How to Combine PDFs on Linux

If you want to merge PDFs on Linux, the process can be a bit different from doing it with a Mac or Windows interface, but it’s not any more complicated. If you know the steps, it will take you just a few minutes to combine any files you want to even if they’re scattered in different folders.

We will cover a few methods you can use to Merge PDF files on Linux.

PDFtk Tool

Pdftk is a handy tool if you want to merge PDF files and organize data in one document. Install PDFtk as shown below.

apt install pdftk

When the installation is complete, you can start combining documents. For instance, if you have two PDFs you want to make one, just run the following command:

pdftk file1.pdf file2.pdf  cat output merged_output.pdf

PDFunite Tool

Pdfunite is a part of a PDF rendering library called Poppler-Utils. So, to install Pdfunite, first you need to install the Poppler-Utils package as shown below.

apt install poppler-utils

Once you have it installed, you can start merging your files. If, for example, you have three documents in the directory, the command will be:

pdfunite file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf merged_output.pdf

It’s as simple as that.

PDFSam

If the methods mentioned above do not appeal to you, PDFSam is the best alternative. This desktop application has three variants: Basic, Enhanced, and Visual. PDFSam Basic has more than enough features necessary to combine your PDF documents.

The steps for combining your files are the following:

1. Download and install PDFSam.
2. Open the app and click Merge on the left column.
3. Then click Add button on the right column.
4. Select your PDF files.
5. Arrange your PDF files by selecting a PDF and clicking on the arrow buttons to move the file up or down.
6. Name your new document and select the destination folder.
7. Click Run.
8. Your PDF is ready! You can now check it out in the folder you selected for it to be saved.

With PDFSam you can also split, rotate, and extract pages. If your needs go beyond what is offered with these features, you can upgrade to PDFSam Enhanced or Visual for a wider range of options.