How Can I Merge Multiple PDF Files into One Using PHP and Ghostscript?

Merging Multiple PDF Files Using PHP

Combining multiple PDF documents into a single cohesive file is a common requirement in various applications. PHP offers robust solutions for efficiently performing PDF merging operations.

The Challenge

Consider a scenario where users can select multiple PDF files from a website and initiate a merge operation to generate a single PDF file containing the selected pages from all the input files. How can this be accomplished using PHP?

The Solution

To merge PDF files effectively, you can harness the power of Ghostscript, a versatile command-line tool that specializes in PDF manipulation. Ghostscript offers an extensive array of options and features for handling PDF files.

Utilizing PHP and Ghostscript

Here's a code snippet that demonstrates how to merge PDF files using PHP and Ghostscript:

// Array of PDF file names
$fileArray = array("name1.pdf", "name2.pdf", "name3.pdf", "name4.pdf");

// Path to save the merged PDF file
$datadir = "save_path/";
$outputName = $datadir . "merged.pdf";

// Construct the Ghostscript command
$cmd = "gs -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -sOutputFile=$outputName ";

// Add each PDF file to the command
foreach ($fileArray as $file) {
    $cmd .= $file . " ";
}

// Execute the command
$result = shell_exec($cmd);

Additional Considerations

• Ensure that Ghostscript (or gs on Linux/Mac) is installed on your system.
• Note that Ghostscript requires a costly license for commercial use, or you must release your code under the AGPL open-source license.
• This method relies on Ghostscript and is subject to its limitations.

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