How do I make sure my combined PDF is easy to navigate?

When you combine files, keep 'Preserve Bookmarks' turned on. This makes each original file a top-level bookmark in the new PDF. You can then use these bookmarks to quickly jump to different parts of your document.

How is combining files different from compressing a PDF?

Feature Purpose Effect on File Size. Combine Files Puts many files into one PDF. Rarely shrinks size; often increases it. Compress PDF Reduces the size of a PDF file. Always aims to shrink the file size.

Consolidate Hearing Materials in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

1 way to ask · copy any one

CDecide — “help me choose”The judge walks in at 9:50 and needs one paginated, bookmarkable file containing the complaint,…+

The judge walks in at 9:50 and needs one paginated, bookmarkable file containing the complaint, exhibits, and the late brief that was emailed this morning. I’m the only clerk here today; I can merge and paginate but I’m worried about losing exhibit order or changing pagination the judge relies on. Tell me the fastest safe sequence to produce a single PDF the judge can annotate, who should initial any changes, and one sharp check to run before I hand it over.

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.

BookmarksLinks in a PDF that let you jump to different sections, like a table of contents.ExampleThe document's bookmarks allowed us to quickly navigate between different sections of the report.

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

When you combine files, keep 'Preserve Bookmarks' turned on.
This makes each original file a top-level bookmark in the new PDF.
You can then use these bookmarks to quickly jump to different parts of your document.

This can happen if there's an issue with the structure of your source files. Adobe Acrobat might struggle to read them correctly, leading to a repeated first file or the process freezing. To fix this, try saving each source file again using 'Save As' to refresh its internal structure before combining. You can also try adding files one by one, or repairing your Acrobat installation.

The 'Combine PDF' operation is an Adobe API feature that lets you programmatically merge up to 20 different files into a single PDF document. It also allows you to specify exact page ranges from each source file. This is useful for automating document assembly without manual steps.

No, if your source documents already have printed page numbers, they will likely restart with each new document in the combined PDF. You will need to add continuous page numbers to the combined PDF after it's created if you want a single, unbroken sequence of numbers across all merged content.

Feature	Purpose	Effect on File Size
Combine Files	Puts many files into one PDF.	Rarely shrinks size; often increases it.
Compress PDF	Reduces the size of a PDF file.	Always aims to shrink the file size.

Consolidate Hearing Materials

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help

Video

Other guides

When it fails