Insert PDF in LaTeX: Embed PDF Pages and Documents

Inserting PDFs in LaTeX

Include external PDF files in your LaTeX document using the pdfpages package.

The pdfpages Package

\usepackage{pdfpages}

This powerful package lets you include entire PDFs or selected pages.

Include Entire PDF

\includepdf[pages=-]{document.pdf}

The pages=- means all pages.

Include Specific Pages

Single Page

\includepdf[pages=1]{document.pdf}

Page Range

\includepdf[pages=1-5]{document.pdf}

Selected Pages

\includepdf[pages={1,3,5,7}]{document.pdf}

Last Page

\includepdf[pages=last]{document.pdf}

Exclude Pages

\includepdf[pages=-, nup=1x1, exclude={2,4}]{document.pdf}

Common Options

No Page Numbers

\includepdf[pages=-, pagecommand={}]{doc.pdf}

Add Page Numbers

\includepdf[pages=-, pagecommand={\thispagestyle{plain}}]{doc.pdf}

Landscape Pages

\includepdf[pages=-, landscape]{doc.pdf}

Scale PDF

\includepdf[pages=1, scale=0.8]{doc.pdf}

Offset Position

\includepdf[pages=1, offset=1cm 1cm]{doc.pdf}

Multiple Pages Per Sheet

2-up (2 pages per sheet)

\includepdf[pages=-, nup=2x1]{doc.pdf}

4-up (4 pages per sheet)

\includepdf[pages=-, nup=2x2]{doc.pdf}

With Frame

\includepdf[pages=-, nup=2x2, frame]{doc.pdf}

Adding to Appendix

Common pattern for appendices:

\appendix \section{Supplementary Material} \includepdf[pages=-]{supplement.pdf}

PDF as Figure

Include a single PDF page as a figure:

\begin{figure}[h] \centering \includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth, page=1]{doc.pdf} \caption{First page of external document} \end{figure}

Note: Use includegraphics (not includepdf) for figures. The page= option selects which page.

Combining Documents

Merge multiple PDFs:

\includepdf[pages=-]{doc1.pdf} \includepdf[pages=-]{doc2.pdf} \includepdf[pages=-]{doc3.pdf}

Adding Headers/Footers

\includepdf[pages=-, pagecommand={ \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay] \node at (current page.north) [below=1cm] {Header Text}; \end{tikzpicture} }]{doc.pdf}

Requires tikz package.

Troubleshooting

PDF not found: Check path, must be relative to main .tex file

Blank pages: Try \includepdf[fitpaper=false]

Wrong orientation: Use landscape or rotateoversize=false

Margins cut off: Use noautoscale, scale=0.9

Complete Example

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{pdfpages}

\begin{document}

\section{Introduction} Main content here.

\section{Attached Documents} See the following pages for the complete report.

\includepdf[pages=-, pagecommand={\thispagestyle{plain}}]{report.pdf}

\end{document}

Include PDFs with Octree

Octree handles PDFs easily:

- Simple PDF inclusion - Real-time preview - AI helps with formatting - Export combined document

Try it at https://useoctree.com