After reordering, does the file still carry its author and other metadata, and how do I drop it before sending?
Yes, it stays. The reorder tool edits the same document, so its title, author and other metadata remain, along with bookmarks and form fields. If you want a copy without the original document's metadata, run the reordered file through the split tool in “Extract to one PDF” with the full range, such as 1-12, bearing in mind that this drops bookmarks and form fields too.
What metadata is, and why it matters
Any PDF can carry information that never appears on its pages: a document title, an author name, the program that created it and a creation date. Many programs fill the author automatically from the computer's account name, so your company profile may carry the name of the employee who designed it, or an old title like draft for another client. Anyone who opens the file's properties in a PDF reader can see it.
Why it survives reordering
The reorder tool does not create a new document. It opens yours, rewrites only the sequence of its pages and saves it without updating its metadata. That is deliberate, because it is what keeps the outline and form fields intact, but it also means whatever was in the file's properties stays as it was.
Getting a copy without the original document's metadata
- Reorder the pages in Reorder PDF pages and download, which gives you a file such as profile-reordered.pdf.
- Open that file in Split PDF.
- Choose “Extract to one PDF” and type the full range, such as 1-12 for a 12-page file.
- Press “Split and download” to get profile-reordered-pages-1-12.pdf, a new document with the same pages in the same order.
- Open the new file's properties in a PDF reader to confirm the old title and author are gone, then rename the file before sending.
The price you pay
- Bookmarks are dropped, so the file loses its sidebar outline if it had one.
- Fillable form fields do not carry over.
- The pages themselves, their content and their annotations stay as they are, with no loss of quality.
- The new file may carry a few details of its own, such as its creation date and the name of the library that built it, but not the original's title or author.
Remember too that metadata is one thing and what shows on the pages is another. A designer's name printed in a footer, or a note on one of the pages, remains in both versions, so review the pages themselves as well.
Common questions
Can I edit the title and author instead of removing them?
Not with these two tools. If you want specific values, change them in the source program before exporting, or in a PDF editor.
Does reordering and then extracting reduce page quality?
No. Both tools move and copy pages without redrawing or recompressing them.