PDF Workflows

PDF files are a common way to share documents reliably across devices. This guide covers typical workflows: creating PDFs from images, combining multiple documents, and optimizing PDFs for email or web distribution.

Create a PDF from images

When converting images to a PDF, order the pages as you want them to appear. If images are large, compress them first to reduce the final PDF size. Decide whether you need searchable text: if so, run an OCR step after creating the PDF.

Combine multiple PDFs

Combining PDFs is useful when merging reports, invoices, or scanned pages. Use tools that preserve bookmarks and page numbering if these features are required. After combining, review the PDF to ensure the page order and orientation are correct.

Optimize and reduce size

PDFs can become large when they contain high-resolution images. Use image compression, remove unused embedded fonts, and downsample images where acceptable. Many tools include a PDF optimizer option that applies a combination of changes to reduce size while keeping readability.

Accessibility and metadata

Add meaningful document titles, author metadata, and language tags to make the document more accessible. For documents that must comply with accessibility standards, add tags and readable text alternatives for images.

Sharing best practices

• Compress before sharing if recipients do not need high-fidelity images.
• Password protect sensitive documents when sending by email and share the password through a separate channel.
• Keep a master copy of the original files in case further edits are needed.

Chattsphere provides quick, browser-based PDF utilities for these tasks. Try a single-file conversion first to validate settings, then apply the same options for larger batches.