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+---- Thread: Extracting individual songs from an Album posted in the Forum (/Thread-Extracting-individual-songs-from-an-Album-posted-in-the-Forum)
Extracting individual songs from an Album posted in the Forum - Hugh Wallington - 04-06-2026
Extracting individual songs from an Album posted in the Forum
When an individual music sheet is posted up in the Forum you can view it by clicking on the LINK given. When the sheet music appears, look up at the top of the screen and you will see the ‘download’ symbol to click on to Download the file. And a PRINT symbol should you wish to print it.
You will have to specify where you want the download to go. Create a FOLDER to put these song sheets into .. and your computer will put them in there and automatically sort them into Alphabetical Order. So next time you are looking for a song you will know where to go to find it.
But when Albums are posted in the Forum, what you get is the name of the Album and you have no idea which songs are in it. So the only way to find out is to open up the album (which is in the form of a PDF file), scroll down to the Index (which may or may not be in alphabetical order), make a note of the Page numbers your song is on, and scroll down to those page numbers so you can view them and print the individual pages out.
Now what Fikke did with his Busker Albums was to extract each song from the album and have it as a ‘stand alone’ PDF file, with its File Name the Name of the Song. By putting these into a FOLDER the computer automatically puts them into Alphabetical Order .. and any further Song Titles you add to the list are automatically inserted into their correct place alphabetically.
To EXTRACT the songs from an Album you need a PDF program .. and I have one from NCH Software called PicoPDF.
When I view an album I am wanting to keep I make a note of the Song Names, the Keys the songs are played in, and the Page Numbers where to find them. My purpose in doing this is so I can extract each song as a ‘stand alone’ PDF file (containing however many pages makes up the song).
A brief summary of how one does this is as follows.
1. Create a FOLDER to work in, and where extracted PDFs will be put.
2. Run the PDF program and load the Album (PDF File) into the program.
Scroll down through the album and make a note of the Song Names, the Keys the songs are played in, and which Page Numbers are allocated to each song.
3. Split the Pages up so that each one you have been looking at above is a ‘stand alone’ PDF (ie. split all pages. The one I am doing has 48 pages, so I will get 48 Numbered PDFs).
When you click on Split PDF you will be asked where you want the ‘Split PDFs’ to be put. This will be the FOLDER you created at the start.
4. Look for a Merge to merge two or more PDFs into one PDF.
5. Using this, merge the Pages of a song so it’s one PDF; NAME it ie. give it the name of the song and SAVE it into your newly created FOLDER.
You can Add a PDF into the mix by clicking Add PDF...; or remove a PDF that shouldn’t be there by clicking the ‘X’ by it’s name.
6. Merge Pages that make up another song, give it the name of the song, and SAVE it. You will end up with a FOLDER with all the Song Titles in it (with all the Pages making up each one) .. and all in Alphabetical Order.
I have been doing this with an Album put up by jucami.
If anyone would like an Album extracted in this way, send me an email and I'll do it for you.
Hugh
RE: Extracting individual songs from an Album posted in the Forum - Hugh Wallington - 04-13-2026
Although I have been happy with how PicoPDF has handled the extraction of Songs from Albums, I have not been happy with PicoPDF as a PDF Reader as not all the pages I have been looking at have been that clear.
I have taken screenshots of Creative Keyboard – Songbook 2 .. Page 1 (this page has pictures) and compared the PicoPDF Reader with other PDF Readers I have.
This is what I get with PicoPDF ...
... and with all the others (without exception) I get this:
And this second one is also how this page looks when I have handled it through PicoPDF and SAVED it .. and viewed it with all the other PDF Readers. But with PicoPDF it still looks like the first one .. all pixelated. I have come to the conclusion that PicoPDF is fine when using it as a PDF EDITOR, but not as a READER.
But then whilst looking on line for a PDF Reader I came across PDF24, which is not only a READER but a PDF EDITOR as well .. and it’s completely FREE.
So I have Downloaded the program (App) and set this up to read all my PDFs by ‘default’. Also, I can run the program (App) to EXTRACT all those Songs from Albums. Below are screenshots of the relevant parts of the program I need to do this.
Once downloaded, there are two icons I can click on.
PDF24 Launcher
PDF24 Toolbox
Once you have split the Album up into individual PDF Pages you Merge the Pages you need for an individual Song.
Click on Merge and it sets you up for finding the PDFs you want to Merge. As before you’ll have to view all the Pages of the Album beforehand, make a note of the Songs in it (I PRINT OUT the INDEX, Page 2, and work using that), the key the song is played in, and the Page Numbers involved.
Click Choose files. Highlight them so they are blue .. ie. click the first one, hold down the Shift key and click on the last one.
Click Open.
It’s showing the Pages you are Merging. You can change the order of the pages by dragging and dropping them on the screen .. indicated by the blue arrow. If you can’t identify a page, clicking the + at the top will bring it up full screen.
Then click Merge.
In the next screen you SAVE it. Make a note of the Restart button (indicated by the blue arrow). You click this when you want to do the next song. It takes you back to the Merge screen so you can choose another two (or more) PDFs you want to Merge.
You need to give your ‘merged’ PDF file a name .. the Title of the Song and the Key it’s played in. You can do this either by clicking on the ‘pencil’ (as indicated by the green arrow) and then clicking Save; or click Save first and the screen will be showing merged.pdf in blue. Type the Song Title over the top of that. Also check where the file will be saved, and if necessary change the PATH so it saves it where you want it
Then click that Restart to do the next one.
Graham UK suggested I try Foxit PDF Reader as that is the one he uses and finds it works well. So I have downloaded this one as well, and like all the others (apart from PicoPDF) the pictures in that PDF above are very clear.
If I click on a PDF, do a right-click and choose Open with I get a list of all the ‘Readers’ on my computer that will open it. Spoilt for choice!
Hugh
RE: Extracting individual songs from an Album posted in the Forum - WilliamD - 04-13-2026
Hi Hugh,
Thanks a lot a really useful post full of info.
Brian