First time I used Merge PDF I dropped the caste certificate first because it was the file on the left of the desktop. Download. Page 1 was caste. Cover letter was page 9. Job portal wanted cover first. I uploaded anyway. Then I sat there knowing it looked wrong.
Whatever you drop first is page 1. Cover letter, then certificates. If you mixed them, use the Up and Down buttons before you download.
That is the whole trick. People still ask. So I am writing it long.
First drop is page 1
Open the tool. Drop cover.pdf. Then 10th, 12th, degree, id, experience. Look at the list on the page. Top of the list should be the cover.
Not top of your desktop folder. Top of the list in the tab.
If 10th jumped up, hit Up Down till the order matches the checklist.
I put both scan in wrong order twice in one day. Buttons saved me. I did not have to drop again.
Name files 1-cover 2-tenth before you start if you get confused. Then drop in name order. Still look at the list. Browsers can sort funny.
Your file is not uploaded to our server. The order lives in that tab till you download.
Close the tab without download, order is gone. Originals are fine. Merge again.
20 MB each, and the tab must hold them together, so many fat scans can freeze even if each is under 20. Laptop for that. Phone for two small files.
Password pdf in the pile, merge may fail. Unlock first.
Different page sizes, A4 plus a photo pdf, the merge still joins. Looks a bit ugly. Clerk may not care. I wrote a separate note on mixed page size.
Rotate a upside down page before merge if you can. Rotate PDF on that one file, then merge.
Split a 12 page dump if you only need page 2 and 3 in the bundle. Split PDF first, then merge the small piece in the right slot.
Page count if you lost track. PDF Page Count on the result.
Cover letter as jpg, convert JPG to PDF, then it can sit on top of the merge.
Same for a signed last page. Some offices want signature at the end. Then drop that file last, or move it down with the button.
First time users forget the buttons exist. They re-drop everything. Buttons are faster.
Cover then certificates, office order I actually use
For a job portal in Jaipur. Cover or application form. Id. Education oldest to newest, or newest first if they said so. Experience. Caste or disability if they asked, not if they did not. Photo pdf last or as they said.
I am not HR. Read their list. If they said single pdf of all certificates, they still have an implied order. Application on top is safe when they did not specify.
College form in Kota. Application printout page 1. Then 10th 12th. Then photos as pdf if they were images.
Shop file for a bank. Cover letter. Licence. GST. Cancelled cheque scan. Rent.
If you put cheque first, the manager opens the file and sees a cheque. Looks odd.
Up Down until it matches the paper file you would staple.
Staple order is a good mental picture. Whatever would be on top of the clip is first drop.
I still print and staple sometimes. Merge is the digital staple.
Do not merge 20 tiny one-page pdfs on a hot afternoon on the old office PC. Tab dies. Then people blame the site. Do five, download, merge that with the next five if you must. Or use a machine with ram.
If download is grey, wait. Or no files yet. Or one file is over 20 MB.
Two files minimum I assume, or the tool may want more than one. If you dropped one, add the second.
First time, people drop the same file twice. Then page 1 and 2 are twins. Look at the list. Remove the extra if the UI lets you, or start fresh.
Start fresh is ok. Files were never on our server.
Safari order I do not fully trust. I check the list twice.
Chrome, the order I dropped is the order I got, except when I used the buttons.
I tell the intern, do not sort by date in the file picker and assume that is portal order. Date on disk is when you scanned, not the checklist.
After you download, open it once
Open the merged pdf. Flip pages. Cover on top. Last page is what you wanted last.
If not, delete the merge from Downloads, go back, buttons, download again. Keep originals.
Upload to the portal. If they reject order, you can merge again in ten minutes. You cannot always un-submit.
Name the download job-portal-bundle.pdf so you do not upload last year file.
Your file is not uploaded to our server. The portal will store the bundle. That is them.
If you email the bundle, Gmail 25 mb. Our 20 MB is a different wall. Checker if you are close. File Size Checker.
First time merge anxiety is really order anxiety. Once you stare at the list, it is obvious.
I wrote this because a boy asked me on WhatsApp at 11 pm which file on top. I typed, whatever you drop first. Then I thought, that should be an article.
Up Down if you already dropped wrong. Do not overthink page numbers inside each file. Each file keeps its inner pages. You are only stacking files.
If one file is itself 8 pages, those 8 stay together as a block. You cannot interleave page 3 of file A between file B with this simple merge. For that you split first, then merge pieces. Most office jobs do not need that.
Simple stack. Cover on top. Certificates under. Buttons if your hand slipped.
That is first time merge. Do it once on dummy files if you are nervous. Two old bills. See which is page 1. Then do the real certificates.
I still say the order out loud in the room. Cover. Tenth. Twelfth. Id. Then I look at the list and read the file names back. If the list says twelfth first, I hit Up till cover is on top. The buttons are small. They are easy to miss on a phone. On a laptop they sit next to the name.
First time, do not merge from WhatsApp received folder if the names are IMG-2026 and IMG-2026(1). Rename before drop. Otherwise you cannot tell which is on top without opening.
Whatever you drop first is page 1. I will repeat that till the intern stops asking. Cover letter, then certificates. Up Down when the hand slipped. Download, open, confirm page 1 is the cover. Then send.