Should I send a client one merged PDF or a ZIP with all the separate documents?
If the documents are for reading, such as invoices, a catalog or a quotation, one merged PDF is usually better: it opens directly on any phone and reads in the order you chose. If one of them is digitally signed, is a form that must stay fillable, or relies on its bookmarks sidebar, send the documents separately, zipped or as individual attachments.
What the client gains from one file
- One tap to open: a ZIP on a phone needs extracting first, and some clients never find where the files went.
- Your reading order: you decide that the summary comes first and details after, instead of the client opening files in name order.
- Easy references: 'page 6 of the file' is clearer than 'the third file inside the archive'.
- Nothing goes missing: one file is saved or deleted as a whole.
To make that file, add the documents to Merge PDFs, put them in order and press 'Merge and download'.
When separate files are the right answer
- A digitally signed document: merging invalidates the signature, so a signed contract must arrive as its original file.
- A fillable form the client needs to complete: the fields do not carry into a merged file.
- A long file whose readers rely on its bookmarks sidebar: the bookmarks do not come across.
- Files that are not PDFs, such as a spreadsheet the client has to edit: those cannot be merged anyway.
The middle route that suits most cases
Often the answer is both. Say you are sending a corporate client a project pack with a digitally signed contract, a quotation, a bill of quantities and a materials catalog. Merge the quotation, the bill of quantities and the catalog into one reading file, and attach the signed contract separately next to it. The client reads one tidy file and keeps the contract with its signature intact.
Before sending, either way
- Give every file a name the client understands without opening it, not merged.pdf or scan0034.pdf.
- Check the size: a merged file weighs about what its parts do together, and zipping rarely shrinks image-heavy PDFs by much.
- Open what you are sending on your phone, since that is how most clients will see it.
Common questions
Does zipping make PDFs smaller?
Usually only a little, because images inside PDFs are already compressed. Do not count on it to get under an attachment limit.
Can the client pull one document back out of the merged file later?
Yes, they can take the pages they want with a PDF split tool, so merging does not close that door.
Are files uploaded when I merge them?
No. The merge happens in the browser on your own device.