Donaldson R F
Document & File Automation
Bulk PDF Merger
Automatically combine multiple daily or recurring PDF reports into a single merged file.
The Problem
You receive or generate several separate PDF reports on a regular basis that always need to end up as one combined document, and doing that manually every single time is pure repetition.
About this problem
Merging PDFs sounds trivial, but doing it repeatedly requires consistent rules for which files to include and in which order. Daily reports often have names that include dates, sequence numbers or department labels, and sorting them alphabetically can put them in the wrong order. A small script applies the same rules every time.
People usually come to this when a recurring task, such as combining daily reports for a manager or a client pack, is repeated by hand and takes longer than it should or occasionally gets the order wrong.
What's Included
- A script that merges a specified set/folder of PDFs in the right order
- Configurable ordering (by filename, date, or a pattern you specify)
- Output as a single clean merged PDF
- A short usage note for running it again yourself
What's NOT Included
- Merging PDFs that need content edited or reformatted first (separate request)
- Automatic scheduling (can be added as a cron-based option if hosted on a server you control)
- OCR or content extraction from the merged file
How It Works
- I look at your sample files to understand the naming pattern and how the order should be decided.
- I write a script that reads a folder or list of PDFs and sorts them by filename, date or the pattern you choose.
- I merge the files in that order into one PDF, preserving page size and content.
- I handle edge cases such as missing files, unreadable PDFs or an empty folder with clear messages.
- I test with your real sample files and write a short usage note.
In practice: you buy the service, send over whatever access or details the job needs, I investigate and do the work, and you confirm it's resolved before we call it done.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I merge many PDFs into one automatically?
- A script can read a folder of PDFs, sort them by rule and combine them in one step. I build it to match your file names and ordering.
- Can it run on a schedule?
- Scheduling can be added with a cron job if the script is hosted on a server you control. It is not included by default.
- Can it edit pages or reformat them?
- No. It combines files as they are. Editing or reformatting would be a separate request.
- Can it extract text from the merged file?
- No. OCR or content extraction is not included.
- Will it work with password-protected PDFs?
- That depends on the protection. Please mention it when you get in touch so I can check.
- What do I need to run it?
- Usually a computer with the required runtime installed. I explain this in the usage note.