How to Organize PDF Files

Adobe Acrobat allows a straightforward way to organize and merge PDF files.

Adobe Acrobat provides several ways to organize documents for your own filing and for presentation to others. When all the documents you're preparing have been converted to PDF files, a simple and effective organization method is to merge those files into one document. The "Merge" command in Acrobat allows you to easily arrange the order the files appear in the document and provide uniform page numbering options.

Instructions

1. Choose "Merge Files Into a Single PDF" under Acrobat's "Choose File / Combine" menu. In the new "Combine Files" window, make sure the button for "Single PDF" at top right is selected.

2. Click the "Add Files" button in the same window at top left, and in the drop down menu that opens, select "Add Files." To add all files in a folder, select "Add Folder." Select "Reuse Files" to select PDF files that were used in a prior Combine Files session, and select "Currently Open" for PDF files you already have open on your computer.

3. Select the PDF files you wish to organize into one document from the "Choose" window. If you are adding folders, selecting a folder will import all supported files in that folder and in its subfolders. If you chose "Reuse Files," a new window appears listing the PDF files you've combined before. Drag any of those files to the right in the box for "File Contents to Reuse."

4. Arrange the files in the Combine Files window in the order you want them to appear by dragging the files into ascending order. You can also sort the list by clicking on the column you wish to sort by: "Name," "Page Range," "Size," and (Date) "Modified."

5. Click on a file and then click the "Choose Pages" button to select only a page range from the file to add to the combined PDF document.

6. Choose the file size from the size icons in the Combine Files window: small for on-screen viewing, mid-size for printing of business documents, and large for quality printing purposes.

7. Click on the "Combine Files" button to create the new PDF document.

8. Add headers and footers to give "unifying page elements" to the combined documents. Choose "Add" under the "Document/Header and Footer" menu, and in the new window, type any text in the boxes for right, center and left header or footer, and click "Insert Page number" to number the pages for the combined document.

References

• Adobe / Acrobat Support