Merge Multiple Images into PDF from List

I have thousands of images that need to be converted and combined into multiple PDF files. Some of the images are used multiple times. I'm looking for a solution to automate this.

I have all of the .tif files named and organized in a spreadsheet. I want to use that file list and run an automated script to save myself hundreds of hours converting these files one by one.

All the files are in the same folder.

I'm not a programmer. I've tried finding some kind of documentation, code, or third-party tool, but this seems to be an uncommon task. Thanks in advance.

I'm on Windows. Below is an example of the spreadsheet. I've got no problem using formulas to make whatever format or code I need in Excel. These files are individual pages of many scanned documents. "First Page" refers to the beginning of a section. Example: 0066.tif-0068.tif is one document where 0066.tif is the title page of the document. 0070.tif-0081.tif is THREE separate documents combined into one, with 0070.tif as the title page for all three. So it would be 0070.tif-0072.tif, 0070.tif & 0073.tif-0074.tif, and 0070.tif & 0075.tif-0081.tif. 0069.tif is a single page document.

Document	Title Page	First Page	Last Page
P-05593.pdf	0066.tif	0066.tif	0068.tif
P-05594.pdf	0069.tif	0069.tif	0069.tif
P-05595.pdf	0070.tif	0071.tif	0072.tif
P-05596.pdf	0070.tif	0073.tif	0074.tif
P-05597.pdf	0070.tif	0075.tif	0081.tif
P-05598.pdf	0082.tif	0083.tif	0084.tif
P-05599.pdf	0082.tif	0085.tif	0090.tif
P-05600.pdf	0091.tif	0091.tif	0093.tif
P-05601.pdf	0094.tif	0094.tif	0100.tif

Update: I'm sure this is rare. I found a solution, just in case there is someone out there with a similar situation.

I used a combination of Excel and nConvert. Still working on an easier/faster way to identify which pages are which, so for now that's still a mostly manual process. BUT, after I get that list made I used Excel formulas and VBA commands to export the list as a .bat file I can run to process all the files at once. Not sure if I am able to post files, but here is a the code output for the table of files I posted before, minus a few since this is getting lengthy:

    nconvert
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -multi -dpi 200 -c 1 -out pdf -o P-05593.PDF -n 0066 0068 1 "####.tif"
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -dpi 200 -c 1 -out pdf -o P-05594.PDF 0069.tif
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -multi -dpi 200 -c 1 -out pdf -o P-05595.PDF -n 0070 0072 1 "####.tif"
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -out pdf -o TEMPA 0070.tif
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -multi -out pdf -o TEMPB -n 0073 0074 1 "####.tif"
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -D -multi -out pdf -dpi 200 -c 1 -xall -o P-05596.PDF TEMPA.pdf TEMPB.pdf
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -out pdf -o TEMPA 0070.tif
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -multi -out pdf -o TEMPB -n 0075 0081 1 "####.tif"
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -D -multi -out pdf -dpi 200 -c 1 -xall -o P-05597.PDF TEMPA.pdf TEMPB.pdf
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -multi -dpi 200 -c 1 -out pdf -o P-05598.PDF -n 0082 0084 1 "####.tif"
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -out pdf -o TEMPA 0082.tif
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -multi -out pdf -o TEMPB -n 0085 0090 1 "####.tif"
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -overwrite -D -multi -out pdf -dpi 200 -c 1 -xall -o P-05599.PDF TEMPA.pdf TEMPB.pdf
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -multi -dpi 200 -c 1 -out pdf -o P-05600.PDF -n 0091 0093 1 "####.tif"
    C:\Users\username\NConvert\nconvert.exe -multi -dpi 200 -c 1 -out pdf -o P-05601.PDF -n 0094 0100 1 "####.tif"

Cut down my processing time by a huge amount. 5,759 pages in 1,169 documents, all compiled in less than an hour with this method. Normally would have taken me weeks.

Edit:

Okay. I am returning to this thread because I solved my issue, but as cday pointed out in my post on Stack Overflow It looks to be overcomplicated. They seem to be invested in the solution so I'll try to explain what I did here, and I'll post an attachment if possible.

As stated before, I have multiple folders with 5,000+ raw .tif page scans each. Odd choice of filetype since whoever scanned them did not save with multiple pages, only one page per file. These scans are of numbered documents with title pages, some single with its own title page, others multiple that share a title page. I needed a way to break out these individual pages into organized lists for each document number, sometimes re-using those multiple-document title pages, so a straight file list probably would not have worked. At least not easily.

My initial and very slow process with this task was to manually scroll through each scan and type its file name into a spreadsheet. Then, highlight those files in explorer, right click, and combine in Adobe. Save as. Name the file accordingly. After all 1,600+ documents were done, I needed to spot check to make sure I didn't miss any. I always did. So this solution would not only GREATLY speed up the process, but it would ensure accuracy as well.

Long story short, I coded the following with VBA in Excel (with great effort, trial and error, and frustration):

Keypad activates macros. Acts as a sort of control board for the spreadsheet.
- Advances file number along with currently viewed photo.
- Fills down other Excel formulas to reduce processing lag. (I need to adjust this because eventually, as I near the end of the list it will slow down.)
- Macros to move back in the series as well as bring the Windows Photo Viewer into focus.
- Fills in page numbers to identify title pages, first page in each document, and normal pages.
A series of Excel IF formulas generate nConvert commands.
A button to save the nConvert column of commands to a .bat file. I am having difficulty with this one, though. It saves the ENTIRE column, all the way down to 1048576 instead of only populated cells. Work in progress.
A column I can copy/paste to report on progress to project lead. Also serves to reference which raw scan files are contained in which document PDF.
A memory cache of sorts. I found that Excel does not save variable values when the file is closed, so I added a block of cells to save and load the current values of variables. A dirty solution, but it works. As a bonus, it also serves as an override if I need to go back a significant way or if I need to skip scan files.

I guess it's a bit difficult to explain without context. I am working on simplifying the formulas and the VBA code because this thing is UGLY. I was much more focused on function, not elegance. I'd attach the file but it looks like I'm not able to post Excel files. Link to my Dropbox below.

Real Estate Spreadsheet

Solution

From cday https://newsgroup.xnview.com/index.php

I sent you an email a few days ago, I don't know if you received it?

Your problem interested me and I developed simple code, a single line .bat to batch convert suitably formatted output from Excel. I haven't posted it yet as it requires a bug fix in an NConvert option, and probably a small enhancement to another option, both of which could be possible reasonably soon.

Looking at you code above quickly, it looks unnecessarily complex but I'll reserve judgement on that.

If you are interested probably better to contact me there, or maybe directly by PM or email.

Edit:

For the benefit of anyone else who might be interested, this was Michael Clark's original post on the XnView forum under a different username:

https://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=42567

And this was my draft solution later in the same thread:

https://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?p=173583#p173583