Free Tools For Merging PDF Files

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Busy Virtual Assistants and Web Developers work with PDF files all the time and every now and then it is nice to be able to share a tip or trick. Just as a for instance, this question from a team member landed in my email box the other day. ” If I have 200 PDF files, with some naming convention of 10 each, can I create just 20 files with 10 files combining into 1 (with some naming convention link)?”  Can you imagine how many hours this would take it it had to be done individually?

There are several different free websites that allow you to merge PDF documents. As they are free, they will have some limitations, so be sure to poke around to determine which one, or which combination of services will best suit your needs.

I happen to like PDF Split and Merge Tool which can be downloaded at SourceForge.net.  PDF Split and Merge tool is implemented using the PdfSharp library and is either GUI or command driven. It is useful for automated document creation and allows bookmarks from the input pdfs to be imported and flexibly embedded in the destination document. This is very useful if you are compliling e-books or reports that require bookmarks.

Another free tool is MergePDF which helps you combine multiple PDF files quickly. It has limitations in that you only have a maximum of 10 input files and the individual file size can’t be larger than 5MB. Another issue is that all uploaded files don’t reside on the server and are immediately removed from their database after you have downloaded your merged documents. This makes perfect sense from a security stance, but can be slightly annoying if you made any type of error that requires editing.  You will just have to start over again, but the interface is clean, simple and very easy to use. Where this free tool does come in handy is if you have had a virtual assistance client send you a file in segments and you need to merge it in order for it to be a workable document.

Another alternative PDF merging tool is PDFHammer which is also another tool that I use frequently. You upload your PDF files, perform your edits and then save the file back to your own machine. The online editor allows you to view the pages of your files as you edit them.  One of the nicer aspects of this tool is that not only can you create a single PDF file, but you can also quickly rearrange, reorder and delete ages from existing files. You will also have the option of protecting the contents of your PDF files with password-based security.  If you are compiling e-books or reports for your clients, this has the added functionality in that it provides tools for setting metadata fields, including author, title, subject and keywords. PDF Hammer is a very elegant solution to what could be a hugely time consuming task.