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

When combining files, make sure 'Preserve Bookmarks' is turned on. This will create a top-level bookmark for each original file you added. These bookmarks act like a table of contents, letting you quickly jump to different sections of your new PDF.

What is the difference between 'Combine Files' and 'Insert Pages' in Acrobat?

Feature Purpose Best Use Case. Combine Files To merge multiple separate documents (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.) into one new PDF. Creating a single packet from many different source files. Insert Pages To add pages from one PDF into an existing PDF. Adding a few pages from another PDF into a report you are already working on.

Assemble Review Submission in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

2 ways to ask · copy any one

AExecute — “help me do it”Prepare an annotated [packet=PDF packet] of environmental metrics and mitigation measures and…+

Prepare an annotated [packet=PDF packet] of environmental metrics and mitigation measures and send it to the transportation department reviewers with your comments attached for their design review meeting next week.

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

BImprove — “do it better”Before sending the [packet] to transportation, make their job faster — assemble a PDF with…+

Before sending the [packet] to transportation, make their job faster — assemble a PDF with annotated metrics, attach source data appendices, add comment summaries tied to specific design implications, and include a short checklist of mitigation items that require confirmation at the design review meeting.

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.

ThumbnailsSmall preview pictures of pages or files that you can drag to change their order.ExampleYou drag the thumbnails of pages 3 and 4 to swap their positions in the document.

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.

Who does this

3 roles

Office AdministratorLegal AssistantAcademic Coordinator

FAQ

about this task

When combining files, make sure 'Preserve Bookmarks' is turned on.
This will create a top-level bookmark for each original file you added.
These bookmarks act like a table of contents, letting you quickly jump to different sections of your new PDF.

The 'Combine PDF' operation is a tool in the Adobe PDF Services API. It lets computer programs automatically merge up to 20 separate files into a single PDF document. Developers can use this to build applications that create combined PDFs without manual steps, and they can even specify which pages from each source file should be included. This is useful for large-scale document processing.

No, if your original files already have printed page numbers, the combined PDF will show these numbers starting over for each original file. To fix this, you will need to add new, continuous page numbers to the combined PDF after it is created. This ensures all pages have a unique, sequential number.

Combining files rarely makes the final PDF smaller because it mostly just puts the existing data together. It does not automatically remove unneeded data or compress images. If you need a smaller file size, you should compress the PDF after you have combined all the files. This step helps reduce the overall size without losing important content.

Feature	Purpose	Best Use Case
Combine Files	To merge multiple separate documents (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.) into one new PDF.	Creating a single packet from many different source files.
Insert Pages	To add pages from one PDF into an existing PDF.	Adding a few pages from another PDF into a report you are already working on.

Assemble Review Submission

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help

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When it fails