Programs to merge PDFs
Do you need to merge two or more PDF files but don’t know which programs to use? They have sent you a PDF document divided into several parts, would you like to merge it into a single file but you don’t know how to do it? No problem, you’ve come to the right place at the right time.
In fact, in today’s tutorial, I’ll show you some of the best programs to merge PDFs and explain how to use them. Whether you have a Windows PC, a Mac or a computer equipped with Linux, rest assured that you will find a solution that suits you and that you will learn how to use it so quickly and easily that you will be surprised. How do you say? Are you wondering what the average price of applications of this type is? I’ll tell you right away: zero euros.
Yes, you read that right! Most of the software I’m going to tell you about today can be downloaded at no cost. And that’s not all! There are also online solutions that allow you to merge PDF files directly from the browser, without installing programs on your PC: you connect to them, select the files to merge and that’s it. If you want to know more, keep reading: find all the information you need right below!
PDF Merge Tool (Windows)
If you use a Windows PC and are looking for an ultra-fast solution to merge PDF files, you can turn to PDF Merge Tool: a small free application that allows you to merge two or more PDF documents without facing tedious installation procedures. Download it, extract it into a folder (or onto a USB stick) and use it.
To download PDF Merge Tool on your PC, connect to the SourceForge site (which hosts the program) and click on the PDF_Merge_Tool_NoInstall_v1.0.0.zip item. Then open the zip package that is downloaded to your computer, extract the contents into any folder and start the PDF Merge Tool.exe executable.
At this point, take the PDFs you want to merge and drag them into the PDF Merge Tool window. If the drag does not work, press the Add button and select “manually” the PDFs to be merged. Next, use the Move up and Move down buttons to reorder the documents however you like and click the Merge button ! to save the merged document.
PDFill PDF Tools (Windows)
If you are looking for a more complete solution for merging PDFs, you can turn to PDFill PDF Tools: a free utility that allows you to edit PDF files on Windows in various ways. It allows you to merge PDFs by removing unnecessary pages, split PDF documents into multiple parts, add headers, footnotes, add watermarks, extrapolate images and much more, all without limitations, watermarks or advertising screens that interrupt your work.
To download PDFill PDF Tools on your PC, connect to the official website of the program and click first on the Download now button located at the top right (under the heading Get this tool only ) and then on the Download Now button located in the center of the page that opens. Then open the software installation package ( PDFill_PDF_Tools_FREE.exe ) and click first on Yes and then on Next.
Then put the checkmark next to the item I accept the terms in the License Agreement, click on Next, remove the check from the items related to the other PDFill software to avoid their installation (they are not harmful, but you do not need them) and complete the setup by first clicking on Next twice consecutively and then on Install and Finish. If during the setup GhostScript and .Net Framework are downloaded, don’t be alarmed: they are two free components without which PDFill FREE PDF Tools cannot work (they are not promotional contents!).
When the installation is complete, start PDFill PDF Tools and click on the Merge PDF files button. Then drag the PDFs to be merged into the window that opens (or click the Add a PDF file button and select them “manually”), use the Move up and Move down buttons to arrange them in the order you prefer and save the output document by clicking the Save as button.
Adobe Acrobat Pro (Windows / Mac)
Adobe Acrobat Pro is the paid version of Adobe Reader, one of the most popular PDF readers in the world. It includes a bunch of advanced features, including those for merging PDFs, splitting them and editing them in various ways (for example by adding text, images, geometric shapes and highlights).
To start merging two or more files in PDF format, you need to go to the File menu located at the top left and select the Create> Combine files into a single PDF from the latter.
In the screen that opens, presses the Add button, select the PDFs to be merged and available in the order you prefer by moving their thumbnails. When the operation is completed, click on the Combine button located at the top right, select the floppy disk icon located at the top left and choose the folder to export the output file.
Preview (Mac)
If you’re on a Mac, you can merge your PDF documents using Preview – the default macOS application for viewing (and editing) images and electronic documents.
To merge PDFs with Preview, all you have to do is open the first document you want to merge, activate the thumbnail view from the View menu (located at the top) and drag the other PDFs to merge into the Preview sidebar.
At this point, recall the print command from the File menu (or press the combination of keys cmd + p on your Mac keyboard), expand the PDF drop-down menu located at the bottom left, select the item Save as PDF from this last and choose the folder where to export the output document.
PDF Toolkit + (Mac)
If you find Preview a little too cumbersome, you can merge PDFs on Mac using PDF Toolkit + . In case you have never heard of it, it is a small but powerful software that allows you to merge, divide and optimize PDFs in a very simple way. Unfortunately, it is not free: you have to buy it from the Mac App Store for € 1.99, but I assure you that it is worth every penny of its price.
To merge two or more PDFs with PDF Toolkit +, start the program, select the Concatenate tab of the latter and drag the documents to be merged into the Files to be concatenated pane on the left.
Then use the mouse to arrange the files in the order you prefer and press the Concatenate button to choose the folder in which to save the output PDF.
PDF Shuffler (Linux)
Do you use a computer equipped with Linux and more specifically with Ubuntu? Then you can merge your PDFs with PDF Shuffler: a free application available in your distro’s Software Center.
When the installation is complete, to merge two or more PDFs with PDF Shuffler, start the program, click on the + button located at the top left and choose the PDFs to merge. Then reorder the documents using the mouse on their thumbnails, press the hard disk icon and choose the folder in which to export the output document.
iLovePDF (Online)
Don’t feel like downloading programs on your PC? In this case, you can turn to online solutions, such as iLovePDF which allows you to merge, divide, convert and edit PDF files in various ways by acting directly from the browser. It is free, requires no mandatory registration and is very easy to use.
To use it, link to it and use the Select PDF file button, to select the PDFs to merge. Subsequently, if you deem it necessary, reorder them and download the final document by clicking on the Merge PDF button. Easier than that?