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Cornflex
Cornflex
Participant
August 3, 2023
Question

Pages in combined PDF not showing

  • August 3, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 1004 views

I have received a PDF that has been combined in Apple Preview from 3 PDFs. The complete file consists of 13 pages. Unfortunately ACROBAT keeps displaying only the first 2 pages (the first of the 3 original files) and I cannot change this behaviour.

In other PDF viewers like in Firefox / Chrome and on mobile all 13 pages are shown correctly...
I have no idea what causes this behaviour and how to fix it. Unfortunately the file is for an important application and like this I cannot be sure whether the recipient will see the correct, complete file or only 2 pages in case he is using ACROBAT.
Very grateful for any help or ideas!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Brad @ Roaring Mouse
Community Expert
Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 7, 2023

Since Acrobat did not create the file (Preview essentially rewrites all the code using the Quartz PDF engine when it combines things), your "mileage may vary" on how this file performs elsewhere and in other pdf viewers.

I never recommend using this approach, as Preview's PDFs tend to be written "dumb"... e.g. downsaved to a flattened PDFv1.3, or slightly better PDFv1.4, even if your originals are higher versions than that. This is not a good thing, especially with print production files.

In any case, I tried a couple of sample files myself now, combining them from with Preview, and also by the Finder gallery view method, and found, other than the lower PDF version, they worked without error in Acrobat.

In any case, I suggest maybe getting the original 3 files and combining them yourself in Acrobat if you want to be more self-assured they will work properly.

    AkanchhaS8194121
    AkanchhaS8194121
    Legend
    August 7, 2023

    Hi @Cornflex 

     

    Sorry to see the trouble caused

    Since it looks like a file-specific issue, can you share the file with us to test in-house?

    Also, have you checked thoroughly whether that file has created a PDF portfolio upon combining, and that is the reason it's showing only the cover of each file? Can you also share the screenshot of how it looks on your end?

    Usually, files created or opened in Preview becomes corrupted. And it can't be viewed correctly in Acrobat. We need to check if this is the case.

     

    Thanks,

    Akanchha 

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