Merge ORF to PDF

How to Merge ORF Photos to PDF Online

1. Upload Your ORF Files: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to add multiple Olympus RAW photos (.orf) at once. Reorder by dragging thumbnails — the sequence becomes the page order in your final PDF.
2. Pick Combine and Page Layout: Under "Combine?" choose Single PDF (one combined file) or Individual PDFs (one per ORF). Set "Page layout" to Portrait (default) or Landscape, then pick a "Paper size" — A4 (default), Letter, Legal, A3, Tabloid, Ledger, Executive, ISO B4/B5, ARCH A/B, or Original (matches each image's pixel dimensions).
3. Set Image Placement and Margin (Optional): "Image placement" controls how each ORF sits on the page — Cover fills bleed-to-bleed, Contained (default) fits inside the margin. "Image alignment" anchors Top, Center (default), or Bottom. "Margin" offers No margin (0"), Narrow (0.5", default), Moderate (0.75x1"), Normal (1"), or Large (2x1").
4. Tune Quality and Merge: "Image Quality (%)" drives JPEG re-encoding of the embedded raster (default 75). "Compression Type" sets the Ghostscript profile — Screen (smallest), Ebook, Default, Prepress, or Printer (best). Click Merge — files process in your browser session, no sign-up, no watermark.

Why Merge ORF to PDF?

ORF (Olympus Raw Format) is the proprietary RAW container Olympus introduced in 2000 with the E-10 DSLR and still uses across the OM-D, PEN, and Tough lines — and across the OM System lineup that took over after the camera division spun off from Olympus to JIP in January 2021 and rebranded in late 2021. ORF stores 12-bit or 14-bit linear sensor data plus camera metadata (white balance, contrast, saturation, lens corrections), which is great for editing in Lightroom, OM Workspace, or Darktable but useless for clients, printers, or anyone who just wants to look at the photos. Merging ORFs straight to a single PDF turns a folder of RAWs into one shareable document — no JPEG export step, no contact-sheet plugin, no Bridge.

• Client proofing for shoots on Olympus / OM System bodies — wedding, event, and portrait photographers shooting ORFs on the OM-1 Mark II, E-M1 Mark III, or PEN E-P7 can drop a session straight into a Contained / Narrow margin PDF and email proofs without setting up a gallery.
• Wildlife and birding contact sheets — Micro Four Thirds users with the 100-400mm or 150-600mm love long shoots that fill cards. Landscape A4 with Cover placement gives 1-up frames for review on a tablet.
• Travel and street portfolios — PEN-F and PEN E-P7 ORFs compress nicely with the Ebook profile so a 200-photo trip lands at a few hundred MB instead of multiple gigabytes of RAW.
• Long-term archive of shoots — ORF originals live on a NAS, but a Prepress-quality PDF gives you a flippable, searchable copy you can drop in Photos, Notes, or a cloud drive without unpacking the RAWs again.
• Insurance and asset documentation — photographers documenting collections, real estate, or claims on Olympus gear can timestamp and merge frames into one signed, archival PDF/A-style document for delivery.
• Submissions to print labs and stock agencies — pick A3 or Tabloid with the Printer compression profile to hand a lab a single proof PDF before they pull the full-resolution TIFF or DNG.

ORF vs JPEG vs DNG — Format Comparison

PDF Compression Profile Guide

Pair this with the "Image Quality (%)" slider — keep it at 90+ for Prepress and Printer, 60-75 for Screen and Ebook. Need single-image conversions instead of merged proofs? Use convert ORF to PDF for one-file output, convert ORF to JPG for previews, or convert ORF to TIFF for archival 16-bit masters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this re-process the RAW data or just embed it?

It renders the ORF — meaning the demosaiced, white-balanced output of the camera's embedded preview pipeline gets placed in the PDF as a JPEG raster. PDF has no native RAW container, so any "ORF to PDF" tool must demosaic. If you need to keep the editable RAW, archive the original .orf separately and use the PDF only for sharing.

Will my Olympus / OM System metadata (camera, lens, ISO, GPS) survive?

Camera EXIF is read to render the image correctly, but PDFs don't expose EXIF in viewers. The output stays as a clean visual document. If you need EXIF preserved for delivery, export to JPEG or TIFF first with convert ORF to JPG — both formats keep EXIF intact.

What's the difference between Single PDF and Individual PDFs?

Single PDF (default) merges every uploaded ORF into one combined document with the page order you set. Individual PDFs creates one PDF per ORF — useful when you need separately addressable files (one per shoot, model release, or filename). The other settings (paper size, margin, compression) apply identically in both modes.

Why is my merged PDF still hundreds of MB?

ORF files are large because they store sensor data — a 20MP OM-1 ORF runs 17-22 MB. Even after demosaic and JPEG re-encode at 75% quality, a 50-photo merge with Prepress can land near 100 MB. Drop to the Ebook or Screen profile, lower Image Quality to 60-70, or pick A5/Screen page size to shrink the result aggressively.

Should I pick Cover or Contained for image placement?

Contained (default) fits the entire frame inside the page margin — no cropping, ideal for proofs and contact sheets. Cover fills the page bleed-to-bleed and crops whatever doesn't fit the page aspect ratio — better for portfolios and books where you want each photo to feel full-bleed. Use Center alignment with Cover to keep the subject from being cropped out the top or bottom.

Does this work for OM System OM-1 Mark II files and other newer bodies?

Yes. ORF is the same container Olympus has used since 2000 — the wrapper is consistent across the OM-1, OM-1 Mark II, OM-5, E-M1 Mark III, E-M5 Mark III, PEN E-P7, and Tough TG-7. Sensor sizes and bit depths differ (12 vs 14 bit, 16-25 MP standard, 50-80 MP HighRes mode on OM-1 / OM-1 Mark II), but the merge process treats them uniformly.

Can I mix ORFs from different cameras in one PDF?

Yes. Each ORF is rendered independently before placement, so a session shot on an OM-1 Mark II at 20MP and a backup E-M5 Mark III at 20MP merges cleanly. Frames with very different aspect ratios (4:3 ORF mixed with cropped 16:9 or 1:1) will display correctly in Contained mode; Cover mode will crop them to the page aspect.

What page sizes work best for printing photo PDFs?

For photo-book proofs, A4 Portrait Contained is the safest default. For wide landscape work (panoramas, wildlife, sports), Tabloid or A3 Landscape gives more frame area. For digital-only delivery, "Original" sizes each PDF page to the ORF's pixel dimensions, eliminating letterboxing — best when the recipient is viewing on screens, worst if they ever print. ARCH A and ARCH B are useful for fine-art and architectural deliveries.

Are my ORF files uploaded to a server?

Files are uploaded for processing because ORF demosaicing requires a libraw/dcraw pipeline that isn't practical in-browser. They're encrypted in transit, deleted automatically after the session, and never indexed. If you'd rather work with formats that convert client-side, convert to JPEG first with convert ORF to JPG and merge the JPEGs with merge JPG to PDF.