How to assemble pages in a PDF

Learn how to change pages in a PDF - add, append, insert, remove, reorder, rotate, split, combine, join.

Using pdfMachine you can add or remove pages to an existing PDF. You can also rearrange the page order. pdfMachine can join PDFs into a single PDF. pdfMachine can be used to split a PDF into separate PDFs.

  • To add pages from a document that is not a PDF (eg a Word document), read here
  • To add pages from an existing PDF (merging PDFs), read here
  • To add pages from paper, read here
  • To remove pages, read here
  • To reorder pages, read here
  • To rotate pages, read here
  • To split the PDF into separate PDFs, read here

How to append pages to a PDF from a document that is not PDF or paper

pdfMachine has an auto append feature making it easy to assemble a PDF by simply printing documents consecutively to pdfMachine. Read more here.



How to combine and merge existing PDFs together

- or how to add pages from one PDF to another PDF

  1. Start with the PDF (from which you wish to add to or remove pages) open in pdfMachine.
  2. Click on Thumbnail view in the pdfMachine toolbar
  3. Click on the thumbnail of the page where you want to insert/append pages.
  4. From the pdfMachine menu select Pages->Insert Pages from file (or Append Pages from file).
  5. Select the PDF(s) you wish to insert/append and click open.
  6. Select Save (or Save As to save the PDF as a new name).


How to append paper pages to a PDF (using a scanner)

  1. Start with the PDF you wish to add the scanned pages to open in pdfMachine.
  2. Place your paper in the scanner
  3. Select Append->Append Pages From Scanner from the pdfMachine menu
  4. Follow the scan wizard to scan the paper page(s). Read more here.
  5. The scanned document is appended as additional pages to the PDF open in pdfMachine.
  6. You can also choose to append using the last settings in the scanner to avoid the scanner wizard.
  7. Save (or Save As to save the PDF as a new name).

How to remove pages from a PDF

  1. Start with the PDF from which you wish to remove the page open in pdfMachine.
  2. Click on Thumbnail view in the pdfMachine toolbar
  3. Click on the thumbnail of the page you want to delete.
  4. In the thumbnail view, click on the thumbnail of the page you want to delete.
  5. If there is a range of pages to delete then shift-click the thumbnail of the page at the end of the range.
  6. Press the delete key or the delete icon from the pdfMachine Page Controls toolbar.
  7. The page will be deleted from the PDF.
  8. Save (or Save As to save the PDF as a new name).

How to reorder pages in a PDF

  1. Start with the PDF you wish to reorder pages in open in pdfMachine.
  2. Click on Thumbnail view in the pdfMachine toolbar
  3. Click on the thumbnail of the page you want to move.
  4. If there is a range of pages to move then shift-click the thumbnail of the page at the end of the range.
  5. Drag and drop the pages to the new position. You will see the pages reorder as you move the thumbnail.
  6. Save (or Save As to save the PDF as a new name).

How to rotate pages in a PDF

You can rotate a page or the whole document in the PDF.

  1. Start with the PDF you wish to rotate pages in open in pdfMachine.
  2. Click on Thumbnail view in the pdfMachine toolbar
  3. Click on the thumbnail of the page you want to move.
  4. Show the Page Controls pdfMachine toolbar
  5. If you want to rotate all of the pages select the Rotate->Document menu and choose Right, Left or Flip
  6. To rotate individual pages in the thumbnail view, click on the thumbnail of the page you want to rotate.
  7. If there is a range of pages to rotate then shift-click the thumbnail of the page at the end of the range.
  8. Select the Rotate->Page menu and choose Right, Left or Flip.
  9. Select Save to save the PDF.

Split a PDF into separate PDFs

pdfMachine allows you to split a PDF into two separate PDFs. Read here.

Use the "File->Split PDF command" to split a PDF at a certain point. The PDF is divided into two separate PDFs at the selected page.


Use the "File->Split PDF into many PDFs" command to split a PDF into many PDFs at once. The Split PDF functionality allows you to split or 'explode' a PDF into smaller PDFs. You can select the number of pages to split at. The filenames are customizable.