PDF Merge and Split Guide: Principles and Rule Description for Page-Level Operations

The OKfmt PDF merge and split tool uses a page-level copying mechanism, which directly copies page objects from the original PDF to output a new file. This mechanism completely retains the text layer and vector graphics information of the original pages, and does not perform format conversion on the original content.

Re-rendering converts original PDF pages to bitmap images and then regenerates a new PDF. This process loses vector outlines and editable text layers. Page-level copying only reconstructs the document framework without modifying individual page content, so its retention effect on text-based PDF meets the requirements of most use cases.

The maximum total page limit for a single merge task is 200 pages. If the total number of pages of all files uploaded in a single attempt exceeds this value, processing will fail, and you need to split the task into multiple batches for processing.

The page order of the merged new PDF follows the order of the uploaded files, and the pages within the same file retain their original order. You can adjust the arrangement order of files after uploading to customize the final output page order.

You need to enter the page range to be extracted in the input box. The tool supports mixed input of continuous ranges and individual page numbers. Page numbering starts from 1, which matches the page numbers displayed in the PDF.

Continuous page numbers use a hyphen to connect the start and end pages, in the format "start-end". For example, 1-5 means extracting all pages from page 1 to page 5. Individual page numbers are separated by half-width commas, no additional spaces are required.

An example of mixed format is "1,3,5-7". This range indicates extracting page 1, page 3, and pages 5 to 7, totaling 6 pages. The final output page order follows the order entered in the range.

Text-based PDF refers to PDF that contains an editable text layer. The page-level copying mechanism fully retains text copiability and vector information, and the output file supports normal text search.

Scanned PDF is essentially composed of page images and does not have an editable text layer. For scanned PDF, page-level copying and re-rendering produce identical results, both fully retain the original image quality in output.

For encrypted PDF, only owner permission restrictions can be bypassed. Enabling the ignore-encryption parameter allows extracting pages from encrypted PDF, but it cannot bypass open password verification. You must enter the correct password to process the file.