Author’s Edit: If you’ve upgraded to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) be sure to read my updated post on this topic explaining how you can now use Preview to combine and re-order the pages of PDF files. If you’re still on Tiger (or Panther or Jaguar), read on….

So you have two or more PDF files and want to combine them into one? I had just the same problem this morning (note the use of past tense)…..I’d scanned in a four-page Word Doc so that I could save it as a PDF and then email it to a colleague. But my scan software kept opening each page separately and I didn’t really want to send 4 separate PDFs to my associate – that just seemed unprofessional, especially coming from an alleged geek (me).

Yes, of course I could have printed it as a PDF thanks to the Mac’s build in printing options, but I needed to sign this document first and I’m not very satisfied with the various methods of electronic signatures – this needed a good old-fashioned pen-on-paper signature.

After spending a good deal of time trying everything I could using both Preview and Adobe Reader without success, and some time searching the internet, I finally stumbled across a solution SO perfect I just had to share it with others – a fabulous bit of freeware called Combine PDFs 2.1 from MonkeyBread Software.

It’s very simple to use – just drag and drop your PDFs into it’s main window, reorder them if you’d like, give the new file a Title, and click on “Merge PDFs” – very easy, very zippy.

Note that it doesn’t seem to do any compression while it’s merging your PDFs, so if you start with large files, you’ll wind up with a huge one. PDF compression software does exist (such as PDF Shrink) but is not free, and in my experience offers mixed results – sometimes the savings in file size is not worth the loss in quality. In my particular case, file size is not an issue as both my intended recipient and I have high-speed access, so I was thrilled that Combine PDFs did exactly what I wanted it to, and did it quickly.

As with most freeware, way down at the bottom of the developer’s page there is a Donate link – I always encourage others to throw a few dollars (or in this case euros) to the developer when you find software that you like and find useful, and I always do myself. The generosity of users is what keeps software developers writing these wonderful utilities and sharing them for free with the rest of us.

($10 shareware with free trial) I absolutely love this reminder program! It doesn’t replace iCal for me – I still use iCal for a wide variety of events, appointments, and dates for which I need a reminder, but 2Remember fills the gap left for those myriad of non-recurring, small tasks for which I may not want to open iCal, navigate to the right date, modify my event or to-do, etc…..and I have so very many of these types of tasks that if I tried to put them all into iCal it could quickly get bloated. 2Remember is light on resources, unobtrusive, and easy to use. I set up whatever it is I need to be reminded about, then delete it when it’s finished its job.

The task list can be “docked” to any edge of your screen, where it slides away like a drawer when not active. Adding and deleting tasks is quick, simple, and highly intuitive, so that you don’t really even need it’s built-in instructions or help files. You can choose to set an alarm or not, and when the alarm pops up, you can make use of it’s “snooze” function if you need more time 🙂

Amongst its many neat features are the buttons along the top of each “reminder” you set up – to better define what your task is – such as a phone call to be made, email to be written, an order you want to place from a website, etc. I use this regularly to keep track of vitamins I want to reorder as I get low on them, but I try to only order once a month or so to save on shipping, instead of just ordering each type as I run out. So I set my reminder alarm for a month or so ahead, and just keep adding to my list until the alarm goes off, at which point I go to the website and place my order.

I use 2Remember to help me remember to call my doctor or hair stylist when I need an appointment, then when I make the appointment I put it in iCal.

The only thing that keeps this terrific reminder program from getting a “5 out of 5 Paws” rating from me is minor – I would like a little more flexibility and options from the Preferences – such at the choice of using sounds other than the Beep to signal an alarm, and some additional Snooze options beyond the built-in choices, which top out at 8 hours (maybe a 1 day, 1 week, 1 month option?). Otherwise it’s a beautiful, lightweight reminder application that I’m really glad I found.

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