Images to PDF — ManaPDF Tips

First — how sort order differs

The same folder can produce different page order depending on sort mode. For scans named page1.png … page10.png, pay special attention to natural vs name (lexical) order. Recent Windows Explorer often sorts naturally, which can hide what the CLI will do.

Sort mode	CLI value	Meaning	When to use
Natural	`natural`	Compare numbers in filenames numerically	Default for folder / ZIP. `page2` before `page10`
Name (lexical)	`name`	Compare filenames as strings	When you want pure alphabetical order. `page10` can come before `page2`
Modified time	`modified`	Ascending file modification time	Near scan order
Created time	`created`	Ascending file creation time	Not supported for ZIP input

Suppose a folder has:

page1.png
page2.png
page10.png

PDF page order by sort mode:

Sort	Page 1	Page 2	Page 3
`--sort natural`	`page1.png`	`page2.png`	`page10.png`
`--sort name`	`page1.png`	`page10.png`	`page2.png` ← 2 after 10

--sort name does not error — but page order may not match what you expect. For page1 … page10 without zero-padding, natural is usually safer.

With zero-padded names (page01.png, page02.png, page10.png), lexical order often works as expected too.

Filename pattern	`natural`	`name`
`page1` … `page10` (no padding)	1 → 2 → 10 (expected)	1 → 10 → 2 (often wrong)
`page01` … `page10` (zero-padded)	01 → 02 → 10	01 → 02 → 10 (usually expected)
`img_1`, `img_10`, `img_2`	1 → 2 → 10	1 → 10 → 2

Passing one folder on the CLI uses natural order even without --sort. When you list multiple file paths, order is argument order unless you add --sort.

Preview order with --dry-run before the real run:

# Natural (page1 → page2 → page10)
manapdf image .\scans -o output.pdf --sort natural --dry-run

# Lexical name (page1 → page10 → page2 possible)
manapdf image .\scans -o output.pdf --sort name --dry-run

GUI

Open Image from the left navigation.
Choose input with Add images or Add folder (one mode at a time).
For multiple files only: reorder with Move up / Move down. For folder or ZIP: pick Sort (see table above).
Confirm or change Output PDF file.
Optionally set Title and other metadata.
Click Create PDF and verify the output.

CLI examples

Folder in natural order (good for numbered scans):

manapdf image .\scans -o output.pdf --sort natural

.\scans — input folder (top-level images only; no subfolders).
-o output.pdf — required output path.

List files and sort by name (requires explicit --sort):

manapdf image page3.png page1.png page2.png -o output.pdf --sort name

No --sort → argument order (page3 → page1 → page2).
--sort name → page1 → page2 → page3.
With unpadded page10.png, name sort can become 1 → 10 → 2.

Set metadata:

manapdf image .\scans -o output.pdf --sort natural `
  --title "Scan bundle" --author "Acme"

What you can set explicitly (CLI)

Sort — --sort natural|name|modified|created. Multiple file paths: no sort unless --sort is set.
Output — -o / --output (required).
PDF metadata — --title etc. (optional).
Overwrite — --force.
Preview only — --dry-run shows order without writing.

Failure examples

Wrong sort (not an error, but wrong pages)

Lexical sort on page1.png … page10.png:

manapdf image .\scans -o output.pdf --sort name --dry-run

Command succeeds but pages may be page1 → page10 → page2 → ….
Fix: use --sort natural or zero-pad filenames (page01).

CLI usage errors

Mix image and folder with --sort:

manapdf image leading.png .\scans -o output.pdf --sort name

Error: with --sort, pass image files only — not a folder mix.

--sort on a single file:

manapdf image page1.png -o output.pdf --sort natural

Error: --sort is not valid for a single file.

--sort created on ZIP:

manapdf image archive.zip -o output.pdf --sort created

Error: created is not supported for ZIP.