This is an interesting Blog written by Paul Dyck, Product Manager, Adlib Software. Adlib software are one of our Sliver Sponsors at the European SharePoint Conference 2011 in Berlin 17th-20th October. To find out more on the European SharePoint Conference please click here 

One problem that we hear about from customers when we talk about document conversion to PDF in SharePoint is the inability to merge multiple documents into a single PDF file.

There are a lot of uses for document assembly, the most common being the creation of proposals for RFPs (Requests for Proposals), and Meeting Books for Boards or Trustees.

Creating a single, cohesive PDF file from a collection of documents in different formats such as Microsoft Word, financial information in Excel, engineering data in AutoCAD DWG format, PowerPoint presentations, etc., produces a more professional looking result, and makes it much more efficient for the reader to use this information.  The merged PDF file can be made much easier for users to navigate through its contents with the addition of a table of contents and PDF bookmarks for the entire document, and an index of terms used along with a hyperlink to the exact location.

PDF for SharePoint includes a workflow that enables the merging of documents in a document library into a single PDF file.  A "Merge Documents" column is used to include/exclude documents in the library from the merge. A "Merge Order" column is used to define the order of the documents to be merged in the resulting PDF.

Using this method, instead of extracting documents from SharePoint to merge them using a desktop application, will make multiple document assembly of SharePoint content much more efficient and reliable.