Main file first. Signature scan second. That order is the whole trick and still people drop the signed page first because it is the last thing they scanned so it sits on top of the folder. The merge then puts the signature as page 1. The clerk opens the pdf, sees a lonely signature, and phones you. I have been that call. I now look at the list before I download.
Merge PDF joins files in the order you drop them, and you can move a file up or down if you mixed it. First file stays on top. Last file at the end. Signed page belongs at the end unless some odd form wants signature on top, I have not met that form.
Main file first, signature scan second
The application is 8 pages. The last page of the application is a blank declaration. They still want a separate signed scanned page, because the person signed on a printed extra sheet in blue ink. Very common. You have application.pdf and sign.jpg or sign.pdf. If sign is a jpg, make it a pdf first with JPG to PDF. Then merge both pdfs.
Why not merge jpg and pdf in one go. This merge tool wants pdfs. So convert the photo, then merge. Two steps. Not a drama.
I drop application.pdf. I drop signature.pdf. I look at the list. Application on top. Signature under it. Download. Open the result. Last page should be the hand signature. If last page is still the blank declaration and the signature is missing, I forgot to add the second file. If first page is the signature, I dropped wrong. Up and Down arrows. Move. Download again. Do not send the wrong one because you are in a hurry for the 4 pm bus.
Blue ink on yellow paper photographs poorly. White paper, window light. Crop extra table in the photo if you can, or leave a margin so it looks like a page. Phone photo pdf will be a different page size than A4. Merge keeps both sizes. Print shop will notice. I write about that in another article. For email, mixed size is usually ok. For a set that will be printed and bound, try to photo against a A4 sheet so the page looks similar.
Password on the main file. This tool cannot open a locked pdf. Remove password on your side first, or print to a new pdf if you are allowed. Do not send me the password. There is no me. The file stays in your browser.
20 mb each, keep it reasonable. A fat HP scan plus a photo may still be heavy. Check with File Size Checker after merge. If Gmail refuses, compress the photo before jpg to pdf, not after, because we are not Adobe for crushing a finished pdf.
Use Up and Down if you dropped wrong
I always drop wrong when the phone gallery is in reverse date. Newest first. Signature was today. Application was yesterday. Newest goes first if you select both in a hurry. Look at the names. If you named them 1-application and 2-sign, you still can drop 2 first. The number in the name does not sort inside the tool unless you dropped in that order. You sort with the arrows.
Three files. Main, annexure, sign. Sign at end. Annexure in the middle. Same arrows. I have put annexure at the end and the signature in the middle. The file looked like the person signed in the wrong chapter. Funny till it is a tender.
Open the downloaded merge before you mail. Scroll to the last page. Pinch zoom the signature. If it is black blob, the photo was bad. Do not merge again hoping merge will sharpen. Merge does not sharpen. Take a new photo. Jpg to pdf. Merge again.
Rotate. Scanner put the signature sideways. Rotate the signature pdf with Rotate PDF before merge, or rotate the whole merged file if all pages need the same turn, which they usually do not. Better rotate only the sign file.
Page count. PDF Page Count on the result. 8 plus 1 should be 9. If it is 8, the sign did not join. If it is 10, you added the sign twice. I added twice once because I clicked download, thought it failed, dropped again. Look at the list. One sign file.
Cyber cafe. Merge in the browser. Files not uploaded to our server. Still, download to a pen drive you own. Do not leave the result on their desktop named merge.pdf. Next customer. You know.
If the signed page must be page 2, not the end, put it second in the list. The title of this article is the usual case, end. Some banks want signature immediately after the form, then annexures. Then the list is form, sign, annexures. Say it in your head while you drag.
Photo of signature versus print then scan
Photo is fast. Scan is neater. In a small office we photo. The HP is a queue. A signed extra sheet, photo, jpg to pdf, merge. If the client is fussy, scan the signed sheet at 300 dpi grey, not 600 colour, then merge. Fat scan brings the Gmail problem back.
Do not photo only the signature crop so tiny that the page is a stamp in a corner of a huge white pdf. Either crop in the phone to a reasonable frame, or accept a full A4 photo. Tiny stamp on a blank page looks like a mistake. I have seen it in a municipal file. They asked for a resubmit.
Ink that is still wet. Wait. Blue smear in a pdf is a bad look. I rushed a man who was signing at the desk. Smear. We printed another declaration. He was not happy. Wait thirty seconds. It is ink, not a otp.
Multiple signatories. Two extra pages. Director then partner. Order them as the form says. Merge sign1 then sign2 at the end. Label the files. Do not rely on memory at 6 pm.
After merge, save with a name that is not download.pdf. application-signed.pdf. Next week you will not remember which download is which. I have a downloads folder that is a graveyard of download (3).pdf.
If you need only the last page later, split a range. Our Split PDF is from-to, not burst every page in one click. Fine for pulling the signed page back out. From last to last.
I check three things. Order in the list. Last page is the sign. Size is sendable. Then I attach. Then I do not watch the cricket on the phone until the mail actually says sent. The merge is the easy part. The drop order is the part that makes you look careless. Up. Down. Look. Download.