PDF-Merge

PDF-Merge is a simple and easy-to-use CLI tool for merging PDF files, created as part of learning the C# language. To use the tool, you must obtain a binary by either downloading the latest release or building it locally and add it to your system path. Follow the instructions under Installation to get started 🙂

User Guide

Once added to the system path, the tool can be called from anywhere using:

pdf-merge <arguments>

CLI Arguments

• -d, --directory
  Merge all PDF files from a specified directory (sorted lexicographically before combining).
• -f, --files
  Specify individual PDF file paths (accepts multiple file paths separated by spaces). Files are combined in the order they are listed.
• -o, --output (Default: combined)
  Set the output file name (without file extension).
• -v, --verbose (Default: false)
  Enable verbose output.
• --help
  Display the help screen.

It is possible to specify both a directory and a list of files. In this case, all files from the directory will be merged first, followed by the specified files in the given order.

Examples

Merge All PDF Files from a Directory

Merge all PDFs in the current directory:

pdf-merge --directory . --output MergedFile
pdf-merge -d . -o MergedFile

Merge PDFs from another directory:

pdf-merge --directory ../../PDFSlides/Week_4 --output Week_4_Slides
pdf-merge -d ../../PDFSlides/Week_4 -o Week_4_Slides

👉 Note: The output file will be saved in the directory where the command is executed.

Merge Selected PDF Files

Merge specific files:

pdf-merge --files file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf --output Week_1
pdf-merge -f file1.pdf file2.pdf file3.pdf -o Week_1

Program Output

Standard Output

Without verbose mode, the tool provides minimal output:

$ pdf-merge --directory . --output MergedFile
PDF-Merge
Merging PDF files   [####################] Done!

Verbose Mode

With verbose mode enabled, the tool provides detailed feedback:

$ pdf-merge --directory PDFSlides/Week_1
PDF-Merge
Retrieving PDF files from: PDFSlides/Week_1
Rejected file: notes.txt
Added file: day1_slides.pdf
Added file: day2_slides.pdf
Added file: day3_slides.pdf
Added file: day4_slides.pdf
Added file: day5_slides.pdf
SUCCESS: Finished retrieving files from target directory
Merging PDF files   [####################] Done!
SUCCESS: PDF files merged and saved as combined.pdf

Installation

To use PDF-Merge, either download the latest release or build it locally, and add the obtained binary to your system path.

Build Instructions

Requirements

• .NET 8 or newer (older versions may work but are untested).

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd PDF-Merge

2. Build a release version:

   dotnet publish src/pdf-merge/pdf-merge.csproj -c Release -o bin/pdf-merge

3. Locate the built tool in:

   bin/pdf-merge
   

4. Move the pdf-merge binary to a permanent location and add it to your system path.

After completing these steps, you can use the pdf-merge command from any terminal.