Schematics, Adobe, and you

[Enzo]

I am happy to send out schematics I have, but some of them, due to my browser currently in use, I have to attach like 5 files separately. Like the SVT for example.

I am not a computer guy. I have Adobe reader, the free one, not full Adobe. I save files I download, and it always warns me I cannot edit the files. yeah yeah, download anyway.

Buuuuuttt...

Is there some way to combine several individual pdf pages into one pdf file? I mean with what I have? On my computer I can make a folder, but as far as I know I cannot attach folders to email, just files, so I wind up opening the folder and attaching five pages one at a time.

This is why when I post one on AMpix, I wind up sometimes with two or three separate AMpix files for one unit.

I am not sure which Adobes I have. Seems to me some programs open Adobe Reader 5 and others open Adobe reader 7. it is probably easy to change what opens, but I fear if I delete the older adobe, the newer programs won't know to look for the V7.

This browser is ATT/Yahoo browser V5.04.02.409 on my DSL.

On my MSN browser I can attach multiple pages at a time, but that browser wants to use my dial up connection, and I don't want to send megabyte files over dial up. And even so, it wouldn't combine the files into one larger file.

Can I do this with what I have, or do I need to upgrade my adobe or my something else? I used to laugh at folks who couldn't set the clock on their VCRs even with the instructions. But now, who even has a VCR? And their kids laugh at me for being computer illiterate.

[MarkusBass]

Enzo,

If you do a search on Google for "Merge PDF documents to single PDF" phrase, you will find that there are many tools, which can do it. Some of them are paid (e.g. PDF-Writer http://www.amicutilities.com/pdf-writer/ - $65) , while some other are free (e.g. Bullzip PDF Printer http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php). I checked the latter one and I confirm that it can merge documents. The general idea is is that the program is visible as a printer on your computer so you you just open any document that can be printed (image, PDF, Word, Excel, etc.) and print it to this printer. Later you may open another document and print it again with additional option "Merge" with previous PDF document. This may be difficult for the first time, but once you've done it, I'm sure you will be able to do it.
It seems that in Acrobat Reader this functionality is missing.
PS: I assume that you have Windows operation system, right?

Marek

[MarkusBass]

Another free application that can do the task is: "Gios PDF Splitter And Merger" from http://www.paologios.com/ . As written on the page it requires .Net Framework 1.1 so Windows operating system is a must.

Marek

[H Chandler]

With what you probably already have you can put all of the pdf's into a single folder and zip them into zip file archive. These can be mailed and posted. Not as nice as a PDF merge but it gets the job done.

[Enzo]

Thanks all, that is something to play with now.

[MarkusBass]

I checked the second program I mentioned ("Gios PDF Splitter And Merger") and I think this is exactly what you need. The user interface is simple (maybe not to pretty) but it is very intuitive and you can learn using it in less than one minute. You just open any PDF file and select SPLIT. This creates a PDF files for every page (so if you have 20 pages ina a file, it creates 20 PDF files - each one with just 1 page). Then you clear the list and open the pages that you need (let's say the first 3 pages) and select MERGE. As a result you get one PDF file with 3 pages. So everything what you need can be done just with few mouse-clicks. Very good program. It does exactly what you need and you don't need to worry about virtual PDF printers.

PS: I don't know what you mean be deleting old version of Acrobat. But I'm sure you can just uninstall it and reinstall the latest version of Acrobat Reader. This shouldn't cause any problems - I did it many times and if you run into any problems, I will help you (but I'm sure it will be not needed).

Marek

[Enzo]

Thanks, I will try that program.

What I mean by older Adobe is that both 5 and 7 are on my machine. various programs in the copmuter - and don't ask me which are which at the moment - will open Adobe to display something or other. Some programs open Adobe Reader 5, while others open 7. If I just delete and remove 5, then I know those particular programs that use it will not likely decide to look for another version. I imagine they would look for 5 and give me a file not found error message and sit there. I could probably figure somethign out, but at that moment i would be in the middle of whatever it was, and not wanting to wander off into computerland. I have updated a few times, but those particular programs still look for 5, not whatever the latest is.

And frankly, I have more than enough hard drive that I don't need the space 5 would free up, so it is not a pressing issue. I just wasn't sure if the versions I had made a difference to my quest.

Geez I hate computers.

[MarkusBass]

Just for the explanation: these two versions are most probably installed in different locations on your hard disk. The default installation folder for Acrobat Reader is: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader", while some very old versioins of this program were installed in location something like "C:\Acrobat3". Your programs keep information on these locations so when you uninstall version 5, you may get a message "File not found". In order to fix it you would need to open some configuration window in this program and specify correct location of Acrobat Reader. It must be an old program; newer program just look for file extension (PDF in this case) and automatically open suitable application (Acrobat Reader in the latest version).

Marek

[Sock Puppet]

Hi Enzo, just my twopennyworth.

WRT the reader, I would uninstall both versions 5 and 7 probably followed by a reboot if needed.

Then install Adobe Reader 8 from:

http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/reader/

This will associate the orphaned filetypes automatically and should be fully backwards compatible.

S.

[Enzo]

Yes, it has been begging me to update to 8 for a few days now. Unfortunately it always asks me while I am doing something else. I don't want to stop researching some schematic to wait for it to do its thing. Thanks. I am going to note which programs open what for a few days.