PDF Combiner with Bookmarks

The Quick Version

python3 pdf_combiner_cli.py /path/to/folder

The Problem

I download a lot of course materials. Week 1.pdf, Week 2.pdf, Week 3.pdf — you know the drill. Eventually I want them all in one document so I can search across the entire course or print it out. Every PDF tool I tried could merge them easily enough. But then you're stuck with a 200-page document where finding Chapter 7 means scrolling forever.

The paid tools had nice bookmark features. The free ones didn't. I wasn't paying $50 for what should be a simple script.

What This Does

Combines your PDFs and adds a bookmark for each file. Open the sidebar in any PDF reader and you can jump between documents instantly. Takes thirty seconds instead of three minutes of scrolling.

Natural Sorting

Files sort the way humans expect: 1, 2, 10, 11 — not 1, 10, 11, 2. Sounds obvious but most tools get this wrong.

Recursive Search

Point it at a folder with subfolders and it'll find all the PDFs. Useful when your materials are organized by week or chapter.

CLI or GUI

Command line if you want speed. GUI if you want drag-and-drop. Both do the same thing.

Setup

1. Clone the repo from GitHub
2. Install dependencies: pip install -r requirements.txt
3. Run: python3 pdf_combiner_cli.py /path/to/folder

Full details and options in the README.