pdftk is a command like tool to manipulate (merge, extract, encrypt, etc) pdf files. On Ubuntu you can install from it from the repositories, like:

sudo apt install pdftk

Extract pages from a long pdf

Take long.pdf and cut out pages 5-14 to output_pp5_14.pdf.

pdftk long.pdf cat 5-14 output_pp5_14.pdf`

Merge two or more files

You should list each files to add, use cat output option and name your new merged file.

pdftk file1.pdf file2.pdf cat output newfile_merged.pdf

To merge all pdf in a folder, you can use * (wildcard) instead of listing each files.

Other

man pdftk: “If PDF is electronic paper, then pdftk is an electronic staple-remover, hole-punch, binder, secret-decoder-ring, and X-Ray-glasses. Pdftk is a simple tool for doing everyday things with PDF documents. Use it to:

* Merge PDF Documents or Collate PDF Page Scans
* Split PDF Pages into a New Document
* Rotate PDF Documents or Pages
* Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
* Encrypt Output as Desired
* Fill PDF Forms with X/FDF Data and/or Flatten Forms
* Generate FDF Data Stencils from PDF Forms
* Apply a Background Watermark or a Foreground Stamp
* Report PDF Metrics, Bookmarks and Metadata
* Add/Update PDF Bookmarks or Metadata
* Attach Files to PDF Pages or the PDF Document
* Unpack PDF Attachments
* Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
* Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
* Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)

Alternatives to pdftk

For page extraction

  • qpdf - a CLI tool
  • any desktop pdf reader that can print to a file, such as ocular.

For merging files

  • pdfunite - a CLI program (It is part of the poppler-utils package)

Credits:

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