Web-based PDF Merging

If you know me very well, you know that one thing I get excited about is adding to my Web 2.0 “tool belt” – online utilities that make digital life easier in some way. And it’s not all about me and my personal needs. I’m always on the lookout for Web 2.0 tools that have ministry applications as well.  There are so many amazing tools available on the web …

• Picnik photo editing – Great for sizing images and adding text to fill the perfect spot on a church website.
• Animoto video creation – The right tool for the job when you want to turn photos of your church history or special event (Summer VBS pops to mind) into a memorable slide show.
• Avery Design & Print Online label creator – What church or school office doesn’t need to print labels??
• MailChimp e-news – Open up e-mail communication channels with members, prospects and school families.
• And that barely scratches the surface!

The challenge with Web 2.0 becomes evaluating and remembering to use all of these quality utilities at just the right moment when you need them.  One easy (and FREE) online utility that I have made use of on several occasions is MergePDF.net.  The site does just what its name implies, it merges several PDF documents into one.  I can see this being useful in a church office if you produce a PDF version of your newsletter and want to add one other fliers and things that aren’t part of the file you create.

For me it was the answer to a huge challenge I faced on the job this week. In preparation for the upcoming FinalWeb for Dummies class, I’ve been updating the training resources … every one on of the 30 exercises … all 106 pages!  And when I was done, I needed to have the 30 exercises in 30 individual files, but I also needed them combined into 3 ginormous main files.  That’s where MergePDF.net came to my rescue.

I simply uploaded the files, ordered them as I wanted, and pushed the magic Merge PDF button.

Instantly I got a message that said my files were ready to download.  The download was quick, and I was a happy Web 2.0 fangirl yet again!

Of course you should exercise caution if you have top secret, sensitive documents.  The public web is never the place for those types of files.  The web site policy states that all files are removed after the merge is complete or, if you chose to retain them for futher merging, after an hour of inactivity. But that still isn’t enough reassurance for me to trust them with anything I wouldn’t want shared.

Just in case.

Just being a wise digital citizen.

Just saying.

But I’m not a top secret kind of girl, and I’m oh-so-happy to have MergPDF.net in my Web 2.0 tool belt. 😀

This post is a part of the Summer 2011 WELS Hacker series on the WELSTech Podcast.