How to combine a bunch of individually scanned documents
February 26, 2018 11:14 AM   Subscribe

Hello all. I just scanned my thesis, all 200+ pages of it. Yay, or so I thought. Then, when it was time to save it, I ended up with a couple hundred individual scans just sitting there on my desktop. Yikes. Is there some way to combine all of this into one document? I have an up to date Mac, I used HP Easy Scan, and I have an HP Officejet 5740. I have Adobe Reader, if that helps. Thanks.
posted by holdenjordahl to Computers & Internet (13 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's going to be helpful to know what format the scans are in.
posted by howfar at 11:16 AM on February 26, 2018


Response by poster: Sorry, howfar.
They're in pdf format.
posted by holdenjordahl at 11:18 AM on February 26, 2018


If you can get these dragged onto Google Drive, PDF Mergy lets you put all PDFs into one single PDF file. It's free.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 11:24 AM on February 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


No need to apologise! :) I think you're in luck for an easy option, in that case. I believe you can just use Preview to make them into a single file, as per this video...
posted by howfar at 11:24 AM on February 26, 2018 [2 favorites]




Response by poster: Wow, all three methods work like a charm - an embarrassment of riches!
Thank you, howfar, yes I said yes I will Yes, and suedehead!
posted by holdenjordahl at 11:54 AM on February 26, 2018


Also, for anyone else who comes this way, smallpdf.com.
posted by penguin pie at 12:27 PM on February 26, 2018


Response by poster: Another one! Thanks, penguin pie!
posted by holdenjordahl at 12:39 PM on February 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


pdftk is the swiss army chainsaw for this kind of thing.

Also why are you scanning your thesis? Wasn't it in electronic form to begin with?
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:46 PM on February 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Being 150 years old, I did it on - drum roll, please - my fearless Olivetti portable typewriter.
Yes, all the footnotes, works cited, all that nasty formatting, using nothing but a ruler and a pencil.
Ah, the analog memories...
posted by holdenjordahl at 12:52 PM on February 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


Glad your immediate problem is solved! For the future, I'm betting there is a setting in your scanner software that allows you to specify "one giant file" or "separate file for every page" -- if you figure this out now, you'll never have to do this again! :)
posted by mccxxiii at 1:38 PM on February 26, 2018


Was coming in to suggest the Automator method that suedehead suggested. Now, I am just going to suggest you back it all up multiple times, and then pat yourself on the back and have a well-deserved treat of your choice! Congrats!
posted by terrapin at 1:54 PM on February 26, 2018


Congratulations on finishing your thesis! Double congratulations on footnotes, citations and formatting the non-tech way! Having once put together a thesis myself, I am in awe.
posted by Everydayville at 2:27 PM on February 26, 2018


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