PDF Merge & Split

Combine multiple PDF files into one or split PDFs into separate documents.

Overview

This skill helps you:

• Merge multiple PDFs into a single file

• Split PDFs by page ranges

• Extract specific pages

• Reorder pages within a PDF

• Create custom arrangements

How to Use

Merge PDFs

"Merge these 3 PDFs into one file"

"Combine document1.pdf and document2.pdf"

"Join all PDFs in this folder in alphabetical order"

Split PDF

"Split this PDF into individual pages"

"Extract pages 5-10 from this PDF"

"Split this PDF every 5 pages"

Reorder

"Move page 3 to the end"

"Reorder pages: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5"

"Reverse the page order"

Merge Operations

Basic Merge

## PDF Merge Plan

### Input Files

| Order | File | Pages | Size |

|-------|------|-------|------|

| 1 | cover.pdf | 1 | 50 KB |

| 2 | chapter1.pdf | 15 | 2.1 MB |

| 3 | chapter2.pdf | 22 | 3.4 MB |

| 4 | appendix.pdf | 8 | 1.2 MB |

### Output

- **Filename**: combined_document.pdf

- **Total Pages**: 46

- **Estimated Size**: ~6.7 MB

### Merge Options

- [ ] Add bookmarks for each source file

- [ ] Preserve original bookmarks

- [ ] Include blank page between files

- [ ] Optimize/compress output

Advanced Merge

## Advanced PDF Merge

### Custom Page Selection

| Source | Pages to Include | Insert Position |

|--------|------------------|-----------------|

| main.pdf | 1-10 | 1-10 |

| insert.pdf | All (5 pages) | After page 10 |

| main.pdf | 11-20 | 16-25 |

| appendix.pdf | 2-4 only | 26-28 |

### Output Configuration

- **Filename**: custom_merged.pdf

- **Page numbering**: Reset to 1 / Continue from original

- **Bookmarks**: Create from filenames / Preserve all

### Quality Settings

- Resolution: Original / Reduce to [X] DPI

- Compression: None / Low / Medium / High

Split Operations

Split by Range

## PDF Split Plan

### Source

- **File**: large_document.pdf

- **Total Pages**: 100

### Split Configuration

| Output File | Page Range | Pages |

|-------------|------------|-------|

| part1.pdf | 1-25 | 25 |

| part2.pdf | 26-50 | 25 |

| part3.pdf | 51-75 | 25 |

| part4.pdf | 76-100 | 25 |

### Naming Pattern

`[original_name]_part[N].pdf`

Split by Size

## Split by File Size

### Source

- **File**: huge_report.pdf

- **Total Pages**: 500

- **File Size**: 250 MB

### Target

- **Max file size**: 25 MB

- **Estimated splits**: ~10 files

### Output

| File | Pages | Actual Size |

|------|-------|-------------|

| report_001.pdf | 1-52 | 24.8 MB |

| report_002.pdf | 53-98 | 23.2 MB |

| ... | ... | ... |

Split by Bookmark

## Split by Bookmarks/Chapters

### Source Structure

- large_manual.pdf

  - Chapter 1: Introduction (p.1)

  - Chapter 2: Setup (p.15)

  - Chapter 3: Usage (p.45)

  - Chapter 4: Advanced (p.120)

  - Appendix (p.180)

### Split Output

| File | Chapter | Pages |

|------|---------|-------|

| ch1_introduction.pdf | Introduction | 1-14 |

| ch2_setup.pdf | Setup | 15-44 |

| ch3_usage.pdf | Usage | 45-119 |

| ch4_advanced.pdf | Advanced | 120-179 |

| appendix.pdf | Appendix | 180-end |

Extract Specific Pages

## Page Extraction

### Source

- **File**: contract.pdf (20 pages)

### Pages to Extract

- [x] Page 1 (Cover)

- [x] Pages 5-7 (Terms)

- [x] Page 15 (Signatures)

- [x] Page 20 (Appendix A)

### Output

- **File**: contract_key_pages.pdf

- **Pages**: 6 total (1, 5, 6, 7, 15, 20)

Page Operations

Reorder Pages

## Page Reorder Plan

### Current Order

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

### New Order

1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10

### Changes

- Page 3 ↔ Page 4 (swapped)

- Page 7 ↔ Page 8 (swapped)

Delete Pages

## Page Deletion

### Source

- document.pdf (25 pages)

### Pages to Remove

- Page 3 (blank page)

- Pages 12-14 (outdated section)

- Page 25 (draft watermark)

### Result

- New page count: 20

- Output: document_cleaned.pdf

Insert Pages

## Page Insertion

### Base Document

- main.pdf (10 pages)

### Insertions

| Insert | After Page | From |

|--------|------------|------|

| Cover page | 0 (beginning) | cover.pdf |

| Diagram | 5 | diagrams.pdf (page 2) |

| Appendix | 10 (end) | appendix.pdf |

### Result

- New page count: 14

Rotate Pages

## Page Rotation

### File: scanned_doc.pdf

### Rotations Needed

| Page(s) | Current | Rotation | New |

|---------|---------|----------|-----|

| 3 | Portrait | 90° CW | Landscape |

| 7-9 | Upside down | 180° | Correct |

| 15 | Landscape | 90° CCW | Portrait |

Batch Processing

Batch Merge

## Batch Merge Job

### Task: Merge PDFs by Project

### Folder Structure

/reports/

/project-a/

report1.pdf

report2.pdf

/project-b/

summary.pdf

details.pdf

### Output

| Merged File | Sources |

|-------------|---------|

| project-a_combined.pdf | report1.pdf, report2.pdf |

| project-b_combined.pdf | summary.pdf, details.pdf |

Batch Split

## Batch Split Job

### Input

- /monthly_reports/ (12 files, each ~50 pages)

### Operation

- Split each file into 5-page chunks

### Output

- /monthly_reports_split/

  - jan_001.pdf, jan_002.pdf, ...

  - feb_001.pdf, feb_002.pdf, ...

  - ...

Tool Recommendations

Free Tools

• PDF24: Web and desktop, full featured

• ILovePDF: Web-based, easy to use

• PDFsam Basic: Desktop, open source

• Preview (Mac): Built-in, drag and drop

Professional

• Adobe Acrobat Pro: Industry standard

• Foxit PDF Editor: Full featured

• Nitro Pro: Good for business

Command Line

• pdftk: Classic, powerful

• qpdf: Fast, scriptable

• pdfcpu: Modern Go-based tool

Limitations

• Cannot perform actual file operations (provides guidance)

• Password-protected PDFs need password first

• Very large files may need chunked processing

• Some PDFs with restrictions cannot be modified

• Merging different page sizes may cause issues