Need to combine a few invoices into one file, pull three pages out of a long document, or turn photographed receipts into a PDF? You don’t need to install an expensive program or upload sensitive files to an unknown server. Just use our free PDF tools, which run directly in your browser. In this article we show how to merge, split and create PDFs, and why it makes sense to do these edits locally. If you want to go fully paperless, also check our guide on document digitisation.

How to merge several PDFs into one

Merging is probably the most common task. A typical example: at the end of the month you have ten separate invoices and your accountant wants a single file. Or you scanned a contract page by page and now need one coherent document out of them.

The process is simple:

  • Open the PDF tools and choose the merge function.
  • Add all the PDFs you want to combine. You can select them all at once.
  • Arrange them in the order they should follow. Order matters, because that is exactly how the pages will appear in the final document.
  • Press merge and download the finished file.

The benefit is that you don’t have to re-print or re-scan anything. Several small files become one tidy PDF that is easier to send and archive.

How to split a PDF or extract specific pages

The opposite situation happens when you have one large PDF and only need part of it. For example, you received a 30-page contract and want to send a colleague only the appendix on pages 1 to 3 and the signature page 5.

In the tool you simply enter a page range, for example 1-3,5. This notation means pages 1, 2, 3 and 5. You can combine individual pages and continuous ranges as needed. The tool then creates a new document with only the selected pages and drops the rest.

Extracting pages comes in handy in many cases:

  • You send a client only the relevant part of a longer report.
  • You need to separate one specific document from a scanned bundle.
  • You want to pull a few slides out of a presentation without sending the whole file.

The original document stays untouched, you only work with a copy, so there is nothing to break.

How to create a PDF from images

Sometimes you don’t have a document as a PDF, only a photo on your phone. A parking receipt, a hand-signed sheet or an ID card. From such photos you can assemble a proper PDF document in one go.

Select the images, arrange them in the right order and the tool turns each photo into a single PDF page. The result is far more professional and easier to archive than a pile of separate images. If the photos are too large, you can shrink them before adding with the image compression tool, so the resulting PDF isn’t needlessly heavy.

Why edit PDFs in the browser

Online you will find dozens of services promising the same thing. The catch is that most of them first upload your files to their server, process them there and only then return the result. For a regular flyer that’s fine, but for contracts, invoices or ID documents it means your sensitive data travels through someone else’s computer.

Our PDF tools work differently. Everything is computed right in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. The files never leave your device, so you don’t have to worry about who has access to them or how long they stay on a foreign server. It’s faster, safer, and it even works offline once the page has loaded.

Practical tips to finish

  • Before merging, name your files so they line up in the right order. It makes arranging them easier.
  • When extracting pages, double-check the range. The notation 1-3,5 does not include page 4, which is easy to miss.
  • Make scans and photos straight and in good light. You’ll save yourself extra editing.
  • Shrink large photos before adding them to a PDF so the document stays snappy.
  • After downloading the finished PDF, open it once and flip through to confirm the order and page count are right.

Merging, splitting and building PDFs from images is now a matter of a few clicks. Try our PDF tools and you’ll see that everyday paperwork needs nothing more.

This article is part of our Software and system overview.