I’m assembling the exhibit bundle for a hearing [deadline=tomorrow] and need it court-ready: numbered pages, contents …
Open Adobe Acrobat.
Go to File > Combine Files.
Click Add Files and select the PDF files you want to merge.
Arrange the files in your desired order by dragging and dropping them within the list.
Click Combine to merge the selected files into a single PDF document.
Save the new combined PDF to your preferred location.
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.
Keeping 'Preserve Bookmarks' on is very helpful. It makes each original file a main bookmark in your new, combined PDF. This means you can quickly click on a bookmark to go to the start of each original document. It makes a long PDF easy to navigate and read.
No, if your original files already have page numbers, the combined PDF will restart those numbers with each new file. For example, if file A ends on page 10, file B will start again at page 1. To have continuous page numbers across the whole new PDF, you will need to add new page numbers after combining the files.
| Feature | Combine PDF | Email Attachment |
|---|---|---|
| Result | One single PDF document | Many separate files |
| Navigation | Easy to scroll through, can use bookmarks | Must open each file separately |
| File Size | Usually larger than one file, can be compressed later | Sum of all individual file sizes |
| Purpose | Create a unified, organized document | Send multiple files as-is |
This problem happens when there is an issue with the structure of the original source files. Acrobat might not be able to read them correctly. To fix this, try saving each original file again using 'Save As' before combining them. This refreshes the file's internal structure. Another way is to add the files one by one to the combine list.