sorting the pages is trivial but changing the page numbers is not likely to be doable in a pdf environment.
Bob

 

[RogerS]

I don't know of a user friendly way of doing this (but I'm sure they exist), but PDFTK makes this very easy if you're happy using a command line. There's a Mac version available.

If you open a terminal and navigate to the folder ("cd /path/to/folder") with your PDF files, it should be as simple as:

pdftk first.pdf second.pdf cat output combined.pdf

("cat" is short for concatenate)

You can even mess around with page order if you want (this example gives pages 1, 3 & 2 of first.pdf and then pages 1, 3 & 4 of second.pdf):

pdftk A=first.pdf B=second.pdf cat A1 A3 A2 B1 B3 B4 output combined.pdf

I don't have a Mac so I can't help with how you install software or open a terminal.

If that sounds too hard, send me the files and I can do it in a few seconds.

Very useful but unfortunately according to their website it is only viable up to a fairly ancient version of OSX. I installed it on my system but got the following error message

zsh: bad CPU type in executable: pdftk

which supports my theory ? I think I do have an old Mac with a viable version of OSX but if not I would appreciate your help.

Is there an uninstall command ? I'm comfortable using Terminal.

 

[RogerS]

Merging pdfs and sorting the pages is trivial but changing the page numbers is not likely to be doable in a pdf environment.
Bob

Looks like you're right there, Bob, at least in respect of a couple of the online tools above. They merge but leave the page numbering as original. One can see why someone might want to keep the page numbering that way if there are internal references in the text to specific page numbers. That's not relevant in my case.

 

[AJB Temple]

Adobe Acrobat Pro will do this easily both natively or part of Creative Cloud / Adobe Documents. Runs on OSX. Not sure if you can still get free trials of acrobat pro as part of cloud trial.

 

[RogerS]

Adobe Acrobat Pro will do this easily both natively or part of Creative Cloud / Adobe Documents. Runs on OSX. Not sure if you can still get free trials of acrobat pro as part of cloud trial.

I don't know if what you are suggesting is the same as the URL above from Dr Al but although it merges, the page numbering remains the same and restarts from 1 at the second PDF

 

[AndyP]

is it too much of a faff to cover the existing page numbers with a new text box with the correct page numbers for each page.
Fine for printing but may cause a problem if you sending it it someone.

 

[RogerS]

is it too much of a faff to cover the existing page numbers with a new text box with the correct page numbers for each page.
Fine for printing but may cause a problem if you sending it it someone.

It's being emailed and will be printed out at the other end.

 

[9fingers]

I think the fundamental problem is the pdf was designed to have documents stay as the creator intended and be platform independent. Essentially as if each page was a photo but that is over simplifying!
I feel the solution is to import into word, I believe later versions will accept pdf source files and edit in the word environment and pdf print once you are content with the appearance.

Acrobat Pro may well do this as well as recently Novocaine Dave was able to help by editing a PDF for me. :eusa-clap:

Bob

 

[Blackswanwood]

You can combine PDF documents using Preview.

The way I do it is:

Open the PDF's to be combined in Preview
Switch to thumbnail view
Drag the thumbnails across into a single view to create one document

Not sure if it renumbers pages as the number is already captured in the source document.

 

[AJB Temple]

No Roger. It is easy to merge documents but (for future reference) Acrobat Pro (not the free consumer version) will allow you to edit text fully in PDFs, including changing pagination. We (by which I mean the team working for me) used to do this a great deal when combining documents from various sources for brochures.

CC inc. Ac. Pro has always run on Macs across the software iterations over the years.

 

[Woodster]

You can combine PDF documents using Preview.

The way I do it is:

Open the PDF's to be combined in Preview
Switch to thumbnail view
Drag the thumbnails across into a single view to create one document

Not sure if it renumbers pages as the number is already captured in the source document.

Yes, that’s the way I’ve done it in the past. I thought it did renumber the pages?

Edit: Yes it does on my Mac.

 

[AJB Temple]

Preview leaves the old pagination in. It's not really an editing tool.

 

[Dr.Al]

is it too much of a faff to cover the existing page numbers with a new text box with the correct page numbers for each page.
Fine for printing but may cause a problem if you sending it it someone.

It's being emailed and will be printed out at the other end.

If you send me the PDF (al @ my website address in the signature without the www), I'll try a few different options and let you know what works. I've got quite a few tools for this sort of thing.

 

[Woodster]

Preview leaves the old pagination in. It's not really an editing tool.

Just out of curiosity I’ve just generated two PDF files on the iMac from Open Office documents and in my case it did repaginate the document. One was numbered 1-2 the other 1-3 and the new combined document became 1-5.

With this type of thing though much depends on how the original document was generated and with what software. If page numbers are added manually in the original then you’re stuck with them as they are. If it’s a function of the PDF software then it should update automatically.

We had a site license for Adobe CS at my last job and I regularly used InDesign and Acrobat (not reader) to produce documents and PDF’s.

PDF was built into the Mac OS ( OSX, not Classic) from day one. That wasn’t the case with windows though and I’ve seen some truly dreadful PDF files produced on that platform.

 

[RogerS]

You can combine PDF documents using Preview.

The way I do it is:

Open the PDF's to be combined in Preview
Switch to thumbnail view
Drag the thumbnails across into a single view to create one document

Not sure if it renumbers pages as the number is already captured in the source document.

It doesn't renumber ! Tried that one....

 

[RogerS]

You can combine PDF documents using Preview.

The way I do it is:

Open the PDF's to be combined in Preview
Switch to thumbnail view
Drag the thumbnails across into a single view to create one document

Not sure if it renumbers pages as the number is already captured in the source document.

Yes, that’s the way I’ve done it in the past. I thought it did renumber the pages?

Edit: Yes it does on my Mac.

Not on my Mac.

 

[Woodster]

Not on my Mac.

You’re out of luck then. As I said, it depends on how the originals were generated.

Just out of interest where do the numbers appear on Preview. A screenshot may be useful.

You do have another option. Copy and paste the information from the original PDF’s and generate a new one.

 

[RogerS]

Not on my Mac.

You’re out of luck then. As I said, it depends on how the originals were generated.

Just out of interest where do the numbers appear on Preview. A screenshot may be useful.

You do have another option. Copy and paste the information from the original PDF’s and generate a new one.

In the footer. Copy and pasting is out of the question....PDF's are much too large.

 

[Dr.Al]

Have you tried opening it in LibreOffice (if not, I'd recommend trying both LibreOffice Writer AND LibreOffice Draw as they have different strengths)? Doing that after combining the two PDFs might allow you to edit the page numbering, but without seeing the actual documents it's hard to tell.

 

[Woodster]

Not on my Mac.

You’re out of luck then. As I said, it depends on how the originals were generated.

Just out of interest where do the numbers appear on Preview. A screenshot may be useful.

You do have another option. Copy and paste the information from the original PDF’s and generate a new one.

In the footer. Copy and pasting is out of the question....PDF's are much too large.

Yes, I guessed in the footer. Just wondered if they are L, R or centred. I ask as they appear on the right on my version of preview.

I take your word but curious what type of documents they are that you can’t copy and paste each page? You mentioned 1-5 and 1-10 earlier but I’m guessing you’re talking dozens of pages?

I used to do this type of thing a lot in my last job but admit included graphics can make things time consuming for more than one or two pages.

 

[AJB Temple]

We are at cross purposes Woodster. I meant that Preview does not extract the old page numbers, because it is not an editing tool. Acrobat Pro is an editing tool and you can what you like inside the PDF.

 

[Woodster]

We are at cross purposes Woodster. I meant that Preview does not extract the old page numbers, because it is not an editing tool. Acrobat Pro is an editing tool and you can what you like inside the PDF.

I didn't suggest it was, but that wasn’t the question.
Preview simply renumbers the pages automatically.

 

[Woodster]

Have you tried opening it in LibreOffice (if not, I'd recommend trying both LibreOffice Writer AND LibreOffice Draw as they have different strengths)? Doing that after combining the two PDFs might allow you to edit the page numbering, but without seeing the actual documents it's hard to tell.

That’s not a bad idea actually. If the page numbers were added before it was exported as a PDF then you may be able to remove them with Open Office or something similar. Worth a try I’d have thought.

 

[Dr.Al]

Have you tried opening it in LibreOffice (if not, I'd recommend trying both LibreOffice Writer AND LibreOffice Draw as they have different strengths)? Doing that after combining the two PDFs might allow you to edit the page numbering, but without seeing the actual documents it's hard to tell.

That’s not a bad idea actually. If the page numbers were added before it was exported as a PDF then you may be able to remove them with Open Office or something similar. Worth a try I’d have thought.

The LibreOffice PDF import tools have got a lot better in the last few years. I was very impressed the last time I needed to use it.

 

[RogerS]

.....
I take your word but curious what type of documents they are that you can’t copy and paste each page? You mentioned 1-5 and 1-10 earlier but I’m guessing you’re talking dozens of pages?
....

Yup. Two 'bundles' for a court case. I have to combine them and applying Rogers' Law of What If....what if they want the page numbering contiguous throughout the combined bundle. I know that I would prefer that. But, hey, who knows. Have asked the Court for direction and jobsworth said 'Go and ask your solicitor or Citizen's Advice'. Idiot. Pushed back and now the jobsworth is doing the sensible thing and asking their supervisor to ask a judge for direction.

Ideally, they can be left 'as is'.

 

[Woodster]

Have you tried opening it in LibreOffice (if not, I'd recommend trying both LibreOffice Writer AND LibreOffice Draw as they have different strengths)? Doing that after combining the two PDFs might allow you to edit the page numbering, but without seeing the actual documents it's hard to tell.

That’s not a bad idea actually. If the page numbers were added before it was exported as a PDF then you may be able to remove them with Open Office or something similar. Worth a try I’d have thought.

The LibreOffice PDF import tools have got a lot better in the last few years. I was very impressed the last time I needed to use it.

Thanks for that. I’ve got a couple of the Open Office apps including LibreOffice so that’s worth knowing now that I no longer have access to Acrobat.

Sounds like a right PITA Roger. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[9fingers]

Not knowing the structure of what you need to submit but could you create a cover page (page zero) and on that identify the second document as an appendix.
Then creat a combined document of all three parts and PDF it.?

Just a thought

Bob

 

[RogerS]

Not knowing the structure of what you need to submit but could you create a cover page (page zero) and on that identify the second document as an appendix.
Then creat a combined document of all three parts and PDF it.?

Just a thought

Bob

I don't know the structure of what I'm supposed to submit. Supposed to go and ask Citizens Advice by the muppet at the Court. :?

 

[Woodster]

I’ve not found CA very helpful the last couple of times I’ve asked them but good luck anyway.

 

[RogerS]

I’ve not found CA very helpful the last couple of times I’ve asked them but good luck anyway.

There's not a chance in Hell I'll waste my time doing that. Being the assertive little sod that I am, after gradually more assertive emails replies, they have finally agreed that an Administrative Supervisor will ask a Judge what they want. Which should have been the reply in the first place. This Court has been remarkably consistent. Consistently unhelpful. I feel for other poor sods trying to get any sort of help. Next time I see Geoffrey I'll bend his ear !