PDF Merge & Split

Overview

Combine multiple PDF files into a single document or split a PDF into separate files by page ranges. This skill handles merging in a specified order, splitting by page numbers, extracting specific pages, and preserving bookmarks and metadata where possible.

Instructions

When a user asks to merge or split PDF files, follow these steps:

Step 1: Determine the operation

Ask or infer what the user needs:

• Merge: Combine multiple PDFs into one output file
• Split by pages: Break a single PDF into multiple files by page ranges
• Extract pages: Pull specific pages out into a new PDF
• Split by size: Divide a PDF into chunks of N pages each

Step 2: Validate the input files

Check that all input files exist and are valid PDFs:

import os
from PyPDF2 import PdfReader

def validate_pdfs(file_paths):
    results = []
    for path in file_paths:
        if not os.path.exists(path):
            results.append({"file": path, "status": "not found"})
            continue
        try:
            reader = PdfReader(path)
            results.append({
                "file": path,
                "status": "valid",
                "pages": len(reader.pages)
            })
        except Exception as e:
            results.append({"file": path, "status": f"invalid: {e}"})
    return results

Step 3: Perform the operation

For merging:

from PyPDF2 import PdfMerger

def merge_pdfs(input_paths, output_path):
    merger = PdfMerger()
    for path in input_paths:
        merger.append(path)
    merger.write(output_path)
    merger.close()
    return output_path

For splitting by page ranges:

from PyPDF2 import PdfReader, PdfWriter

def split_pdf(input_path, ranges, output_dir="."):
    reader = PdfReader(input_path)
    output_files = []
    for i, (start, end) in enumerate(ranges):
        writer = PdfWriter()
        for page_num in range(start - 1, min(end, len(reader.pages))):
            writer.add_page(reader.pages[page_num])
        output_path = os.path.join(output_dir, f"split_{i+1}_pages_{start}-{end}.pdf")
        with open(output_path, "wb") as f:
            writer.write(f)
        output_files.append(output_path)
    return output_files

For extracting specific pages:

def extract_pages(input_path, page_numbers, output_path):
    reader = PdfReader(input_path)
    writer = PdfWriter()
    for page_num in page_numbers:
        if 1 <= page_num <= len(reader.pages):
            writer.add_page(reader.pages[page_num - 1])
    with open(output_path, "wb") as f:
        writer.write(f)
    return output_path

Step 4: Verify and report results

After the operation, verify the output:

1. Confirm the output file exists and is a valid PDF
2. Report the page count of each output file
3. Show file sizes for the user

Examples

Example 1: Merge three reports into one

User request: "Combine report-q1.pdf, report-q2.pdf, and report-q3.pdf into annual-report.pdf"

Actions taken:

1. Validate all three input files
2. Merge in the specified order
3. Write to annual-report.pdf

Output:

Merged 3 PDF files into annual-report.pdf

Input files:
  1. report-q1.pdf (12 pages)
  2. report-q2.pdf (15 pages)
  3. report-q3.pdf (11 pages)

Output: annual-report.pdf (38 pages, 2.4 MB)

Example 2: Split a PDF into chapters

User request: "Split textbook.pdf into separate files: pages 1-30, 31-55, 56-80"

Actions taken:

1. Validate textbook.pdf (80 pages)
2. Split into three page ranges
3. Save each range as a separate file

Output:

Split textbook.pdf into 3 files:

  1. split_1_pages_1-30.pdf   (30 pages, 1.1 MB)
  2. split_2_pages_31-55.pdf  (25 pages, 0.9 MB)
  3. split_3_pages_56-80.pdf  (25 pages, 0.8 MB)

All files saved to current directory.

Example 3: Extract specific pages

User request: "Pull out pages 5, 12, and 18-22 from presentation.pdf"

Actions taken:

1. Parse the page specification: [5, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22]
2. Extract those pages from presentation.pdf
3. Save as extracted_pages.pdf

Output:

Extracted 7 pages from presentation.pdf

Pages extracted: 5, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
Output: extracted_pages.pdf (7 pages, 540 KB)

Guidelines

• Always validate input files before processing. Report clear errors for missing or corrupt files.
• Preserve the original files. Never modify input PDFs in place.
• When merging, respect the order specified by the user. If no order is given, use alphabetical.
• Use 1-based page numbering in all user-facing output to match what users see in PDF viewers.
• For encrypted PDFs, inform the user that a password is needed before processing.
• When splitting, create descriptive filenames that include page ranges.
• Report file sizes alongside page counts so the user knows the output scale.
• Install PyPDF2 with

  pip install PyPDF2

  if not available. For advanced features like preserving form fields, use pikepdf instead.