8 Combining Files

Lesson overview

In this lesson, you’ll do the following:

• Quickly and easily combine files of different types into one PDF document.

• Select individual pages to include in a combined PDF file.

• Customize a combined PDF file.

• Combine files into a PDF Portfolio (Acrobat Pro only).

This lesson will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. Download the project files for this lesson, following the instructions in the Getting Started section under “Accessing the lesson files and Web Edition,” if you haven’t already done so. As you work on this lesson, you’ll preserve the start files. If you need to restore the start files, download them from your Account page.

You can easily combine multiple files, including files of different file types, into a coherent PDF document. You can even select which pages to include from each document.

About combining files

In Acrobat DC, you can assemble multiple files into an integrated PDF document. You can combine files of different formats, created in different applications. As long as you have applications installed that support the native documents’ formats, they’ll automatically be converted to PDF. For example, you could assemble all the documents for a specific project, including text documents, email messages, spreadsheets, CAD drawings, and PowerPoint presentations. When you combine the files, you can select specific pages from each document and then rearrange them. Acrobat converts each to PDF and then assembles them into a single PDF file.

If you have Acrobat DC Pro, you can choose to combine files in a PDF Portfolio. Files in a PDF Portfolio do not need to be converted to PDF; they can remain in their original format but are assembled into a coherent document. For more information, see the sidebar “Creating a PDF Portfolio” at the end of this lesson.

Selecting files to combine

In this lesson, you’ll create a combined PDF file that contains documents for the board meeting of a fictitious beverage company. You’ll assemble several PDF files, a logo, a Microsoft Word document, and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. You can select which pages of each document to include in the combined PDF file.

Adding files

First, you’ll select the files you want to include in the combined PDF file.

1. Start Acrobat.

2. Click Tools.

3. In the Tools Center, click the Combine Files tool in the Create & Edit category.

The Combine Files dialog box appears.

4. Click Add Files.

5. Navigate to the Lesson08/Assets folder.

The folder contains a GIF file, an Excel spreadsheet, a Word document, and several PDF files.

6. Select Aquo_Bottle.pdf, and then Shift-click Logo.gif to select the following files, and click Open (Windows) or Add Files (macOS):

   • Aquo_Bottle.pdf

   • Aquo_Building.pdf

   • Aquo_Costs.pdf

   • Aquo_Fin_Ana.xls

   • Aquo_Mkt_Summ.doc

   • Aquo_Overview.pdf

   • Logo.gif

If you do not have the required software installed to convert a document, you won’t be able to select it.

Browsing files

Acrobat displays a thumbnail for each selected file in the Combine Files dialog box. You can use those thumbnails to preview a document, select specific pages to include, delete a file, or rearrange the pages in the final file.

1. Select the Aquo_Bottle.pdf thumbnail.

2. Move the cursor over the thumbnail. Acrobat displays the filename, size, modification date, and the number of pages it contains.

3. Click the magnifying glass on the thumbnail to zoom in to the full page.

4. Click anywhere in the dialog box outside of the preview page to close the preview box.

5. Move the cursor over the Aquo_Overview.pdf thumbnail, and click the Expand 3 Pages icon (a double-headed arrow) to see each of the pages in the document.

You can preview each page separately, rearrange them, or delete them from the combined PDF file.

6. Select the thumbnail of the third page in the Aquo_Overview.pdf file, and then click the Remove button () at the top of the dialog box.

Only two pages remain in the document.

7. Click the Collapse Document button (inward-pointing arrows) over the Aquo_Overview.pdf thumbnail to collapse the document back to a single thumbnail.

8. Move the cursor over the Aquo_Fin_Ana.xls file, and then click the Expand Two Pages icon to view the two worksheets it contains.

Arranging pages

You can organize the pages in the merged file before you actually create it. Just drag and drop thumbnails in the Combine Files dialog box to place them in the order you want them to appear.

1. Drag the Logo.gif file to the top of the dialog box, so that it’s the first file, before Aquo_Bottle.pdf.

2. Drag the first worksheet in the Aquo_Fin_Ana.xls file so that it appears right after the Aquo_Mkt_Summ.doc file.

You can arrange documents, or individual pages within those documents.

3. Collapse any expanded documents, and then arrange the remaining documents so that they appear in the following order:

   • Logo.gif

   • Aquo_Bottle.pdf

   • Aquo_Overview.pdf

   • Aquo_Building.pdf

   • Aquo_Costs.pdf

   • Second sheet of Aquo_Fin_Ana.xls

   • Aquo_Mkt_Summ.doc

   • First sheet of Aquo_Fin_Ana.xls

4. Click the Switch To List View button at the top of the dialog box to see the filenames and information instead of thumbnails.

Merging the files

When you’ve selected the pages you want to include and arranged them in the appropriate order, you’re ready to combine the files.

1. Click the Options icon () at the top of the Combine Files dialog box.

2. In the Options dialog box, make sure the Default File Size option is selected.

The Smaller File Size option uses compression and resolution settings that are appropriate for onscreen display. The Default File Size option creates PDF files for business printing and viewing onscreen. The Larger File Size option uses High Quality Print conversion settings.

3. Make sure Always Add Bookmarks To Adobe PDF is selected.

When this option is selected, Acrobat creates bookmarks for the file as it converts and combines the documents.

4. Make sure Save As PDF Portfolio is not selected so that Acrobat combines all the files into a single combined PDF document.

5. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

6. Click Combine.

Acrobat reports its progress as it converts individual documents to PDF format and then combines the files. Some source applications may open and close during the conversion process. When Acrobat has finished merging the documents, it opens the resulting file, named Binder1.pdf.

7. Click the Bookmarks button () in the navigation pane to view the bookmarks Acrobat created for the document.

Because you moved a worksheet separately from the rest of the Excel document, that document is included twice in the list of bookmarks. In Windows, Acrobat creates additional bookmarks for individual pages, nested under the bookmark for the document name. Depending on your goals for the document, you might want to edit the bookmarks.

8. Browse through the document. The pages are in the order you specified.

9. Choose File > Save As, and save the document as Aquo presentation in the Lesson08/Finished_Projects folder.

10. Close the Aquo presentation.pdf file.

Creating a PDF Portfolio (Acrobat Pro)

In Acrobat DC Pro, you can assemble files of different formats into a PDF Portfolio. You do not need to convert files into PDF to include them in a PDF Portfolio.

PDF Portfolios offer several advantages over files merged into an ordinary PDF file or native files stored separately:

• You can add and remove component documents easily.

• You can quickly preview component files without having to pause for Open or Save dialog boxes.

• You can edit individual files within the PDF Portfolio without affecting the other files. You can also edit non-PDF files in their native applications from within a PDF Portfolio; any changes you make are saved to the file within the PDF Portfolio.

• You can search the entire PDF Portfolio or individual component documents, including non-PDF component files.

• You can add non-PDF files to an existing PDF Portfolio without converting them to PDF.

To create a merged PDF Portfolio:

1. Choose File > Create > PDF Portfolio.

The Create PDF Portfolio dialog box is similar to the Combine Files dialog box.

2. Click Add Files at the top of the dialog box, and then choose Add Files.

3. Select the files you want to include, and click Open (Windows) or Add Files (macOS).

4. Arrange the files in the order you want them to appear in the PDF Portfolio.

5. Click Create.

Acrobat opens the PDF Portfolio, named Portfolio1.pdf. It lists the Portfolio components in the navigation pane on the left.

To navigate the PDF Portfolio, click a component name on the left, use the Previous and Next buttons in the document taskbar, or press the Left and Right Arrow keys on your keyboard.

If the selected component is a non-PDF document, click Open Document to open the document in its native application, such as Microsoft Word. If the selected document is a PDF file, clicking Open Document opens a separate copy of the PDF document. You can extract individual documents from a PDF Portfolio, whether they’re PDF files or native documents. To extract a file, navigate to the document in the PDF Portfolio, and then choose File > Extract File From Portfolio. Name the file, choose a folder for it, and click Save.

6. Choose File > PDF Portfolio.

The Save As PDF dialog box opens.

7. Select a folder for the PDF Portfolio, and then name it, and click Save.