Need for a "wrapper" file format?

I may get a lease in a pdf one day and then get a jpg copy of the deposit check a week later, and maybe an estopple agreement later as a tiff in an efax.  I don't want to manage 3-4 files seperatly and I don't want to have to manually combine these different formats using existing Editor like word or acrobat and spend time doing a lot of layout.   I need a Wrapper format to easily combine different formats that makes it easy arrange documents, make notes (as layers), retain original documents, and print so it looks like 1 document (not a cluster of different sized documents).   Should not have to crack any of the originals to get this done.  Should also be able to "whiteout", add comment layers, intro media, add voice notes, etc. and copy and print the combination as a single file.  Maybe it is just a docx file under the covers with a special use UX.  Some kind of combination between Design, Word, and OneNote.

You you can put all that stuff into a PDF.  Do you just not want to pay for Acrobat or FoxIT?  If not, export the images from Acrobat and import them into something like publisher and either save as XPS, or PDF, or JNT.

-Josh

Remember Microsoft Office Binder? That'd be perfect, ah well.

Anyway, I vote PDF. You don't actually define layout in Acrobat, you can just insert arbitrary pages into a document where each page would be that invoice or check or whatever.

can you use One Note to do it? seems like it can .... aside form that possibly a program that might use a folder to group them?

like zip files to store the source doc? 1 zip containing a set of files.

then add the annotations to the zip and use a custom ext. like "DocSet" and have an app that opens and manages the DocSet ?

Without trying to sound sarcastic.... Zip?

ManipUni said:

Without trying to sound sarcastic.... Zip?

I can see ZIP doing this job, too.  A lot of 'aggregating' file formats are now using if : like docx and ePub.

Herbie

ManipUni said:

Without trying to sound sarcastic.... Zip?

I was going to say file system folders, until I got to the bit about anontations. 

I can see what he want's sounds like something that needs to be a cross between onenote and a surface app to me, where you can throw in all sort of files add sticky notes, redact parts of documents stack them all up and print them or export to pdf or something.