Rearrange PDF – Frequently Asked Questions

The Rearrange PDF tool is a free online service that gives you complete control over the organization of pages in your PDF documents.

Key Features:

• Drag-and-Drop Reordering: Move pages to any position with intuitive drag-and-drop
• Duplicate Pages: Create copies of any page with one click
• Delete Pages: Remove unwanted pages from your PDF
• Visual Thumbnails: See preview images of all pages
• Custom Arrangements: Create any page order you need
• Minimum 1 Page: Ensures output PDF is always valid

Technical Implementation: The tool uses SortableJS for drag-and-drop functionality. Page reordering and deletion use FPDI to import pages at the vector level. Page duplication uses canvas pixel copying: pages are rendered to an HTML5 canvas, pixel data is copied, and new pages are created from the copied data. The tool enforces a minimum of 1 page to ensure valid PDF output.

Reordering pages is simple with the drag-and-drop interface.

How to Reorder Pages:

1. Upload PDF: Upload your PDF file using the file picker
2. View Thumbnails: All pages display as thumbnail previews with page numbers
3. Click and Hold: Click on any page thumbnail and hold the mouse button (or tap and hold on mobile)
4. Drag: While holding, drag the thumbnail to its new position
   • A ghost image appears showing where the page will be placed
5. Drop: Release the mouse button to drop the page in its new position
   • Other pages automatically shift to make room
6. Repeat: Continue dragging pages until you achieve the desired order

Visual Feedback:

• Ghost Image: Semi-transparent copy of the page follows your cursor/finger
• Drop Zone Highlighting: Visual indicator shows where the page will land
• Smooth Animation: Other pages slide smoothly into new positions
• Page Numbers Update: Numbers update automatically after each move

Examples:

• Move page 5 to position 1 → New order: 5,1,2,3,4,6,7...
• Move page 2 to the end → New order: 1,3,4,5,...,2
• Reverse entire PDF → Drag pages one by one from end to beginning

Yes! You can create exact copies of any page with the duplicate function.

How to Duplicate Pages:

1. Each page thumbnail has a "Duplicate" button (usually a copy icon)
2. Click the Duplicate button on the page you want to copy
3. A copy of the page appears immediately after the original
4. The duplicated page can be moved to any position using drag-and-drop
5. You can duplicate the same page multiple times to create several copies

Use Cases for Page Duplication:

• Forms: Duplicate a blank form page multiple times for bulk printing
• Templates: Copy a template page to create multiple similar sections
• Covers: Duplicate a cover page for front and back covers
• Repeated Content: Add the same content multiple times without re-scanning

Technical Note:

• Duplication uses canvas pixel copying
• The page is rendered to an HTML5 canvas element
• Pixel data is copied from the canvas using getImageData()
• A new page is created from the copied pixel data
• Quality Note: Duplicated pages are rasterized images, not vector copies (slight quality trade-off for duplication capability)

Deleting pages is quick and easy with the delete button on each page.

How to Delete Pages:

1. Each page thumbnail has a "Delete" button (usually an X icon in the corner)
2. Click the Delete button on the page you want to remove
3. The page is immediately removed from the list
4. Remaining pages automatically renumber themselves
5. Repeat for any additional pages you want to delete

Important Restriction:

• Minimum 1 Page Required: You cannot delete all pages
• If you try to delete the last remaining page:
  • The delete button becomes disabled, OR
  • An error message appears preventing deletion
• Why: A PDF file must contain at least one page to be valid

Use Cases for Page Deletion:

• Remove Blank Pages: Delete accidentally scanned blank pages
• Remove Confidential Pages: Delete sensitive pages before sharing
• Trim Documents: Remove cover pages, advertisements, or unwanted sections
• Create Excerpts: Keep only relevant pages and delete the rest

Tip: If you want to extract specific pages rather than delete many, consider using the Split PDF tool instead – it lets you select which pages to keep.

The final rearranged PDF must contain at least 1 page.

Why This Restriction Exists:

• PDF Specification: The PDF file format requires at least one page
• Valid Output: A zero-page PDF is invalid and cannot be opened by PDF readers
• Practical Use: An empty PDF has no purpose

How It's Enforced:

• Client-Side (Browser):
  • JavaScript tracks the number of remaining pages
  • When only 1 page remains, the Delete button is disabled
  • Clicking delete on the last page shows an alert: "Cannot delete last page"
• Server-Side (PHP):
  • Server validates that at least 1 page is in the final page list
  • If page count is 0, server returns an error
  • This prevents bypassing client-side restrictions

Practical Impact:

• You can delete any pages you want, as long as at least 1 page remains
• From a 100-page PDF, you can delete 99 pages, leaving just 1
• You cannot create an empty PDF using this tool

Page duplication uses canvas pixel copying, a technique that creates visual copies of PDF pages.

Canvas Pixel Copying Process:

1. Page Rendering:
   • The PDF page is rendered to an HTML5 <canvas> element using PDF.js
   • The canvas contains a pixel-perfect representation of the page
2. Pixel Data Extraction:
   • JavaScript uses canvas.getContext('2d').getImageData() to copy all pixel data
   • This creates a pixel array containing RGB values for every pixel
3. Image Creation:
   • The pixel data is converted to a base64-encoded image (PNG or JPEG)
   • This image is stored as a data URL
4. New Page Creation:
   • On the server, the image data is decoded and embedded as a full-page image in the PDF
   • The new page has the same dimensions as the original

Quality Considerations:

• Rasterization: Duplicated pages are rasterized images, not vector content
  • Text becomes pixels, not selectable/searchable text
  • Graphics become pixels, not resolution-independent vectors
• Resolution: Canvas rendering resolution determines quality
  • Higher resolution = better quality but larger file size
  • Typical resolution: 150-300 DPI
• Original Pages Unaffected: Non-duplicated pages retain full vector quality

Why This Method?

• Browser Compatibility: Works in all modern browsers without plugins
• Visual Accuracy: Creates exact visual copies of complex pages
• Flexibility: Can duplicate any page regardless of PDF structure

Absolutely! The drag-and-drop interface allows you to create any custom page order.

Creating Custom Page Orders:

• Any Sequence: Arrange pages in any order you want
  • Example: 5,1,3,2,4 or 10,5,1,15,3
• Reverse Order: Put last page first, first page last
  • Original: 1,2,3,4,5 → Reversed: 5,4,3,2,1
• Interleaved Pages: Alternate between different sections
  • Example: 1,10,2,11,3,12 (alternate from two sections)
• Grouped Pages: Move related pages together
  • Example: Group all charts (pages 5,12,18) together at the end

Use Cases:

• Scanned Documents: Fix pages that were scanned out of order
• Custom Presentations: Arrange slides in presentation order
• Document Assembly: Combine sections from different parts of a PDF
• Print Preparation: Arrange pages for booklet or duplex printing

How to Achieve Complex Orders:

1. Visual Approach: Drag pages one by one to their final positions
2. Step-by-Step: Work through the document systematically
   • Move page 5 to position 1
   • Move page 1 to position 3
   • Continue until desired order is achieved
3. Preview: Page numbers update in real-time so you can verify the order

Quality preservation depends on the operation:

Full Quality Preservation (Reordering & Deletion)

• Reordered Pages: 100% original quality maintained
  • Pages imported using FPDI at the vector level
  • No re-rendering or compression
  • Text, images, and graphics remain pristine
• Deleted Pages: N/A (pages are removed, remaining pages preserve quality)

Slight Quality Reduction (Duplicated Pages)

• Duplicated Pages: Rasterized to images via canvas pixel copying
  • Text: Becomes pixels, not selectable/searchable
  • Images: Maintain reasonable quality at typical resolutions
  • Graphics: Become pixels, lose vector properties
• Resolution-Dependent: Quality depends on canvas rendering resolution

Best Practices:

• Minimize page duplication if quality is critical
• For important documents, use Merge PDF to add duplicate pages from the original source
• Original (non-duplicated) pages always maintain full quality

Yes! The tool is fully responsive with touch-optimized controls.

Mobile Features:

• Touch Drag-and-Drop: Tap, hold, and drag page thumbnails to reorder
• Tap Controls: Tap duplicate/delete buttons on each page
• Responsive Grid: Thumbnail layout adapts to screen size
• Swipe Navigation: Scroll through many pages easily
• Visual Feedback: Ghost images and drop zones work on touch devices

Mobile Tips:

• Use landscape orientation for more screen space
• For PDFs with 50+ pages, tablet or desktop provides easier management
• Tap and hold for 0.5 seconds to initiate drag-and-drop
• Works on iOS (Safari), Android (Chrome), and modern mobile browsers

No, we do not permanently store your PDF files. Your privacy is our priority.

File Handling Process:

• Temporary Storage: Uploaded PDFs stored in /tmp folder only during processing
• Session Isolation: Each user's files isolated with unique session identifiers
• Processing Only: Files accessed only to perform rearrangement operation
• Automatic Cleanup: All temporary files deleted after download
• No Database Storage: Files never saved to any database
• No Third-Party Sharing: Files not shared with any external services

Security Measures:

• HTTPS encryption for all uploads and downloads
• File path validation to prevent unauthorized access
• Server-side processing without content inspection

The output is a standard PDF file compatible with all PDF readers.

Output File Details:

• Filename: rearranged_[timestamp].pdf
  • Example: rearranged_20250116_155012.pdf
• PDF Version: PDF 1.7 or higher
• Compatibility: Opens in all PDF readers (Adobe Acrobat, browsers, mobile apps)
• Page Count: Depends on deletions and duplications performed
• File Size: May vary based on duplicated pages (rasterized pages can increase size)

The Rearrange PDF tool combines powerful frontend and backend technologies.

Backend Technologies:

• FPDI (Freelance PDF Importer): Imports and reorders PDF pages
  • setSourceFile() – Opens source PDF
  • importPage($pageNumber) – Imports specific pages
  • useTemplate() – Places pages in new order
• TCPDF: PDF generation and image embedding
• PHP 7.4+: Server-side processing and page management
• Base64 Decoding: Processes canvas-generated images for duplicated pages

Frontend Technologies:

• SortableJS: Drag-and-drop library for page reordering
  • Touch support for mobile devices
  • Smooth animations and visual feedback
• HTML5 Canvas: Page duplication via pixel copying
  • getImageData() – Extracts pixel data
  • toDataURL() – Converts to base64 image
• PDF.js: Renders page thumbnails for preview
• JavaScript (ES6+): Page state management
  • Track page order, duplication, deletion
  • Enforce minimum 1-page requirement
  • UI updates and button state management
• CSS3: Responsive thumbnail grid and button styling

Processing Workflow:

1. User uploads PDF and rearranges pages (reorder, duplicate, delete)
2. Page order and duplication data sent to server
3. FPDI imports pages from source in the specified order
4. For duplicated pages, base64 images are decoded and embedded
5. Deleted pages are skipped during import
6. Final PDF assembled with rearranged pages
7. File generated and returned for download