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Petteri_Paananen
Petteri_Paananen
Inspiring
August 31, 2010
Answered

Merge 2 pdf pages to 1?

  • August 31, 2010
  • 15 replies
  • 954362 views

Hi folks

Time to time I have to merge PDF pages (pages 2-3 to one doublesized page etc). I have always done that by printing multiple pages per sheet... in my case 2 pages per sheet, but instead of printing, I have saved my work as PDF.

Now I have upgraded to MacOS X 10.6 and that doesn´t work any more. If I try, I get warning "Saving a PDF file when printing is not supported, use File>Save instead".

My problem is that there is no option "Save multiple pages per sheet"... so there´s no use to save it.... Is there some workarounds? I really need this feature and I can´t believe it has been taken away....

    Correct answer

    One work around would be to create a blank PDF document to the size that you need. So, if you want to combine two 8.5" x 11" PDFs into a 17" x 11" PDF, create a blank PDF measuring 17" x 11".

    Then with your Blank PDF open, go to the "Document" menu and "Background" > "Add/Replace". For "Source" choose the page you want on the left and pick that PDF file setting the horizontal position at 0 from left.

    Then go to the "Document" menu > "Watermark" > "Add". For "Source" choose the page you want on the right and pick that PDF file setting the horizontal position at 0 from right. Make sure you set the opacity and scale to 100%.

    15 replies

    Show previous replies
    Lutin
    Lutin
    Participant
    January 26, 2015

    There is a powerful plugin called Quite Imposing that does easily this (and many other tricks related to pages manipulation).

      Bernd Alheit
      Community Expert
      Bernd AlheitCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 26, 2015

      Why do you repeat a 5 years old answer?

      Lutin
      Lutin
      Participant
      January 26, 2015

      To let people know that it is still the easiest way to do it, after trying some of the advice given here

        A
        Anonymous
        November 8, 2011

        I have done this! However, you might need Acrobat Pro to do this...

        1) Open your PDF (in Adobe Acrobat Pro)

        2) Chose print

        The print/printer options pop-up will show.

        3) In the printer section, do not use your normal printer, a printer named Adobe PDF should be an option. Chose it.

        4) Under the "Page handling" section, change the Page Scaling drop-down menu to "Multiple pages per sheet".

        Voila....

        I tried it with a document with over 100 pages and it only takes a few minutes for the conversion to take place, but it works perfectly.

          M
          MI Atlanta
          Participating Frequently
          May 24, 2013

          It works, but it looses all of the font information and the search no longer works. How can you do it savint the font info so the search tool continues to operate?

          J
          Jinglefangs5CC0
          Participant
          April 28, 2021

          After creating the new combined PDF, open it in Acrobat, go to Tools, and select Text Recognition/In This File. Not only will it add the text recognition, it will also straighten your image if it happens to be crooked.

          D
          Daniel Kahr
          Participant
          July 15, 2011

          1) Open your original file in the application Preview

          2) "Print to PDF" (pulldown menu in bottom left of print dialog window) with 2 pages per sheet just as you did before updating your OS.

            fgplus.77497004
            fgplus.77497004
            Participant
            March 24, 2015

            Daniel Kahr's solution is the easiest and most effective!!! Thanks!

              S
              stevoramaa
              Participant
              June 6, 2011

              I hope this helps! I've been back and forth trying to figure this out myself, and now I may have an answer!!!

              I put a tutorial video to see visually!! I'll do my best to give step by step!

              I am using a Macbook Pro 2.33ghz. Adobe Acrobat Pro 10.0.3

              Click the Video to see how it's done on vimeo. You can also download it from my vimeo site!

              http://vimeo.com/24737092

              1. In Adobe Acrobat go to "Combine Files into PDF"

              2. Select the 2 files you want.

              3. You will see that the 2 files are seperate and you want them to be together as one page. To do this>

                   Click "View>Page Display>Two Page View"

              Boom, you see it's landscape, and they look to be on one page. BUT it's still 2 pages!! Hence in Two Page View.

              4. Make sure you zoom out to see the edges of the pages. Make sure your tool bars and page drop down menus are hidden and not showing. You want to just see the landcape files side by side.

              5. Go to "File>Create>PDF From Screen Capture"

                   This will than duplicate your screen and you will see another window of your work.

              6. Now drop down from the left your "Tool" bar and click "CROP" tool

                   Crop the 2 landscaped files.

                   Once selected hit "ENTER" on your keyboard. This will than crop your file.

              7. Go to "FILE" and save your work as a pdf.

                   You have now created 2 files into one page.

              Once you have created the 2 page merge, you than take your final PDF and Combine Files into PDF allowing you to save your work as one PDF.

              In my case it was a magazine file I needed to create. Didin't want each page to be one page at a time. Needed them to be combined as you can see in my tutorial!!

              Thanks for looking and hope this helps!!

                G
                goanna2
                Known Participant
                June 6, 2011

                There is another way which involves a bit of work, but it leaves the combined pdf editable (allowing that you only have Acrobat Pro).

                Combine the pdfs as Steve described.

                1. Using the Crop pages tool (Advanced > Print Production > Crop Pages), click the page and when the box comes up, select 'Change page size' and choose any page size that is at least twice as big. The page will probably not be the aspect you want - may be portrait instead of landscape.

                2. Using the 'Touch up Object Tool' (Tools > Advanced Editing > Touch Up Object Tool) drag the marquee around your 1st page artwork, copy it, delete the artwork and rotate the page to horizontal aspect. Then paste the artwork back. Drag a horizontal rule down to line up the top of the artwork.

                3. Go to your second page and using the same Touch Up Object Tool, copy the second page artwork and return to the first (enlarged) page and paste.

                4. Drag the artwork into line, using the arrow keys to nudge into place, and crop page as desired.

                Thanks for posing the question, there are probably heaps of ways to do it using Acrobat alone, but this is the only one I could come up with.

                  MichaelKazlow
                  MichaelKazlow
                  Legend
                  August 31, 2010

                  Reburning pdf files has been frowned upon by Adobe for several years now. The changes in the pdf printing capabilities were required by Snow Leopard's internal architecture changes. Adobe had no control. The best way to do what you want is through a neat utility I have used for years, Quite Imposing, www.quite.com.

                  Petteri_Paananen
                  Petteri_PaananenAuthor
                  Inspiring
                  August 31, 2010

                  Is it really so that there is no tool for merging pages in Acrobat.... HUH, I can´t believe this is true....

                  Anyway, thanks to let me know...

                    G
                    George_Johnson
                    Inspiring
                    August 31, 2010

                    Sorry, duplicate info.

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