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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 12:00 pm   #1
Julesomega
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Default How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

I scan equipment manuals and end up with a folder of JPEG images. Does anyone know a way to convert a set of images to a single PDF document? Obviously for free or for a small purchase price. Also it must be possible to choose the order in which they appear in the document or you would get 'Contents' 'Frontispiece' and 'pages' mixed up, and p37 before p4
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 12:07 pm   #2
G6Tanuki
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Embed the JPG files in a Word document then "print to file" selecting PDF as the print format?
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 12:11 pm   #3
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Doesn't that bloat the file size unreasonably? PDF is meant to be compact, you might want to email them
Of course, Word is not free/cheap, can you do it with that free alternative?
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 12:24 pm   #4
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Search for a “Convert to PDF” application for your operating system.
I use an application with that name on my iPad and it will take a number of jpegs and convert them to one PDF file.
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 12:28 pm   #5
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

I'd check your scanner software. All the ones I've used (nothing fancy, just domestic flatbeds or all-in-ones) have the ability to save scans as numerous file types, one of which is PDF.

One is then given the option to continue with another page, or to finish scanning. If the former, a whole set of pages can be scanned and then saved in a single PDF.

If you have Acrobat (I'm sure open source alternatives are available) then the 'save as optimised PDF' option can be used when the PDF is open in Acrobat. This has a few settings that can keep file sizes down, especially if the document is all text and diagrams, and thus doesn't all need to be in 24 bit colour with high resolution images!
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 12:30 pm   #6
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

There are a number of free office type packages capable of creating and converting document (DOC) files to PDF format. I happen to use WPS Office for document and PDF creation. The size of the ultimate file is related to the size of the original document containing the embedded JPG images but will generally be about 75% of the original. If you can reduce the file size of the source JPGs to a minimum without losing too much resolution that will help to keep the PDF file size down as well.

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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 12:41 pm   #7
Julesomega
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Thanks. I edit and reorder the scans before saving so that rules out the scanner s/w options. I'd prefer to avoid Word etc. but I followed Frank's suggestion and found CompulsiveCode. Have downloaded and virus scanned, now to try it. Looks like you have to run it from the command line
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 1:15 pm   #8
emeritus
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

I used Nova PDF that came as a free download with "Computer Shopper magazine a few years ago. I see it was available again as a free download in last month's issue. When my laptop's hard drive failed (a book fell on it when it was running) and I had to re-install everything from the recovery disks, I bought a copy.It has resolution options that I use to reduce images to a size that can be posted here as attachments.
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 1:39 pm   #9
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

A pdf containing jpeg images should fundamentally be as large as the sum of the jpeg file sizes as they are stored as jpeg within the pdf. If it isn't, quality is lost, guaranteed, so close inspection to see if the necessary details are kept is called for. PDF also has the option to store png images. That will require some image editing but in case of black and white text and line drawings (schematics) may be the better option. Some amount of greyscale is often needed to prevent losing detail, maybe 2 to 4 bits per pixel, more if there are images on that page.
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 1:50 pm   #10
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

I've already opted for CompulsiveCode ImageToPDForXPS.exe, a quick trial under Win10 was superb, did everything I want, will now try with a set of scanned jpegs.

I'm still running the scanner under WinXP and I can't get this exe to run, it reports "..\ImageToPDForXPS.exe is not a valid Win32 application" - any ideas?
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 2:37 pm   #11
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

I do my online here just upload and get pdf back
https://online2pdf.com/convert-ps-to-pdf
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 3:09 pm   #12
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

LibreOffice is Free and Open Source, and can export to PDF.
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 3:51 pm   #13
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

After loosing my backup of Adobe which had the capability or making PDF files, I now use Irfanview, you can use it to create a multipage PDF.

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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 3:53 pm   #14
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by julie_m View Post
LibreOffice is Free and Open Source, and can export to PDF.
Is it possible to load a list of images into LibreOffice Draw rather than laboriously creating a new page to insert each image?
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 5:26 pm   #15
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Hello,
You can try this site: https://www.ilovepdf.com/fr/jpg_en_pdf
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 7:10 pm   #16
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Are you using GIMP for image manipulation? If not, you probably should as it's the general go-to for open-source Photoshop, even if you think your needs are not so 'professional' (I hate that word as a supposedly better counterpoint to amateur. Up the unprofessional!)

It can save to PDFs (I think only singly, currently) but you could then merge them into one with another programme.

An alternative would be to use Scribus - the open-source Quark/Adobe InDesign. Place the individual edited jpegs on the pages in the order you want, then export to a PDF. The advantage here is that you could subsequently edit, add or remove pages and export the entire manual to PDF again with minimum fuss.
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 8:53 pm   #17
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

i use Libre Office. I do all sorts of stuff, including what the OP does. I generally get a page into "Draw", alter anything I want, add text if required (a bit of caution here as it may jumble a bit later on resize, but I have ways**), when finished, I copy it to Writer. With the enter key, I take the cursor down to first line of next page, the I can process another page via draw, then move it to P. 2 and so on.
**In fact I resize the drawing down to about 70% BEFORE adding text. When you copy to Writer, a full page will be oversized. That is when resizing may jumble text. Unlikely to become jumbled if you need to size it UP a little.
If you then want to export as a PDF, you CAN resize down, just select % required.
Sometimes a PDF can be LARGER than the source format!
I use Linux, and that has many more programmes that will convert single or multiple formats to single output of a different format.
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p.s., I also use DRAW for circuit diagram creation. You may see some stuff in a few days.

Last edited by MotorBikeLes; 2nd Sep 2019 at 8:55 pm. Reason: additional info. Second edit, fix %
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 10:22 pm   #18
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

I use a free program called dopdf.exe it sits in all programs that would use a printer and you select it by the printer option. Be careful of the order in which you select files to print in explorer as they may not be listed as you wanted. Apart from that it has worked well for some years.
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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 10:35 pm   #19
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

I have used PDF Converter Professional for around six years. It allows one to assemble .pdf documents from a variety of mixed source documents in whatever order you choose. One may also edit .pdf documents, changing the page order, rotating and so on. I can’t recall the price, but it was not excessive. It has the option to produce regular or highly compressed (MRC compression) .pdfs. The latter facility is most useful for attachments to this forum, where a <2 MB .pdf size limit applies. (For multipage documents, prior conversion of the text-only pages to black-and-white .png form (using Irfanview) before assembly also greatly aids in reducing overall size. It is also possible to compress the .pdf after creation. One caveat is that there does seem to be an upper limit as to how many pages can be assembled at one time, although I haven’t figured out whether this is related just to the number of pages or the overall size. A workaround is to do smaller subassembly .pdfs that are then assembled into the final .pdf.

PDF Converter Professional also converts from .pdf to multiple other forms, and it had a print-to-pdf facility. It is useful for breaking up .pdfs into single-page documents, although I’d say that the single page quality is generally not quite as good one gets with using Photoshop, although it is noticeably better than when using Irfanview. (Although in terms of overall utility, Irfanview ranks very, very highly.) PDF Converter is better for breaking up “difficult” .pdfs than Photoshop, and sometimes a reprint-to-PDF helps, but Irfanview often works when all else fails.

It would appear that one needs a suite of options for what I’d call lowish level document management. For example, if I can’t get Photoshop to properly merge two parts of a split schematic, then I’ll resort to fiddling around in Paint.

I think that there are other programs that are similar to PDF Converter Professional, and perhaps even better, but I haven’t looked at them.


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Old 2nd Sep 2019, 11:19 pm   #20
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Default Re: How to create a PDF from multiple JPEGs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by crackle View Post
After loosing my backup of Adobe which had the capability or making PDF files, I now use Irfanview, you can use it to create a multipage PDF.

Mike

I've been using Irfanview for ages but didn't realise that (with plugin) it could create a multi-page PDF. Just tried it and it works a treat.
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