PDF Software

[pvellacott]

I am wanting to create PDF's from a number of different files for sending contracts as one file so for example, I create a folder that has,

1 x Word Document
3 x Excel Worksheets
4 x JPEG's
1 x PDF

What I want to do is combine the whole lot into one emailable PDF which I can ensure is not more than 2MB.

Can anyone advise on software that will do this easily without too much expense.

 

[mad jew]

Well, Automator might be able to help you if you're running 10.4. Alternatively, you could export all the files to PDFs via their Print dialogue boxes and then use an app like CombinePDFs to, well, combine them all for free.

 

[numlock]

If you are running tiger.

first of all you can save all these files as pdf´s either via the save option or print to pdf.

When you have saved all the files as pdf´s and you are happy with them. Name them in the order you want them to appear. So for instance a for the first page and b for the second etc.

Launch automator.

Create this workflow

Get selected Finder Items
Sort Finder Items by name in ascending
Combine PDF Pages
Open Finder items with preview

Select the pdf files and run the automator workflow.

Preview will launch and from there you can save you newly created file

EDIT: As said above you could use combinepdfs but i think its more fun to do it yourself and mess around in automator

 

[mkrishnan]

^^ There isn't an easy way to make Automator let you spoonfeed the PDFs to it, is there (to avoid having to rename them, which seems cumbersome)?

It looks like CombinePDF isn't too bad. There're a couple of other similar ones, one called iMerge. None of them seem to do a graphical arrangement, which would be really nice for things like putting a fax together.

 

[mad jew]

You can drag and drop items to a workflow, keeping them in that order.

 

[numlock]

^^ There isn't an easy way to make Automator let you spoonfeed the PDFs to it, is there (to avoid having to rename them, which seems cumbersome)?

It looks like CombinePDF isn't too bad. There're a couple of other similar ones, one called iMerge. None of them seem to do a graphical arrangement, which would be really nice for things like putting a fax together.

well if you save them in the correct order as well you could let automator sort it by creation date. Might be easier.

pdfpenpro does include a graphical arrangement of the pages in the files but you obviously have to pay for that software. Wouldnt be suprised to se Skim include that feature soon

 

[pvellacott]

Sorry what does "run Automator" mean - is it a programme in Tiger....???

 

[numlock]

Sorry what does "run Automator" mean - is it a programme in Tiger....???

Automator is a program in the applications folder on macs that have Tiger. Its useful for doing simple repetitive tasks

"Run" means for instance pressing the button called Run (top right hand corner of the window) when you have finished building your workflow


http://rapidshare.com/files/50549685/pdfcombiner-sortbyname.zip.html

If you have your pdf files ready and named in the order you want them to appear in the final pdf then you can select them all and drag and drop them on this little automator app

 

[mkrishnan]

You can drag and drop items to a workflow, keeping them in that order.

You can't drag them one at a time, can you (because the workflow will start when the first file is dropped)? So say you have six files, if you option click them one at a time, in the desired order, does Automator respect that order of clicking?

 

[mad jew]

You can literally put the Combine PDFs task into a workflow by itself and then drag and drop items above it to your heart's content. They should appear in a Get Selected Finder Items window/list.

 

[mkrishnan]

You can literally put the Combine PDFs task into a workflow by itself and then drag and drop items above it to your heart's content. They should appear in a Get Selected Finder Items window/list.

Oh, I see what you mean now... actually doing it *in* Automator as opposed to just running the saved workflow. That makes sense.

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, sorry mate. I'm too tired and should have explained it better.

 

[FJ218700]

my dissertation was made with the freeware app PDFLab. Worked great, ended up being over 300 pages with over 70 combined PDF's.

try that

 

[mkrishnan]

Yeah, sorry mate. I'm too tired and should have explained it better.

Not at all... it just never occurred to me to actually use Automator that way!

my dissertation was made with the freeware app PDFLab. Worked great, eneded up being over 300 pages with over 70 combined PDF's.

This is the one I was trying to remember... it seems to be a frequent recommendation here.

 

[IJ Reilly]

This is the one I was trying to remember... it seems to be a frequent recommendation here.

PDFLab is the best of the bunch, IMO. You can even add jpegs and other non-PDF files to the mix. I'd go so far as to say it's just about the most useful OSX utility I've ever seen.

 

[mkrishnan]

PDFLab is the best of the bunch, IMO. You can even add jpegs and other non-PDF files to the mix. I'd go so far as to say it's just about the most useful OSX utility I've ever seen.

In other words no Republican will ever use it?

Seriously, I do need to remember to download it. I don't really frequently want to mix down PDFs like this, but if I had it installed I might use it more and find I liked it. I think you had recommended it before in terms of compiling faxes, too, which, as I said, is the use that comes right to mind for me.

 

[clevin]

i remember openoffice (freeware) has an independent pdf tool. you can open word file, insert excel, jpg, pdfs, and then generate a pdf file.

 

[IJ Reilly]

In other words no Republican will ever use it?

Seriously, I do need to remember to download it. I don't really frequently want to mix down PDFs like this, but if I had it installed I might use it more and find I liked it. I think you had recommended it before in terms of compiling faxes, too, which, as I said, is the use that comes right to mind for me.

I'm still working on that joke...

I don't recall recommending it for compiling faxes, but I recommend this application so often I might well have. The only thing that bothers me about PDFLab is that I can't seem to make the watermark feature work. I've wanted to use it a couple of times, but no joy.

 

[mkrishnan]

I'm still working on that joke...

Sorry, I was being silly.

I finally got around to actually playing with PDFLab this weekend... it's brilliant. Very, very nicely done. Only little minor things (you have to insert a file several times if you want to intersperse pages inside it, as far as I can tell, and no visual previews), but otherwise this software is amazing.