Import files

When to use this

You have one or more files — PDFs, images, a Word doc, a CBZ comic, a scan — that need to become part of a workspace.

Steps

Drag files onto the empty-state screen or an open workspace, or
Use Add Files (⇧⌘O) and select one or more files, or
Use Add Folder to Workspace… to bring in every supported file in a folder at once.

Files mid-drag over the empty-state screen: the drop zone is highlighted blue and reads 'Release to import files', with a demo PDF hovering above it. — Dropping files onto the empty-state screen — release to import.

Supported formats

PDF, Word and OpenDocument text, HTML, Markdown, plain text and source files, CSV, JSON, XML, spreadsheets, presentations, EPUB, SVG, common image formats (PNG, JPEG, and others), and CBZ comic-book archives.

CBZ comics become PDFs

Drop a .cbz file in like any other import. Orifold reads its image entries directly from the ZIP-compatible archive, sorts filenames in natural order (page2 before page10), and fits each image onto its own PDF page. Non-image entries and macOS metadata are ignored; nothing is extracted into a folder on disk.

For a bounded, predictable conversion, a CBZ can contain up to 1,000 image pages and the archive is subject to Orifold’s 100 MB package limit. An archive with no supported images, an unreadable image entry, or too many pages gets a specific error instead of a blank PDF.

New in v0.10.0

CBZ import ships in v0.10.0.

Note

A workspace holds up to 50 files. Importing a folder adds its supported files up to that limit. If you’re consistently hitting it, split the job into two workspaces and export each separately.

When a folder import finishes, Orifold summarizes how many files it imported — and VoiceOver announces the same number. The count is the number that actually landed in the workspace, not the number it set out to try, so skipped or unsupported files are never counted in.

Tip

If a PDF is corrupted and the native reader gives up on it, Orifold tries a qpdf recovery pass automatically — files that Preview won’t open are often worth trying here.

What you should see

Every imported file appears as its own document in the sidebar, ready to reorder, edit, or merge with the others.

Combine files into one PDF

Turning several imports into one export.

If something went wrong

Import & file problems →