HOW TO CREATE A SINGLE PDF FILE
FOR UPLOADING/SUBMITTING
APPLICATION MATERIALS

Your application must be submitted as one combined PDF file containing all required documents. The file must be no larger than 3 MB.

Please follow the instructions below for your device or operating system.

On a Mac (using Preview)

No downloads or accounts needed — Preview is built into every Mac.

  1. Make sure all of your documents are saved as PDFs. If any are Word documents, open them and go to File → Print → Export as PDF.

  2. Open your first PDF in Preview.

  3. Go to View → Thumbnails to open the sidebar panel.

  4. Drag each remaining PDF into the sidebar, dropping them in the order specified in your application instructions.

  5. Go to File → Export as PDF, name your file, and click Export.

On a PC / Windows (using Adobe Acrobat online)

This free tool requires no account or software download.

  1. Make sure all of your documents are saved as PDFs. If any are Word documents, open them in Word and go to File → Save As → PDF.

  2. Go to [adobe.com/acrobat/online/merge-pdf](https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/merge-pdf.html) in your browser.

  3. Click Select files and upload your PDFs.

  4. Drag the tiles to arrange them in the order specified in your application instructions.

  5. Click Merge, then download your combined PDF.

Note: You do not need an Adobe account. Simply close or skip any sign-in prompts after downloading.

Using Google Drive

A Google account is required.

  1. Upload all of your documents to your Google Drive.

  2. Open each document in Google Docs (right-click → Open with Google Docs).

  3. In your first document, place your cursor at the very end. Copy and paste the content from each remaining document in the order specified in your application instructions.

  4. Once all content is combined in one document, go to File → Download → PDF Document (.pdf).

Note: This method works best for text-based documents. If any of your files have complex formatting or columns, some layout may shift — in that case, use the Adobe online tool instead.

On an iPhone or iPad (using the Files app)

No downloads needed — this works with the built-in Files app.

  1. Save all of your documents as PDFs to your Files app (iCloud Drive or On My iPhone).

  2. Long-press the first PDF, then tap Select. Tap each remaining PDF to select all of your files.

  3. Tap the Share button (the box with an arrow) at the bottom of the screen.

  4. Scroll down and tap Create PDF. This merges the selected files into one.

  5. Tap the Share button on the new PDF and choose Save to Files to save it with a recognizable name.

Tip: The Files app selects documents alphabetically. To control the page order, rename your files before merging so they sort in the correct sequence — for example, by adding a number to the start of each filename.

Still having trouble?

If you are unable to create a combined PDF, please reach out to jobs@strategenius.org before the application deadline so we can assist you.