Bookmarking PDF Text "By Example" Using The AutoBookmark™ Plug-in For The Adobe® Acrobat®

Introduction

This tutorial shows how to automatically bookmark PDF text that matches properties and attributes of the selected text examples using the AutoBookmark™ plug-in for the Adobe® Acrobat®. This is the simplest and fastest method to generate bookmarks in a PDF documents based on text properties such as font style, text size and/or color.

What Text Properties Can Be Used For Bookmarking?

The "Bookmark Text By Example" can use the following text properties and attributes:

Font name
Font size
Text color
Text location on the page
Text case filter

Prerequisites

You need a copy of the Adobe® Acrobat® along with the AutoBookmark™ plug-in installed on your computer in order to use this tutorial. You can download trial versions of both the Adobe® Acrobat® and the AutoBookmark™ plug-in.

Step 1 - Open a PDF File

Start the Adobe® Acrobat® application and open a PDF file using “File > Open…”.

Step 2 - Select a Sample Text

Use Acrobat's text selection tool to select a text sample.

Step 3 - Open the "Add Bookmarks By Example" Dialog

Select "Plug-Ins > Bookmarks > Bookmark Text By Example…" to open the "Add Bookmarks By Example" dialog.

The "Add Bookmarks By Example" dialog will appear on the screen. The properties and attributes of the selected text example will be automatically added into the "Selected styles" box.

Step 4 - Add More Sample Text (Optionally)

If it is necessary to add more than one style, then use a text selection tool to select another text sample.

Press the "Add Style From Selected Text" button to add style of the selected text to a current working set.

Step 5 - Set Bookmarking Level (Optionally)

Bookmarks can be generated at different levels. Double-click on the level entry in the list to set desired bookmark level.

Set desired bookmark level and click "OK":

Step 6 - Choose Text Attributes To Use

Choose text attributes to use for text matching such as font name, text size and color. Optionally, click “Settings…” button to specify a search area on the page or set a desired bookmark appearance and formatting. If it is not necessary, go to step 13.

Step 7 - Specify Bookmark Formatting (Optionally)

Specify bookmark content formatting in the "Content" tab of the "Bookmark Level Description" dialog.. Select the “Appearance” tab to specify bookmark visual appearance.

Step 8 - Specify Bookmark Visual Appearance (Optionally)

Specify bookmark visual appearance in the "Appearance" tab. Select text color, text style and zoom type to use for the new bookmarks. Select the “Text Location” tab to limit text search to a specific area on the page.

Step 9 - Specify Text Location (Optionally)

The plug-in allows to limit search to a specific area of the page. Check the "Match text located only in the following area" option to bookmark text that only appears within specific page area. Click "Set Page Area From a Sample Page…" to select a text location.

Step 10 - Set Page Area From a Sample Page (Optionally)

Click and hold the left mouse button while using the selection tool, than draw a rectangle around an area on the sample page. Release the left mouse button to finish selection. Click "OK" once done.

Step 11 - Close "Bookmark Level Description" Dialog

Click "OK" to finish specifying settings.

Step 12 - Specify How to Insert Bookmarks (Optionally)

Specify where bookmarks are inserted. Bookmarks can be inserted into the following locations in document's bookmark tree:

After existing bookmarks
Before existing bookmarks
Replace existing bookmarks
Under a common bookmark. This is a default method.

Specify processing page range and text filter. Use "Save..." and "Load..." button to save/load currently selected settings to/from a settings file.

Step 13 - Start the Bookmarking Process

Click "Run" to start the bookmarking process. The AutoBookmark™ plug-in will search a current PDF document and bookmark all matching text occurences.

Step 14 - Check the Bookmarking Stats

The dialog with the bookmarking results will be displayed at the end of the processing. Click "OK" to finish.

Step 15 - Close the "Add Bookmarks By Example" Dialog

Close the "Add Bookmarks By Example" dialog by clicking the "Close" button.

Step 16 - Examine the Results