Adding a page to a PDF, and what the new file loses
A document is one page short: it needs an empty sheet for a signature or handwritten notes, a divider before a new section, or a few pages that live in a different PDF. Adding them is quick. What is worth knowing first is what kind of page can come in, and what the rest of the document gives up once the new file is built.
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Which tool you need
An empty sheet for notes, a signature or a break
This page. Select the page the blank one should follow, choose a size, and it goes in straight after it.
Some pages that live in a different PDF
This page as well. Import the other file and its pages join the end, each with a preview you can drag into place, turn or drop again.
Two whole documents, one after the other
Merge PDF is built for joining complete files in an order you set, and it asks for less than importing one file into another.
A photo or a scan of the page to add
This page takes PDFs only. Make the picture a one-page PDF with Image to PDF, then bring that file in with the import button.
A filled-in form that needs an extra page
Flatten PDF first, so the answers become part of the page. Adding a page leaves the fields unable to work, and flattening keeps what was typed in them visible.
Choosing a size for the blank page
Matching the page before or after it is the safe choice: the new sheet scrolls and prints like its neighbors. Pick A4, US Letter or US Legal when the blank page should be a standard sheet whatever the document around it uses.
A custom size is typed in points, the unit PDF pages are measured in, at 72 to the inch. An A4 page is about 595 by 842 points and a US Letter page 612 by 792, which is a useful check before typing your own numbers.
What the new file leaves behind
Adding a page means writing a new PDF out of the pages alone. The words, pictures and drawings on every page come across as they were, but the parts of a PDF that sit around the pages do not: fill-in fields stop responding, the bookmark list and accessibility tags are gone, and a link that jumped to another page in the document no longer goes anywhere.
For a plain document none of that matters. For a form, a long report people navigate by bookmarks, or a file that has to stay accessible, keep the original as well and check the result before sending it on.
What to know before you start
- Only PDFs can be added; pictures, Word files and other formats need converting first.
- Imported pages always arrive at the end, and moving them is up to you.
- Up to 20 PDFs can be brought into one document.
- A locked PDF can be looked through once its password is entered, but not saved until Unlock PDF removes it.
- Your original stays as it was, and nothing is uploaded: the new file is built on this device.