If you’ve ever had to scale, stitch, bind, or booklet-ize a stack of PDFs for a print run — and then do it again the next day, and the day after that — you probably already know about the PDF Batch Utilities available from Notation Central. They’ve been a quiet but essential part of music preparation workflows for years, including my own.
Today, I’m happy to announce that all four of the existing PDF Batch Utilities have been significantly updated, and there’s a brand new fifth app joining the family: PDF-Counter.
Why these apps matter
Before getting into what’s new, it’s worth stepping back for a moment. At NYC Music Services, printing is a regular, ongoing activity. We literally print tons of music each year, for performance and publication, and the workflow of getting from a set of individual PDFs to finished, printed, folded, and bound music involves many steps. If you’ve ever watched me demonstrate the accordion-style printing process, or read about calibrating printers to get margins just right, congratulations! You are a true music preparation nerd, and I couldn’t be happier for you. Seriously, though: you know that every link in this chain matters.
That’s exactly why the PDF Batch Utilities exist. They were born out of real needs in my shop — needs that I know are shared by orchestra librarians (including many MOLA members), music preparers, publishers, and really anyone who works with large numbers of PDFs. And while these apps were built with music in mind, users in a variety of fields have found them useful for their own PDF workflows.
Here’s a quick refresher on what each app does:
- PDF-BatchBooklet takes single-page PDFs and imposes them as booklets or 2-ups on double-sized paper, for either folded booklet or accordion-style printing.
- PDF-BatchScale scales many PDFs to a different page size at once. You can choose from ISO sizes, North American sizes, music-specific sizes (Concert, March/Marching, Octavo, and others), or enter a custom size — all in a single click.
- PDF-BatchStitch combines multiple PDFs into one file, with the option to set the number of copies for each source file — incredibly handy when you’re assembling a print run. You can also set a file to 0 copies to skip it entirely, and optionally have blank pages inserted after any odd-page file so that every part starts on a front side when printing double-sided.
- PDF-MusicBinder is the all-in-one powerhouse: it takes single-sided PDFs from notation software, resizes them, and creates consolidated PDFs ready for printing in either accordion-style or saddle-stitched booklet format — automatically handling odd-page parts by splitting the last page into its own binder.
And now:
- PDF-Counter is a brand new utility that recursively counts the pages in all PDF files within a folder (and its subfolders) and saves the results to a CSV file. More on this below.
What’s new in this update
This is the most substantial update to the PDF Batch Utilities since they were first released in 2016. Here’s what’s changed.
Source PDF information in the dialog
When you add files to PDF-BatchBooklet, PDF-BatchScale, PDF-BatchStitch, or PDF-MusicBinder, the dialog now shows you useful information about each source PDF right in the file list: the filename, the number of pages, and the original page size. There’s also a Size toggle that lets you switch the unit of measurement shown in the Original Size column — handy whether you’re working in inches or millimeters (or points, for that matter).
This information is presented consistently across all four apps, so you always know what you’re working with before you process the PDFs. At a glance, you can confirm that your files are the dimensions you expect, catch anything that’s been added by mistake, and verify page counts without having to open each PDF separately. It’s a small addition that makes a real practical difference when you’re managing a large batch of files.
Smarter handling of short files in PDF-BatchBooklet and PDF-MusicBinder
PDF-BatchBooklet now has two new options for dealing with files that are too short to bookletize meaningfully. Keep 1-page files separate copies any single-page source PDFs as-is with a 1up. filename prefix, rather than running them through booklet imposition — where a one-pager would produce mostly blank output anyway. Make 2-page files as 2-ups (Straight Page Order) lays out two-page source PDFs as a straight side-by-side 2-up (with a 2up. prefix) instead of folded booklet order, which on a two-page file would also leave you with a lot of blank space.
Similarly, PDF-MusicBinder now has two new options for dealing with these files. Make separate binder for 1-page files (do not bookletize) will collect 1-page source PDFs into a separate 1-page Binder file instead of being included in the main booklet binder. Make 2-page files as 2-ups (Straight Page Order) lays out two-page source PDFs as a straight side-by-side 2-up and collected into the 2-up Binder file, even while all other files go into the booklet binder.
These two options work particularly well together when you’re processing a mixed batch — say, a full set of orchestra parts where some instruments have only a page or two. Rather than pre-sorting your files or dealing with the blanks after the fact, you can drop the whole batch in and let the app handle each file appropriately.
Bookmarks in PDF-BatchStitch and PDF-MusicBinder
Here’s a small but important quality-of-life improvement: PDF-BatchStitch and PDF-MusicBinder now generate bookmarks in the output file, corresponding to each source file. If a file has multiple copies, each copy is labeled “filename (1 of N)”, “filename (2 of N)”, and so on. When you’re navigating a large combined PDF — perhaps reviewing a print run before sending it to the printer — these bookmarks make it much easier to jump to the section you need.
Native Apple silicon on Mac
The biggest change under the hood — and the one you’ll notice the instant you launch any of the apps — is that all five utilities are now native Apple silicon applications on Mac. Previous versions ran under Rosetta 2 on Apple silicon Macs, which meant a noticeable delay when opening them. The native builds open roughly ten times faster. If you use these apps every day (as I do), that difference adds up.
Please note: if you have an Intel-based Mac, these updated versions of the utilities will not run on those machines. You can continue to use the older versions of the applications.
Codesigned and notarized
All Mac versions are now properly codesigned and notarized by Apple, which means you should no longer see the macOS security warnings that sometimes greeted users when opening earlier versions. It’s a small thing, but it makes a meaningful difference in the experience of installing and running the apps — especially for users who aren’t comfortable overriding Gatekeeper.
Distributed as .dmg on Mac
On the Mac side, the apps are now delivered as .dmg disk images rather than the previous packaging. This is a cleaner, more standard installation experience.
High-resolution display support on Windows
Windows users on high-DPI displays will notice another improvement: the apps are now optimized for high-resolution displays. If you previously saw blurry or low-resolution rendering when running the apps on a high-DPI Windows monitor, that has been corrected in the current versions.
Updated save dialog for PDF-BatchStitch
PDF-BatchStitch now uses an output directory picker and filename field, similar to the interface in the other three apps. The previous approach to the save dialog had become problematic, and this change brings consistency across the suite while resolving the underlying crash.
New app icons
You’ll notice fresh new icons across the entire suite. Each icon visually represents what its app does — scaling, booklet folding, stitching, binding, and page counting — and they share a cohesive design language that gives the suite a unified identity.
Bug fixes and code modernization
Under the hood, the codebase has been updated to address several issues. These aren’t glamorous changes, but they make the apps more robust for daily use.
One in particular will be welcomed by Mac users: It’s finally possible to use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate among the values in the # Copies column in PDF-BatchStitch and PDF-MusicBinder, making it faster to set copy counts for a large batch of files. This always worked on Windows, but finding the fix on Mac took a little longer!
Introducing PDF-Counter
PDF-Counter is a new addition to the PDF Batch Utilities suite. It does something deceptively simple: point it at a folder, and it recursively counts the total number of pages in every PDF file it finds, including in subfolders. The results are saved to a CSV file called _PDFcount.csv.
Why would you need this? If you’ve ever had to estimate a print job — figuring out how much paper you’ll need, how long the job will take, or what to quote a client — you’ve probably opened each PDF one at a time to count pages, or done mental arithmetic from file sizes. PDF-Counter eliminates that entirely. Drop a folder full of parts on it, and in an instant you have a complete page inventory.
It’s useful for orchestra librarians managing a parts library, for music preparers scoping a print job, and — as with the other apps — for anyone outside of music who needs a quick page count across a collection of PDFs.
PDF-Counter is available from Notation Central.
Updated documentation
As we did in conjunction with the recent update to Notation Express for Dorico, we’ve created brand-new web-based documentation for all of the PDF Batch Utilities, to hopefully make it easier for you to refer to, and for us to update when needed. More documentation for other products offered at Notation Central will be coming online over time.
Thank you
A project like this doesn’t happen without the contributions of talented and generous people, and I’d like to recognize several of them.
Juan Camilo Arboleda of Fine Line Music Service — one of the world’s premiere music preparation and creative service companies — deserves special thanks for this update. Juan and his Fine Line colleagues use the PDF Batch Utilities daily. This update began as a result of a conversation Juan and I had at my happy hour at the NAMM Show this past January. Juan dug into the code and fixed issues that could cause crashes, and implemented the new output directory approach in PDF-BatchStitch. Thank you, Juan, and thank you to your Fine Line colleagues — your real-world use of these apps is what drives them forward.
I also want to acknowledge Abraham Lee, the music engraver and font designer who developed the original apps in consultation with me. Abraham’s coding talent turned my wishful thinking into working software, and although he’s no longer involved with the project, these apps wouldn’t exist without him. I remain deeply grateful.
And I must recognize my late colleague Robert Puff, a music preparation veteran who co-commissioned Abraham to write PDF-MusicBinder and was essential in refining it for reliable work in a professional context. Robert’s exacting standards and practical insights — born from decades of preparing music for performance and recording — made MusicBinder the robust tool it is today. He is missed.
Finally, thanks to Yiyang Wang, who updated the apps for macOS Big Sur back in 2021, and to every user who has reported issues and supported development over the years.
Get the updates
Existing users: You don’t need to place a new order. Simply log in to your Notation Central account, or enter your email at the “Retrieve Files” link at the top of the Notation Central site, and you’ll find the updated versions waiting for you.
New users: All of the PDF Batch Utilities are available in the Productivity category at Notation Central on a pay-what-you-wish basis, with a suggested contribution of $10 per app. That’s a modest amount when you consider the time these apps will save you — and your contributions directly sustain development and compatibility with future operating systems.
If you’d like to make a further contribution — whether you’re a new user or a longtime one — you can do so either at our Notation Central site, or by clicking the Donate button you see on Scoring Notes, and it really does make a difference. These apps are a labor of love, and your support helps keep them available for the entire community.
Here are the updated versions:
What’s ahead
It’s been a busy stretch here at NYC Music Services and Notation Central. We recently released a major Notation Express update for Dorico 6 — our most ambitious Stream Deck integration yet — and we’ve got more plans for this year. Printing and workflow remain at the heart of what we do, and tools like the PDF Batch Utilities are an essential part of that picture. Stay tuned!