🛠️ PDF Workbench

📖 Overview

What is PDF Workbench?

PDF Workbench is the unified PDF page-management tool in FileForge. It replaces the older PDF Combiner and PDF Splitter modules by putting every page from every loaded file into one drag-and-drop thumbnail grid, then letting you pick the output: a single combined PDF, a split into ranges, an extract of checked pages, one-file-per-page, or a per-source bookmark split.

Each page remembers which source file it came from, so you can freely mix pages from multiple PDFs and the workbench will pull each one from the correct original document at save time.

Key Features

• Multi-source loading: Drag-drop or browse multiple PDFs; each one appends to the workbench
• Unified thumbnail grid: Every page from every source in one scrollable view
• Per-page source tags: Color-coded S1/S2/S3 badges show where each page came from
• Cross-source rearrangement: Drag any page to any position, mix sources freely
• Page operations: Rotate, duplicate, delete individual pages without affecting the original files
• Five output modes: Extract checked, by range, by bookmarks, one-file-per-page, or save as combined PDF
• Live output preview: Sidebar shows exactly what will be produced before you commit
• Source pane: Resizable list of loaded PDFs with drag-reorder, right-click remove, and Delete-key removal
• Compression: None, Low, Medium, or High (with image optimization)
• Password protection: Opens encrypted inputs and produces AES-256 encrypted outputs
• Stable source IDs: S-numbers stick to each file at load time and don't renumber when you reorder

When to Use PDF Workbench

• Merge several PDFs into one report
• Pull selected pages out of one or many PDFs into a new file
• Split a long document into per-chapter PDFs via its bookmarks
• Split every loaded PDF at its own bookmarks in one operation
• Build a custom document by interleaving pages from multiple sources
• Reorganize a PDF (reorder, rotate, delete pages) and save the result
• Burst a PDF into one-file-per-page for individual distribution

🚀 Getting Started

Quick Start

1. Add one or more PDFs.
   Drag PDFs into the workbench, drop them on the SOURCES panel, or click Browse (multi-select supported). Each file's pages appear in the thumbnail grid, color-tagged by source.
2. Rearrange.
   Click a thumbnail to select it (blue border), Ctrl-click to add to selection, then drag to move pages. Drag a row in the SOURCES panel to move all of that source's pages as a block.
3. Pick the output mode.
   Use the sidebar radio buttons: Extract checked, By range, By bookmarks, One file per page, or Save as combined PDF. The OUTPUT PREVIEW updates live to show what will be produced.
4. Generate Output.
   Click ▶ Generate Output. Choose compression and (optionally) a password, then save.

System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 10 or later
• Memory: 4GB RAM minimum; 8GB+ recommended for large PDFs (100+ pages)
• PDF Files: Valid PDF 1.4 or later (encrypted PDFs supported via unlock dialog)

🎨 Interface Guide

Top App Bar

• ← Main Menu: Closes the workbench and returns to the FileForge launcher
• ⚙ Settings: Quick access to Reset All

Source Row

• Source field: Shows the path of the most recently added PDF; supports drop
• Browse: Multi-select file picker (Ctrl/Shift-click in the dialog to pick many)
• Add to Workbench: Loads the file shown in the field (drag-drop and Browse load automatically)
• File / page counter: Live count of loaded sources and total pages
• Clear All: Removes every source and wipes the workbench

Selection Toolbar

• Select All Pages: Add the blue selection border to every thumbnail (for reorder/delete/duplicate)
• Check All Pages: Tick the checkbox on every thumbnail (for extract/individual modes)
• Clear Selection: Remove both borders and checkboxes
• Delete Selected / Duplicate Selected: Operate on bordered (selected) pages
• Pages counter: Total page count currently in the workbench

Left Sidebar (top to bottom)

1. SOURCES list — every loaded PDF, color-tagged with its S-number.
   • Drag rows to reorder (all of that source's pages move as a block)
   • Drop PDF files onto this panel to add them
   • Right-click a row → "Remove S{n} — filename"
   • Select a row and press Delete to remove it
   • Tooltip shows full path and page count
2. Splitter handle — drag to resize the SOURCES panel when you have many files loaded.
3. ACTION radios — choose what Generate Output will do (extract, split, or combine).
4. Mode options — context-sensitive controls for the active mode (e.g. "Pages per file" for By range).
5. OUTPUT PREVIEW — live text describing what the current mode + selection will produce.
6. ▶ Generate Output — runs the active mode.

Thumbnail Grid

• Each thumbnail shows its workbench page number ("Page 7") and a small colored badge ("S1", "S2"…) indicating its source.
• Hover the source badge to see the full filename and the page's number within its source.
• Pause on a thumbnail for ~1 second → a much larger, readable-size preview of the page pops up next to your cursor, captioned "Page N of M · filename". Move the cursor away to dismiss it. Use this to identify which page is which when the grid thumbnails are too small to read.
• Click a thumbnail → blue selection border (for reorder/delete/duplicate).
• Ctrl-click → add to / remove from selection.
• Click the checkbox → mark for extract / individual-export.
• Drag a selected thumbnail → reorder pages (a blue line shows the drop position).
• Per-thumbnail buttons: ↻ rotate 90°, ⊕ duplicate, ✕ delete.

Output Modes

📋 Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Combine several PDFs in a specific order

1. Drag every PDF into the workbench (or use Browse).
2. Drag SOURCES rows up/down so they're in the order you want.
3. Select Save as combined PDF in the ACTION list.
4. Click ▶ Generate Output, choose a filename, and save.

Workflow 2: Extract specific pages from one or more PDFs

1. Add the source PDF(s).
2. Click the checkbox on each page you want to extract.
3. Select Extract checked pages.
4. The OUTPUT PREVIEW shows the count and which sources are mixed.
5. Click Generate Output and save the new PDF.

Workflow 3: Split a long PDF into N-page chapters

1. Add the PDF.
2. Select By range, set "Pages per file" using +/-.
3. The OUTPUT PREVIEW lists the first few output files (e.g. 001.pdf pp 1-10).
4. Click Generate Output and choose an output folder.

Workflow 4: Split every loaded PDF at its own bookmarks

1. Add multiple bookmarked PDFs.
2. Select By bookmarks. The OUTPUT PREVIEW shows how many files will be created and which sources will be skipped (no bookmarks).
3. Click Generate Output and choose an output folder.
4. Output filenames are prefixed with each source's base name, so files from different sources don't collide.

Workflow 5: Build a custom document by interleaving sources

1. Add the source PDFs.
2. Drag thumbnails to reorder/interleave pages from different sources.
3. Use the source badges (S1, S2, …) to confirm each page is from the right file.
4. Select Save as combined PDF and Generate Output.

Workflow 6: Burst a PDF to one file per page

1. Add the PDF.
2. Select One file per page. Leave "Only checked pages" unticked to burst everything, or tick it and check only the pages you want.
3. Click Generate Output and choose an output folder.

Workflow 7: Replace a page within a PDF

1. Add the original PDF (S1).
2. Add the replacement PDF containing the new page (S2).
3. Select the bad page in S1 and click ✕ to delete it.
4. Drag the replacement page from S2 into the gap.
5. Select Save as combined PDF and save over the original (or use a new name).

✨ Features in Depth

Source Tracking

Each loaded PDF gets a stable identifier — S1, S2, S3… — assigned in load order. The number sticks to the source forever; if you drag SOURCES rows to reorder, the S-numbers travel with their files (so S3 is always the third PDF you loaded, even if it's now displayed first). Each S-number also has a matching color used on the SOURCES dot and on every page's source badge.

Removing a source leaves a numbering "gap" (e.g. S1, S3, S4 after deleting S2), which is intentional: it tells you exactly which file was removed without renumbering the survivors.

Selection vs Checked

The workbench uses two independent page markers:

• Border selection (blue outline): used for page operations — reorder by drag, Delete Selected, Duplicate Selected.
• Checkbox: used for output modes — Extract checked, and "Only checked pages" in One-file-per-page.

They're separate so you can, for example, have a multi-page selection ready to move while a totally different set of pages is checked for extraction.

Compression Options

• None: No compression — fastest, largest output.
• Low: Basic deflate optimization.
• Medium (recommended default): Deflate + clean unused objects.
• High: Medium settings + JPEG image re-encoding at quality 75 (smallest output, slight image-quality cost on large embedded images).

Password Protection

• Encrypted inputs: Locked PDFs trigger an unlock dialog when added. Cancel = skip that source.
• Encrypted outputs: Every output mode offers an Encrypt-Output dialog with confirm field. Uses AES-256, the strongest level PDF supports.

Reflow & Resize

• Maximize the window and the thumbnail grid expands to fill, adding more columns.
• Shrink the window and the grid reflows to fewer columns (no horizontal scrollbar).
• Drag the divider between SOURCES and the ACTION panel to give the sources panel more room when you have many files loaded.

💡 Tips & Best Practices

• Watch the preview. The OUTPUT PREVIEW updates as you check pages, change modes, or reorder. If it says "No pages checked" the action would produce nothing — fix that before clicking Generate Output.
• Hover to read a page. If the grid thumbnails are too small to identify a page, pause your cursor over it for about a second — a much larger, readable-size preview pops up next to the cursor with a "Page N of M" caption. Great for quickly finding the page you want to extract or delete.
• Use S-badges to verify. Before saving a mixed combined PDF, scan the badges on the thumbnails to make sure every page is from the file you expect.
• Reorder by source first. If you loaded files out of order, drag the SOURCES rows to reorder before rearranging individual pages — it's much faster than dragging hundreds of thumbnails.
• Right-click sources to clean up. Removing a wrong source from the SOURCES list is faster than deleting all its pages individually.
• High compression for storage, Medium for sharing. High compression re-encodes images and is slower; Medium is plenty for emailed reports.
• Encrypted-input → encrypted-output is allowed. Unlock once on load, set a new password on save.

🔧 Troubleshooting

"Could not unlock {filename} — skipping"

The password you entered didn't unlock that source PDF. The file is skipped and the rest of the load continues. Verify the password and re-add the file.

"None of the loaded sources have top-level bookmarks"

By bookmarks mode looks for level-1 ToC entries. If none of your PDFs have any, switch to By range or split manually by checking pages and using Extract checked pages.

Drag-reorder doesn't seem to do anything

Make sure the thumbnail you want to drag has a blue border (selected). If it doesn't, click it once first. To move several pages together, Ctrl-click each one to add to the selection before dragging.

The output file is larger than the inputs

Some PDFs include shared resources (fonts, images) that get duplicated when pages are pulled into a new document. Switch to High compression for the smallest output, or accept the size increase for the best quality.

The "▶ Generate Output" button does nothing

Hover over the OUTPUT PREVIEW — if it tells you the mode would produce nothing (no pages checked, no bookmarks, etc.), Generate Output is a no-op. Switch modes or check the pages you want.

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts