Pages
Merge PDF files
Drop in as many documents as you need, put them in the right order, and get one file back. Page sizes are preserved, so mixing an A4 report with a letter-sized appendix works exactly as you would expect.
Result
Order is the part people get wrong
Files arrive in whatever order the operating system hands them over, which is usually alphabetical and almost never the order you want. Use the arrows to move a document up or down before merging. If you are merging scanned chapters, naming the files with a leading number when you scan them saves this step every time.
Everything about each source document is copied across: page dimensions, embedded fonts, images and orientation. A merged file is therefore roughly the sum of its parts in size, and occasionally a little smaller where the same font is embedded in more than one source.
Common questions
Is there a limit on how many files I can merge?
Only your computer's memory. Every document is held in the tab while it works, so a hundred small files is fine and a dozen 100 MB scans may not be.
Are bookmarks and links kept?
Internal links within a page survive. Document-level bookmarks and the outline tree do not, because they are rebuilt from scratch in the new file. Form fields are flattened.
Can I merge a password-protected PDF?
Only if it opens without asking for a password. Documents that require one to open cannot be read at all, and the tool will say so.
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