Merging Linked Files into Single PDF Document

AutoSplit plug-in for Adobe® Acrobat®

Introduction

This tutorial shows how to append all external files referenced by links and bookmarks to the current PDF document using the AutoSplit™ plug-in for the Adobe® Acrobat®.

This operation scans all links and bookmarks in the current PDF document and examines "Open a file", "Go to a page in another document" and "Open a web link" actions to get a list of the linked files. Next, all linked files are appended to the main document. Both, PDF and non-PDF files can be merged. The plug-in allows to automatically re-target links in the resulting PDF document from external files to the corresponding pages in the document. For example, all "Open a file" links that pointing to X.pdf will be converted into "Go to a page view" links pointing to the first page of this file after it has been inserted into the main document.

Sample Document Description

The sample document we are going to use in this tutorial has links/bookmarks to multiple external files: Chemical_Structure.xlsx, Adderall.docx and Alprazolam.pdf.

We are going to apply "Merge Linked Files" operation to the main document (Drug List.pdf) to append 3 linked files. All original links will be re-targeted to the corresponding pages in the output document.

Prerequisites

You need a copy of the Adobe® Acrobat® along with the AutoSplit™ plug-in installed on your computer in order to use this tutorial. You can download trial versions of both the Adobe® Acrobat® and the AutoSplit™.

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1 - Open a PDF Document

Start the Adobe® Acrobat® application and open a PDF document to be processed using "File > Open..." from the main menu.

Step 2 - Open the "Merge Linked Files" Dialog

Select "Plug-Ins > Merge Documents > Merge Linked Files into Current Document..." to open the "Merge Linked Files" dialog.

[⚡ How to locate Plugins menu ⚡].

Step 3 - Specify Settings

Configure merging parameters by selecting processing options in the "Merge Linked Files" dialog.

Check the Adjust links and bookmarks to point to correct pages option to re-target links in the resulting PDF document from external files to the corresponding pages in the document. Note that links on all pages (including the newly inserted ones) are processed. This means that cross-file links will keep working after the merge operation. For example, if two external files A.pdf and B.pdf have cross-file links, then these links will continue to function correctly (as a links to pages) in the merged document. This option will convert "Open a file", "Go to a page in another document" and "Open a web link" links and bookmarks into "Go to a page view" links and bookmarks. Only links that were originally pointing to the external files are affected by this action.

Check the Bookmark first page of each inserted file option to add bookmarks to the first page of each document that has been merged into the main document. The file name with extension will be used as a bookmark title. For example, the FileA.pdf will be bookmarked as "FileA.pdf".

By default, all supported file types will be merged into the PDF file. Check the "Merge only PDF files, do not convert non-PDF files" option to skip processing of non-PDF files. If this option is checked, then only PDF files will be merged into the main document.

Step 4 - Start Merging

Click "OK" to start merging documents.

Step 5 - Inspect the Results

The processing report is generated at the end of the merging. It contains detailed information on:

• the number of files that have been appended to the document;
• the number of files that have been failed to append to the document;
• the number of links that have been adjusted (if the option had been selected);
• the number of bookmarks that have been adjusted (if the option had been selected);
• the list of files that have been appended and failed to append.

Note that if a PDF file has security restrictions or is password-protected, then it cannot be appended into the document and will be skipped.

Click "Close" to close the processing report. Optionally, save the report in the *.txt file format by clicking the "Save..." button.

The resulting "Drug List.pdf" document now contains all external files referenced by links and bookmarks. All links have been re-targeted to the corresponding pages in the output document.

The bookmarks have been created to the first page of each appended file (the "Bookmark first page of each inserted file" option has been checked).

Click here for a list of all step-by-step tutorials available.