Merging Multiple PDF Files with Python

 What is this program about?

This Python program helps us join multiple PDF files into a single PDF file.
For example, if you have file1.pdf and file2.pdf, this program will combine them into one new file called merged.pdf.

 The Library Used: PyPDF2

• PyPDF2 is a Python library that helps us work with PDF files.
• We can:
  • Read PDFs
  • Extract text
  • Merge multiple PDFs
  • Split pages

In this program, we are using a special tool from PyPDF2 called PdfMerger.

 Step-by-Step Explanation of the Code

from PyPDF2 import PdfMerger

This line imports the PdfMerger tool from the PyPDF2 library.

def merge_pdfs(output_path, *input_paths):
    """Combine multiple PDFs into one"""

We create a function called merge_pdfs that:

• Takes a name for the output file (e.g., merged.pdf)
• Takes the names of the PDF files we want to merge (like file1.pdf, file2.pdf)

    merger = PdfMerger()

Create a new PDF merger object. Think of it like an empty container where we will put our PDFs.

    for path in input_paths:
        merger.append(path)

Loop through each input file and add it to the container.

• Example: First add file1.pdf, then file2.pdf.

    merger.write(output_path)
    merger.close()

Finally:

• Save the combined file into the new file name (e.g., merged.pdf).
• Close the merger to finish the process.

    print(f"Merged {len(input_paths)} PDFs into {output_path}")

Print a message telling us how many PDFs were merged and the name of the final file.

merge_pdfs("merged.pdf", "file1.pdf", "file2.pdf")

Here we call the function.

• It will take file1.pdf and file2.pdf
• Combine them into merged.pdf

Complete Code

from PyPDF2 import PdfMerger

def merge_pdfs(output_path, *input_paths):
    """Combine multiple PDFs into one"""
    merger = PdfMerger()
    for path in input_paths:
        merger.append(path)
    merger.write(output_path)
    merger.close()
    print(f"Merged {len(input_paths)} PDFs into {output_path}")

merge_pdfs("merged.pdf", "file1.pdf", "file2.pdf")

Output Example

If you have:

• file1.pdf (5 pages)
• file2.pdf (3 pages)

The program will create:

• merged.pdf (8 pages total 🎉)

 Key Takeaways

• We used PyPDF2 library.
• The tool PdfMerger helps us combine PDFs.
• Very useful for students, teachers, or office work when you need all your documents in one file.