Question

Is it possible, using Python, to merge separate PDF files?

Assuming so, I need to extend this a little further. I am hoping to loop through folders in a directory and repeat this procedure.

And I may be pushing my luck, but is it possible to exclude a page that is contained in each of the PDFs (my report generation always creates an extra blank page).

Answer 1

Use Pypdf or its successor PyPDF2:

A Pure-Python library built as a PDF toolkit. It is capable of:

• splitting documents page by page,
• merging documents page by page,

(and much more)

Here’s a sample program that works with both versions.

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys
try:
    from PyPDF2 import PdfReader, PdfWriter
except ImportError:
    from pyPdf import PdfFileReader, PdfFileWriter

def pdf_cat(input_files, output_stream):
    input_streams = []
    try:
        # First open all the files, then produce the output file, and
        # finally close the input files. This is necessary because
        # the data isn't read from the input files until the write
        # operation. Thanks to
        # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6773631/problem-with-closing-python-pypdf-writing-getting-a-valueerror-i-o-operation/6773733#6773733
        for input_file in input_files:
            input_streams.append(open(input_file, 'rb'))
        writer = PdfWriter()
        for reader in map(PdfReader, input_streams):
            for n in range(len(reader.pages)):
                writer.add_page(reader.pages[n])
        writer.write(output_stream)
    finally:
        for f in input_streams:
            f.close()
        output_stream.close()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    if sys.platform == "win32":
        import os, msvcrt
        msvcrt.setmode(sys.stdout.fileno(), os.O_BINARY)
    pdf_cat(sys.argv[1:], sys.stdout)