I have a range of PDF files 1.pdf, 2.pdf, etc. that I would like to merge into one file, with all the PDFs tiled on one page.
Currently, I have tried pdftk to merge these files, but they are put on separate pages:
pdftk 1.pdf 2.pdf ... cat output merged.pdf
Is there a way to, instead, tile the individual PDF files into one master page on merged.pdf?
I do not know if pdftk can do this, but pdfjam can. It can be installed on debian or derivates with sudo apt install texlive-extra-utils. Then you can do:
pdfjam Page1.pdf Page2.pdf --nup 2x1 --landscape --outfile Page1+2.pdf
It puts 2 pages on one page side by side. With --nup 1x2 --no-landscapeyou can put two pages on one page on top of each other.
Not sure what you mean by tiled on one page. I was looking for a way to merge multiple PDFs on one page - on top of another. This can be done with pdftk like this:
pdftk foreground.pdf background background.pdf output merged.pdf
The pdfLaTeX based pdfnup might work for you. If you have lots of pdf-files you may need to make a long pipe of pdfjam or run it several times.
There is also pdfnup in python.
This script will tile the pdf pages for you. Change the slice to what you need per page.
#!/usr/bin/ruby
latexhead = <<'EOF'
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}
\usepackage[margin=0.1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{pdfpages}
\begin{document}
EOF
latextail = <<'EOF'
\end{document}
EOF
pages = %x[pdfinfo #{ARGV[0]}].split(/\n/).select{|x| x=~ /Pages:/}[0].split(/\s+/)[1].to_i
puts latexhead
s = (1..pages).each_slice(4).to_a
s.each do |a|
puts "\\begin{figure}"
a.each do |p|
puts "\\includegraphics[page=#{p},scale=0.4,width=.5\\textwidth]{#{ARGV[0]}}"
end
puts "\\end{figure}"
end
puts latextail
If filenames are in "system specific" order, then pdftk *.pdf cat output merged.pdf should work just fine.
Here is what I mean by "system specific" order.
Example:
I've got 3 files on my Ubuntu 11.04: 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 10.pdf
Files are merged in order: 10.pdf 1.pdf 2.pdf (ls -l returned the same order as in merged file)
Safest naming convention: 0001.pdf, 0002.pdf, etc.
This link: http://www.verypdf.com/wordpress/201302/how-to-combine-4-page-pdf-into-1-page-pdf-file-to-save-ink-and-papers-34505.html shows VeryPDF PDF Stitcher can do the job vertically or sideways. Download at: http://www.verypdf.com/app/pdf-stitch/index.html
If you've got a large number of PDFs in one folderstructure, and you've got a TeX-Installation, this script puts all the PDFs recursivly into one large file:
#!/bin/bash
#
# pdfdir OUTPUT_FILE
#
# produces one big PDF file of all PDF files in .
#
if [ $# -ne 1 ] || [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo "Syntax: pdfdir OUTPUT_FILE"
exit 1
fi
FILE="$(echo "$1"|sed -e 's/\.\(pdf\|tex\)$//')"
for F in "$FILE" "$FILE.tex" "$FILE.pdf" "$FILE.aux" "$FILE.log" ; do
if [ -e "$F" ]; then
echo "$F exists already."
exit 2
fi
done
cat >"$FILE.tex" <<EOF
\documentclass{article}%
\usepackage{pdfpages}%
\usepackage{grffile}%
\listfiles%
\begin{document}%
%\tableofcontents%
EOF
# helper functions
exist_pdf_files () {
[ $(find -L "$1" -name \*.pdf -o -name \*.PDF -type f 2>/dev/null|wc -l) -eq 0 ] && return 1
return 0
}
list_directories () {
find -L "$1" -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d 2>/dev/null | sort
}
list_pdf_files () {
# version with " around filenames:
#find -L "$1" -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -name \*.pdf -o -name \*.PDF -type f 2>/dev/null | sort | \
# sed -e 's/^/\\includepdf[pages=-]{"/; s/$/"}%/'
# version without " around filenames:
find -L "$1" -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -name \*.pdf -o -name \*.PDF -type f 2>/dev/null | sort | \
sed -e 's/^/\\includepdf[pages=-]{/; s/$/}%/'
}
tex_headline () {
echo "$1" | sed -e 's/_/\\_/g'
}
# current folder (lefel 0):
list_pdf_files . >>"$FILE.tex"
# Bearbeite Ebene 1:
list_directories . | while read -r DIR1; do
# Are there PDFs in folders below that level?
exist_pdf_files "$DIR1" || continue
# Yes ...
tex_headline "\section{${DIR1##*/}}%"
# those:
list_pdf_files "$DIR1"
# Level 2:
list_directories "$DIR1" | while read -r DIR2; do
exist_pdf_files "$DIR2" || continue
tex_headline "\subsection{${DIR2##*/}}%"
list_pdf_files "$DIR2"
# Level 3:
list_directories "$DIR2" | while read -r DIR3; do
exist_pdf_files "$DIR3" || continue
tex_headline "\subsubsection{${DIR3##*/}}%"
list_pdf_files "$DIR3"
# Level 4:
list_directories "$DIR3" | while read -r DIR4; do
exist_pdf_files "$DIR4" || continue
tex_headline "\paragraph{${DIR4##*/}}%"
list_pdf_files "$DIR4"
# Level 5:
list_directories "$DIR4" | while read -r DIR5; do
exist_pdf_files "$DIR5" || continue
tex_headline "\subparagraph{${DIR5##*/}}%"
list_pdf_files "$DIR5"
done
done
done
done
done >>"$FILE.tex"
echo "\end{document}%" >>"$FILE.tex"
echo "Sourcecode to PDF directly [J/n]"
read -r ANSWER
case "$ANSWER" in
[JjYy]) ;;
*) exit 0 ;;
esac
pdflatex "$FILE"
[ $? -eq 0 ] && rm -f "$FILE.aux" "$FILE.log" "$FILE.tex"
I have not written that code, I've got it from a discussion here: http://www.listserv.dfn.de/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1201&L=tex-d-l&T=0&P=10771
It is very usefull. I've translated some German comments into English.
Regards, Alexander
Save pages wanted into a pdf doc with something like Acrobat Pro.
Print document using the multiple pages to a page feature, back to a pdf document.
Multiple pages to a single page. :-)
Sorry for not answering your specific question about pdftk, but since other answers exist show alternatives, I thought I'd chime in and present yet another alternative.
With a system that has poppler installed, you should have the pdfunite program. Using it is simple:
pdfunite foo.pdf bar.pdf /tmp/output.pdf
