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