Interleave Pages from Two or More PDFs
or drop files here
Deal pages from several PDFs into one file, a single page or a few at a time, with any file flipped into reverse first. It is the quick fix for double-sided paper scanned on a one-sided scanner.
Two stacks in, one document out.
Add the files in order
Drop in two or more PDFs. The top file supplies page one, so put fronts before backs or questions before answers, and use the arrows to fix the order.
Reverse and set the rhythm
Tick Reverse page order on any file that runs backwards and choose how many pages each file gives per turn. The order preview updates as you change things.
Save one combined PDF
Every page lands in its new position in a single file. Flick through the first few pages in the viewer to confirm, then keep it or send it on.
When pages belong in between each other.
Merging puts one file after another. Interleaving weaves them together, which is what you need whenever two files describe the same pages from different sides.
Double-sided paper, one-sided scanner
Scan the fronts, turn the stack over, scan the backs, and rebuild the original page order without feeding a single sheet twice.
Phone scans in two passes
Photographing every front and then every back is quicker than turning each sheet as you go. The two PDFs from your scanning app slot back into reading order here.
Odd and even page files
A file of odd pages (1, 3, 5) and a file of even pages (2, 4, 6) combine into 1 to 6. Both already run forwards, so nothing needs reversing.
Questions next to answers
Put the worksheet first and the answer key second, and every question page is followed by its worked solution. Handy for marking copies and self-study packs.
Bilingual documents
Alternate an English and a Spanish edition page by page, so reviewers can compare the same page in both languages without juggling two files.
Original beside its translation
Interleave the source and the translation, then run Multiple Pages Per Sheet at 2 per landscape sheet: each original sits on the left with its translation on the right.
How the pages are dealt, step by step.
Picture a four-sheet letter printed on both sides, eight pages in all. A one-sided feeder scans the fronts first and produces pages 1, 3, 5 and 7. You turn the stack over, which puts the last sheet on top, so the backs arrive as 8, 6, 4 and 2.
Ticking Reverse on the backs file turns it into 2, 4, 6, 8. The tool then takes one page from each file in turn, fronts first, and the letter reads 1 to 8 again. Nothing is rendered or recompressed along the way; each page is copied across exactly as it was scanned.
Pages per turn changes the rhythm. At 2, file A gives two pages, then file B gives two, so the order runs A1, A2, B1, B2, A3, A4. Uneven files are handled by letting whoever still has pages keep going: with three files of 3, 1 and 3 pages the result is A1, B1, C1, A2, C2, A3, C3.
Upside-down backs usually mean the stack was turned over top to bottom rather than side to side. Interleaving cannot rotate them, so turn the backs file 180 degrees with Rotate PDF before you mix the two.
File A: fronts, as scanned
File B: backs, as scanned
File B with Reverse page order ticked
Interleaved, one page per turn
In the tool's own preview this shows as A1, B4, A2, B3, A3, B2, A4, B1, because labels use each file's page numbers.
Questions answered.
How do I combine fronts and backs that were scanned separately?
Why do the backs come out in reverse order?
What if the files have different page counts?
What does pages per turn do?
Some of my back pages are upside down. Can this fix them?
Can I interleave more than two PDFs?
Does interleaving lower the quality of scans?
Do bookmarks and form fields survive?
Are my files uploaded while they are combined?
More tools you might need.
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