How do I make sure my Incident Reports are in the correct order when I combine them?

After you add your Incident Reports to the 'Combine Files' window, you will see small pictures of each file. Drag these small pictures (called thumbnails) up or down to change their order. The files will be merged from the top of the list to the bottom, so arrange them as you want them to appear in the final PDF.

What is the difference between combining Incident Reports in the desktop app versus using the API?

Feature Desktop App API. Ease of Use Visual drag-and-drop interface, easy for single tasks. Requires coding knowledge, good for automated, repeated tasks. File Limit No strict limit mentioned in facts, but performance can slow with many files. Limited to 20 files per operation. Page Ranges Can select specific pages from files before combining (not explicitly stated in facts, but common functionality). Optional to specify page ranges for each file.

Compile Incident Reports in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

2 ways to ask · copy any one

AExecute — “help me do it”Compile incident reports: combine shift incident reports, attached photos, and signed witness…+

Compile incident reports: combine shift incident reports, attached photos, and signed witness forms into one PDF, ensure attachments are preserved, and send to Safety and to district HR for the review meeting.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

BImprove — “do it better”To make the packet useful for Safety and HR, label each incident chronologically, add…+

To make the packet useful for Safety and HR, label each incident chronologically, add thumbnails of photos with captions, attach a one-page summary of actions taken per incident, and require signature confirmations from the supervising manager to support the review.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid

1
Open Adobe Acrobat.
2
Go to File > Combine Files.
3
Click Add Files and select the PDF files you want to merge.
4
Arrange the files in your desired order by dragging and dropping them within the list.
5
Click Combine to merge the selected files into a single PDF document.
6
Save the new combined PDF to your preferred location.

In the appWith the API

You can preview and reorder files before combining to ensure the final PDF is in the correct sequence.

This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.

Glossary

words on this page

Combine FilesAn Acrobat feature that puts multiple documents or images into a single PDF.ExampleYou use this Acrobat feature to gather several reports and images into one PDF.

BookmarkA link in a PDF that helps you jump to a specific part of the document.ExampleClicking the 'Exhibit A' bookmark takes you directly to the relevant court document.

APIA way for different software to talk to each other automatically.ExampleAn online store uses an API to automatically send shipping details to a delivery service.

Who does this

3 roles

Office AdministratorLegal AssistantAcademic Coordinator

FAQ

about this task

After you add your Incident Reports to the 'Combine Files' window, you will see small pictures of each file.
Drag these small pictures (called thumbnails) up or down to change their order.
The files will be merged from the top of the list to the bottom, so arrange them as you want them to appear in the final PDF.

Bookmarks are like a table of contents for your PDF. When you combine Incident Reports, keeping 'Preserve Bookmarks' on makes each original report a main bookmark. This is important because it creates an easy way to navigate through a long combined document, letting you quickly jump to any specific report without scrolling a lot.

No, combining Incident Reports rarely makes the file size smaller. In fact, it might even make it slightly larger. If you need a smaller file, you should compress the PDF after you have combined all the reports. This will reduce the file size without losing too much quality.

When you combine Incident Reports that already have printed page numbers, Acrobat treats each original file as a separate section. This means the page numbering will restart at '1' for each new report. To fix this, you need to add continuous page numbers to the combined PDF after you have merged all the files. This will give you a single, unbroken sequence of page numbers across the entire document.

Feature	Desktop App	API
Ease of Use	Visual drag-and-drop interface, easy for single tasks.	Requires coding knowledge, good for automated, repeated tasks.
File Limit	No strict limit mentioned in facts, but performance can slow with many files.	Limited to 20 files per operation.
Page Ranges	Can select specific pages from files before combining (not explicitly stated in facts, but common functionality).	Optional to specify page ranges for each file.

Compile Incident Reports

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help

Video

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When it fails