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Split and Merge PDFS with PDFSam
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 10:00 PM on December 18, 2007
Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms): Join PDFs together, split them apart and pull out individual pages with pdfsam, an open-source, Java-based cross-platform tool that's a free download. The program, just released in a 1.0 alpha, does basic PDF manipulation pretty quickly, and job processes can be saved for common tasks. As with the OS X-native Combine PDFs, it's a handy tool to tuck away for when you need it, like pulling relevant chapters out of a manual or textbook. Pdfsam is a free download and works wherever Java can, but a Windows installation tool is available.
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Jonah
Posted 1:19 PM 18/12/07
@Joel I 3rd pdftk. I use it regularly.
Jonah
Will
Posted 11:11 AM 18/12/07
@cipheroid: Though sometimes things get lost when printed. Usually it is better to extract the pages directly instead of printing them through a PDF printer.
@Joel: I have to second the PDF Toolkit as it is one of the handiest pdf tools and very lightweight and has never skipped a beat even on pdfs with pages numbering in the thousands.
If you want a GUI interface for PDFTK for Windows, check out PDFTK Builder at [angusj.com]
Will
elchapin
Posted 11:01 AM 18/12/07
Will PDF Split and Merge, or any of the other apps mentioned, split a PDF by its bookmarks?
Will any of the above handle incremental page numbering?
elchapin
cipheroid
Posted 10:01 AM 18/12/07
If you have a PDF print driver on your machine (there are several free alternatives to pick from), you can extract selected pages from a PDF file without any other special add-ons.
Open up the document in Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 or 8. Print it to the PDF driver, and in the Print Range panel, select the Pages button. Enter the range of pages you want to print (e.g., 9 - 14). You can print nonadjacent pages by separating the ranges with a comma (e.g., 9 - 14, 77, 85 - 102).
That will create a new PDF file with only the selected pages.
Also, if you're printing a hard copy, you can print multiple pages per sheet -- very useful for saving paper!
cipheroid
Wayne Goode
Posted 8:51 AM 18/12/07
I needed just such a program last week. I downloaded and used the free PDF Tools at [sheelapps.com] and it worked fine.
Wayne Goode
Joel
Posted 7:49 AM 18/12/07
I've been using the pdf toolkit (pdftk) command line tool quite a lot recently to do similar things, it's very handy once you get the hang of it and perhaps more lightweight than a java app?
Joel
dashifen
Posted 7:49 AM 18/12/07
As another option, there are free tools from PDFill ([pdfill.com]) which can do split and merge on PDFs as well.
They also can rotate and crop pages, reformat multiple pages into one, add headers and footers, add watermarks, convert images to PDF (and vice-versa), convert PostScript into PDF, and some stuff with PDF forms, too.
dashifen
Knight_Owl
Posted 6:40 PM 18/12/07
@cipheroid: Thanks for that tip! I'll have to give that a try as an ultra-lite option.
Knight_Owl