Assemble a dossier
A complete file, in order, under the required size — and nothing leaves your device.
Your files never leave your device1. What are you putting this file together for?
Frequently asked questions
What does the cover page added at the start of the file contain?
The title you typed, your name if you filled it in, today’s date and the number of documents brought together. The cover page is not numbered. Beyond two documents, a contents page follows: every document appears there with the page number where it actually starts, cover page and contents included. A bookmark is also set for each document, so the PDF reader’s navigation panel leads straight to the right page.
What happens if the file exceeds the portal’s size limit?
Vellum compresses it in successive steps — 200, 150, 120, 96 and then 72 dots per inch — and stops at the first one that fits under the limit. The report names the step it settled on: “compressed at 150 dpi to stay under 10 MB”. Compression turns the pages into images: their text is no longer selectable, and the bookmarks are put back afterwards so they are not lost. If even the last step is not enough, the tool says so and points to “Split by size”.
What does the tool do if a required document is missing?
It refuses to produce the file and names what is missing. That is deliberate: an incomplete file that has been submitted is a rejected file, and the time lost is far greater than the second saved. If you know what you are doing — a document supplied another way, a submission in two stages — tick “Produce despite the missing documents”: the file is then assembled, and the report lists in black and white what is not in it.
Which formats can be dropped into a slot?
A PDF, a photo or a scan (JPEG, PNG, WEBP), and a Word, Excel or PowerPoint document in the recent format (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx). Photos become an A4 page with a margin; the “Improve photos” option applies the cleanup from the “Enhance a scan” tool along the way — whitened background, raised contrast. The old binary formats .doc, .xls and .ppt are not supported.
What if one of the documents is a protected PDF?
If it is merely a restriction — the document opens without a password but forbids assembly, as many bank statements do — Vellum removes the protection and records it in the report. If an opening password is genuinely required, it stops and asks you to unlock that document first, with the dedicated tool. It never tries to guess a password.
Do the documents go anywhere while the file is being assembled?
No. Conversion, assembly, compression and PDF/A conversion are computed by your browser. The portal requirements the tool displays are written into the site’s code, with the address of the page where they were read and the date they were checked; no request is sent to those portals. Close the tab without downloading and nothing is left, here or anywhere else.