I just added a Merge PDF tool to MyPDFLabs, my free set of online PDF tools. It's one of the most requested things people do with PDFs, so I wanted to share what it does and how I thought about it.
Why a merge tool?
Merging is one of those small jobs that comes up all the time:
- A cover letter, resume and certificates for a job application
- Scanned receipts for an expense report
- Chapters of an assignment saved as separate files
- Contracts and attachments for a client
Most of the tools I found for this wanted an account, added a watermark, or capped the file size. I wanted something where you open the page, add your files, and download one PDF.
What it does
- Combine several PDFs into one. Add your files and set the order.
- No sign-up.
- No watermark on the core tools.
- Files up to 500MB.
- Automatic deletion. Uploaded files are deleted after processing.
It also works well with the other tools on the site. If a file is sideways, rotate it. If the result is too big to email, compress it. If you only need a few pages from a long file, split or extract them first and then merge.
What I thought about while building it
Merging looks trivial, but a few details matter:
- Order is everything. The result is only useful if the files come out in the order you expect, so that step needs to be obvious.
- Real files are messy. People upload scans, protected files and huge documents, so the tool needs clear messages when something can't be merged.
- Privacy matters. People merge contracts, IDs and CVs, so I decided early not to keep files around and not to ask for an account.
What I'd like feedback on
The site is still new, so I'd really like your honest opinions:
- Is the merge flow clear, or is anything confusing?
- What would make it faster for you?
- Which PDF tool should I add next?
You can try it here: mypdflabs.com/tools/merge
Thanks for reading, and I'll reply to every comment.
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