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Combining PDFs in Preview
#34507 06/01/15 03:53 PM
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Ira L Offline OP
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Before you answer, I only want responses for OS X 10.10.3; I have successfully done what I am asking in previous OS's. For some reason, even following the instructions listed in Preview Help, it does not work.

Here is what Preview Help says, and what I have tried to do:
"1. Open the PDFs you want to combine.

2. In each open PDF, choose View > Thumbnails to display the pages of the PDF in the sidebar.

3. Drag the thumbnails you want to add (Command-click to select noncontiguous pages) to the thumbnail sidebar in the other PDF.

4. You can add pages to the end of the document or between pages in a document. Drag thumbnails to reorder them. You can also add a PDF file before or after another PDF document.

5. Choose File > Export to save a new PDF containing all of the combined pages, or choose File > Save to replace the original version of the destination PDF with the version containing the combined pages."

Everything goes well until I try to save the combined PDF. Either by Save, Save As, or Export, only one page of the combined PDF is saved. All the other pages that were dragged into the document do not appear.

In 10.10.3 can you do the above and get a new document with all of the added pages? If you did something else and it works, what?

Thanks.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Combining PDFs in Preview
Ira L #34508 06/01/15 04:16 PM
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I haven't done this, but did you try invoking the Print dialog box and saving it as a PDF from there?


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Combining PDFs in Preview
Ira L #34509 06/01/15 05:07 PM
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Looks like a serious bug to me.

I was able to successfully combine pages following Jon's suggestion.



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
Re: Combining PDFs in Preview
dkmarsh #34512 06/01/15 10:27 PM
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"...If you did something else and it works, what?"

I have used Combine PDFs without issue in 10.10.3 and find well worth the US $30.00.


Harv
27" i7 iMac (10.13.6), iPhone Xs Max (12.1)

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Combining PDFs in Preview
Ira L #34519 06/02/15 02:58 AM
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Yes, I struggled with that confusing UI this past weekend. What seemed to work was to drag the thumbails over the first page of the first document (the destination) and then a "plus" sign appears. After that I could rearrange the pages.

Very unintuitive, if you ask me.

Re: Combining PDFs in Preview
David #34523 06/02/15 06:36 AM
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Quote:
What seemed to work was to drag the thumbails over the first page of the first document (the destination) and then a "plus" sign appears.

That's what works for me in 10.6.8. The key is not just dragging a thumbnail to the destination sidebar, but dragging it over an existing thumbnail in the destination sidebar until the plus sign appears.

Ira isn't clear about whether he's tried that specific trick, and the instructions aren't explicit about it.

Last edited by artie505; 06/02/15 06:40 AM. Reason: Better wording

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Combining PDFs in Preview
artie505 #34541 06/02/15 08:27 PM
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Ira L Offline OP
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Ahh, that is the secret! If you drag the thumbnail into the sidebar it still shows a green "+"; but if you drag it onto the thumbnail in the other sidebar, then it is appended properly and can be saved.

Wow, talk about picky. tongue


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Combining PDFs in Preview
Ira L #34542 06/02/15 08:31 PM
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Made me pretty damned crazy for a while!

I knew that I always saw a plus sign, but it took me a while to realize that it had two different meanings.

Really poor design, not to mention that the help page is inadequate.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire

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