How to attach files inside a PDF, and take them out
Open Attachments, keep Put files inside the PDF, add the PDF first and then the files, and press Attach or take out. To get files out of a PDF, choose Take out the attached files instead.
AttachmentsFree. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Open Attachments and choose Put files inside the PDF, or Take out the attached files.
- Add the PDF first, then, to attach, the files to put inside it.
- Press Attach or take out.
- Save the PDF with its attachments, or save each file that came out.
Why put files inside a PDF
An attachment travels inside the PDF, so a set of files cannot be separated by accident. An invoice can carry the spreadsheet behind it, a report its raw photos, a signed form the scan of the ID it refers to, a thesis its data. The person receiving gets one file to save and forward, and opens the attachments when they need them.
Any kind of file can go in: Excel sheets, Word files, photos, other PDFs, a ZIP. The PDF grows by about the size of what you attach. No size limit is set here, but the email or portal you send it through may have one, and attachments count towards it.
How the person receiving finds them
Readers list attachments in a panel of their own, often marked with a paperclip: Adobe Acrobat Reader has an Attachments panel, and Firefox’s built-in viewer shows them in its sidebar. Not every viewer shows them, and many phone viewers do not. So say in your message that the PDF carries attachments, and what they are; the result line here reminds you to.
Taking files out
Choose Take out the attached files, add the PDF and press Attach or take out. Every file it carries comes out exactly as it went in, byte for byte, with its own name, and Save all keeps them together. If a PDF carries none, the result says so.
Files attached to a PDF from someone you do not know deserve the care you would give any unexpected email attachment. Nothing here opens or checks them; they are carried, and handed back, exactly as they are.
Attachments leave with the file
Attachments are easy to forget, and they go wherever the PDF goes. Before sending a PDF outside, check what it carries. To drop every attachment at once, use Clean hidden data, which takes them out along with the other hidden details. An archive copy (PDF/A) also leaves them out, as the standard it follows asks.
If the PDF is digitally signed, attaching files makes a new copy in which the signature no longer checks out, and the result line says so. Attach first, and sign last.
A worked example
Deepa is sending her accountant a PDF of the year’s rent receipts, and wants the twelve bank transfer screenshots and the rent agreement to go with it. She opens Attachments, keeps Put files inside the PDF, adds the receipts PDF first, then the screenshots and the agreement, and presses Attach or take out. The result says 13 files attached inside. She emails one PDF and tells her accountant to open its attachments panel, from which he saves the screenshots straight out.
Attach, or merge?
Attaching keeps each file as itself, in its own format, which suits spreadsheets, photos at full size and anything that is not a PDF. If everything is a PDF and should be read page after page, Merge them into one document instead: every page shows in any viewer, with no panel to find.
Questions people ask
Are my files uploaded?
No. They are put inside the PDF in your browser, as they are, and never opened, checked or sent anywhere.
Is there a size limit?
None is set here; your device’s memory is the only limit. Email and portals have their own limits, and attachments count towards them.
What if two files have the same name?
The second is renamed with (2) at the end, so both can be found in the reader’s list.
Can I attach files to a locked PDF?
Yes. Type its password when asked; the result stays locked with the same password.
How do I remove all attachments?
Use Clean hidden data with Attached files too ticked.
Your file stays on your device. Foolscap does the work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing for anyone to keep. How you can check