How to Combine Files into a Single Adobe PDF by Chronological Order

Many times when combining documents or files into one single Adobe Acrobat file (*.pdf), it is desirable to order the documents chronologically, or by date. Adobe does not make this easy since most versions capable of combining files list the documents in the mysterious "Windows" order. If you have files that have been created by date, such as .pdf documents, it is possible to combine them in that order. This article describes how to combine those files in chronological order using Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard or higher.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer with Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard or higher.

1. Open Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard or higher software that is capable of combining multiple files. Click on the "Combine Files" option on the toolbar or drop down menu (do not use any available wizards). Leaving the pop up window for combining files open, restore down the Adobe program window so there is room to open up another window on the screen.

2. If all of the files are not already contained within one folder, create a new folder and copy all of the files to be combined into that folder. Note the location and name of the folder.

3. Open up Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder containing the files for combining. Click on "Date Modified" until the files are arranged from top to bottom from oldest to newest.

4. Align the Windows Explorer window that is now sorted by "date modified" horizontally to the Adobe program window containing the pop up Combine Files window so that both are viewable simultaneously. Click and drag the oldest file from the Windows Explorer window and drop it into the pop up Combine Files window within the Adobe program.

5. This is the tricky step. Click and drag the second oldest file from the Windows Explorer window and drop it into the pop up Combine Files window within the Adobe program. No matter how you drop it into the Adobe program, it will also sort that second dragged file as now the first file to be combined. Within the Adobe program pop up Combine Files window, simply switch the first and second files to be combined so that they are now in the proper order.

6. Click and drag the next individual file by date from the Windows Explorer window and drop it underneath the other files in the pop up Combine Files window within the Adobe program. Repeat until all files have been dragged and dropped underneath the previous files.

7. Perform a quality control check by checking a random sampling of the files in the Windows Explorer window against the files slated for combination in the Adobe program. Follow the remaining steps for combining the documents in the Adobe program and final document will have the files arranged in order by which the date they were modified.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember, this only works for documents that have been modified in the order in which you want them combined. MS Word documents that have been edited and saved will have different "date modified" properties.
• This article typically applies to the "standard" versions of Adobe Acrobat; the professional versions that cost more are capable of arranging files by the date modified in the combination screen.
• Combining files is only possible with specialized purchased Adobe software; the free Adobe Reader is not capable of combining.