I have a series of PDFs named sequentially like so:

  • 01_foo.pdf
  • 02_bar.pdf
  • 03_baz.pdf
  • etc.

Using Ruby, is it possible to combine these into one big PDF while keeping them in sequence? I don't mind installing any necessary gems to do the job.

If this isn't possible in Ruby, how about another language? No commercial components, if possible.

Update: Jason Navarrete's suggestion lead to the perfect solution:

Place the PDF files needing to be combined in a directory along with pdftk (or make sure pdftk is in your PATH), then run the following script:

pdfs = Dir["[0-9][0-9]_*"].sort.join(" ")
`pdftk #{pdfs} output combined.pdf`

Or I could even do it as a one-liner from the command-line:

ruby -e '`pdftk #{Dir["[0-9][0-9]_*"].sort.join(" ")} output combined.pdf`'

Great suggestion Jason, perfect solution, thanks. Give him an up-vote people.

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