A new feature has come to Microsoft Syntex to allow users from a SharePoint document library or OneDrive to extract and merge PDFs. Users can combine two or more PDF files into a new PDF file with the Merge PDFs action or split PDF pages into new PDF files with the Extract pages action.
This is all from the UI and n longer is there the requirement for users to remove the files from SharePoint/OneDrive and use third party software applications/upload to web sites offering this service. This is great for security and usability!
Syntex is now doing lots with PDFs including ability to create customised PDF documents with Content Assembly, Annotate PDF files and now the ability to extract and merge PDF pages from document libraries.
Testing Out Extract & Merge PDF Actions
I will now test out the extract/merge PDF functionality in Microsoft Syntex. In terms of licensing a Microsoft Syntex per user licence (discontinued) is required or the tenant needs to be registered for Syntex Pay As You Go. Currently the pay as you go costs are still being worked out so Extract/Merge it is currently FREE!
Users when they view a PDF document in a document library will see for the first time a blue Powerful PDF editing popup inviting them to try edit/merge PDF. The user can click on this prompt to see further information and be guided how to use Microsoft Syntex content assembly.
I will click on the three dots on the top bar to access the extract/merge actions.
I see two new actions for Merge PDFs and Extract pages.
Merge PDF
I opened a PDF document in a document library and selected Merge PDFs. I am going to show an example of combining multiple PDF files together to form one PDF file.
A merge pop out then appears and the original PDF where I selected Merge PDFs is selected and I now need to select other PDF files to merge with my original document.
I now select other PDFS to merge with the original document. The PDFs can be in different libraries or even different sites. I can also change the order of the extracted PDFs in the merge by moving them up and down in the right hand menu.
In my example I have selected five PDFs to merge together from a variety of locations. I then click Next.
I can change the file name of the merged PDF instead of it being “Merged from <filename>.pdf” and also save it to a different library or site or even my OneDrive etc.
The merge is very quick and took less than a second for 17 pages! I am then redirected to the original document and see a prompt at the bottom when the merged PDF is ready.
I can then click on the link and view the merged PDF. Take note of the page count! I am impressed 17 pages merged in no time at all!
Extract PDF
I opened a PDF document in a document library and selected Extract pages. I am going to show an example of extracting pages from one PDF file to form a seperate PDF file.
A preview of each page in the PDF document is then displayed altogether on the page and I am invited to select pages to extract. I select three pages from my PDF file and then press the Extract button. A great new feature in the future would be to allow the order of the extracted pages to be adjusted. Currently the page order is how they appeared in the original document.
I can then change the file name of the extracted PDF instead of it being “Extracted from <filename>.pdf” and also save it to a different library or site or even my OneDrive etc.
The extraction is very quick and took less than a second! I am then redirected to the original document and see a prompt at the bottom when the extracted PDF is ready.
I can now click on the link and view the extracted PDF. I am however going to navigate to my OneDrive to show the extracted file in OneDrive (this is awesome)!
Clicking on the Extracted PDF in my OneDrive opens up a preview of the document. Here I can see the three pages that I selected have now been in extracted into one PDF.
Summary
This is a great new feature that gives staff who are working the ability to quickly manipulate PDF documents all from a a SharePoint document library or their OneDrive. No more need for users to switch context/lose concentration and use external tools to manipulate pdf pages and files. This brings more power to SharePoint users and as a SharePoint man I’m happy with that!
