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Interleave PDF Pages

Interleave pages from two PDFs in A-B-A-B order — the standard fix for double-sided document scans produced by a single-sided flatbed or sheet-fed scanner.

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How to Use Interleave PDF Pages
  1. 1Scan all front-side pages in one pass — save as PDF A (the odd pages)
  2. 2Flip the paper stack and scan all back-side pages — save as PDF B (the even pages)
  3. 3If PDF B is in reverse order, reverse it first using a PDF reverse tool
  4. 4Upload PDF A as file 1 and PDF B as file 2, then click 'Interleave Pages'
  5. 5Download the interleaved PDF and verify pages read front-to-back in correct order
Examples
  • Reassemble a 20-page double-sided document scanned with a flatbed single-sided scanner
  • Merge front and back scans of a multi-page printed form into a single readable PDF
  • Fix a double-sided scan of a contract that arrived as two separate PDF files
  • Combine front and back scans of historical document pages for archiving
Frequently Asked Questions

The most common reason is reassembling a double-sided document scanned with a single-sided scanner. You scan all front pages as one PDF and all back pages as another, then interleave them to restore the correct reading order.

Place pages face-down and scan all odd (front) pages — this produces PDF A. Then flip the entire stack and scan all even (back) pages — this produces PDF B. Upload both to this tool and interleave them.

Many single-sided scanners produce back pages in reverse (last-to-first). Run the reverse PDF tool on your second PDF before interleaving. The result will then interleave correctly.

If PDF A has more pages than PDF B (or vice versa), the interleaved section covers the overlapping pages. Remaining pages from the longer PDF are appended at the end.

Regular merge produces A1, A2, A3 … B1, B2, B3. Interleaving produces A1, B1, A2, B2, A3, B3. Use interleave specifically for double-sided reassembly; use regular merge for everything else.

True page-by-page interleaving is a two-file operation. To interleave three PDFs, interleave the first two and then interleave the result with the third.

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