Adding separate PDFs into one large pdf

bradje · 10-12-2017, 05:09 AM

Hello,
Maybe this is a bit too far fetched as a request. I'm not meaning to be rude.

A book I wish to read has all chapters on the Web in PDF format. But each chapter of the book is a separate pdf.
Can I open up Chapter 1, then open Chapter 2 and add the contents of Chapter 2 to Chapter 1 and so on for the 7 chapters of the book, in Calibre?

Thankyou so much for a really excellent program! Very useful work.

JB

kovidgoyal · 10-12-2017, 06:24 AM

There are many tools that can combine PDF files. calibre used to have this functionality as a command line tool but IIRC it was removed a while back given there are many other programs designed specifically for this task. Simply sue one of them and import the resulting into calibre.

bradje · 10-12-2017, 04:06 PM

Thx very much.
JB

haertig · 10-13-2017, 01:04 AM

If you are running Linux, the command to use is "convert". Not only can this command combine PDF's like you want, but it can convert things from different formats as well (doesn't sound like you need that however).

The command line would be "convert *.pdf outputfile.pdf"

This is assuming that all your *.pdf input files are named so that they sort into the proper order that you want them combined. If the files are named more randomly and don't sort cleanly, you can replace "*.pdf" with "file1.pdf theotherfile.pdf input.pdf mychapter.pdf" - in other words, list your files in the specific order that you want them combined.

Your input files don't all have to be PDF's either. You could have some JPG's, PNG's, etc mixed in there as well.

If you're running Windows, sorry, I can't help you. Google search would be your friend.

BetterRed · 10-13-2017, 02:59 AM

@bradje - On Windows I use PDFsam Basic (Split and Merge), IIRC it's also available for other OS's - it needs Java.

BR

bradje · 10-13-2017, 05:17 AM

Wow! Thx guys. I'll try the Windows one and if I can't get it going I'll ask the Linux team at work for help.
Thx again for the suggestions.
JB

10-12-2017, 05:09 AM	#1
bradje Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: HP Laptop	Adding separate PDFs into one large pdf Hello, Maybe this is a bit too far fetched as a request. I'm not meaning to be rude. A book I wish to read has all chapters on the Web in PDF format. But each chapter of the book is a separate pdf. Can I open up Chapter 1, then open Chapter 2 and add the contents of Chapter 2 to Chapter 1 and so on for the 7 chapters of the book, in Calibre? Thankyou so much for a really excellent program! Very useful work. JB

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10-12-2017, 06:24 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,844 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	There are many tools that can combine PDF files. calibre used to have this functionality as a command line tool but IIRC it was removed a while back given there are many other programs designed specifically for this task. Simply sue one of them and import the resulting into calibre.

10-12-2017, 04:06 PM	#3
bradje Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: HP Laptop	Thx very much. JB

10-13-2017, 01:04 AM	#4
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,738 Karma: 26006874 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	If you are running Linux, the command to use is "convert". Not only can this command combine PDF's like you want, but it can convert things from different formats as well (doesn't sound like you need that however). The command line would be "convert .pdf outputfile.pdf" This is assuming that all your .pdf input files are named so that they sort into the proper order that you want them combined. If the files are named more randomly and don't sort cleanly, you can replace "*.pdf" with "file1.pdf theotherfile.pdf input.pdf mychapter.pdf" - in other words, list your files in the specific order that you want them combined. Your input files don't all have to be PDF's either. You could have some JPG's, PNG's, etc mixed in there as well. If you're running Windows, sorry, I can't help you. Google search would be your friend.

10-13-2017, 02:59 AM	#5
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,557 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@bradje - On Windows I use PDFsam Basic (Split and Merge), IIRC it's also available for other OS's - it needs Java. BR

10-13-2017, 05:17 AM	#6
bradje Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: HP Laptop	Wow! Thx guys. I'll try the Windows one and if I can't get it going I'll ask the Linux team at work for help. Thx again for the suggestions. JB