How to Make & Edit Bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat

The PDF file is an amazing, versatile, wonderful thing. It allows us to distribute massive amounts of information in a neat, tidy, ready-to-print format that has the added benefit of helping protect the work we've put in through security controls.

We use the PDF to share books, catalogs, artwork, instructions, patterns, and even to preserve archival-quality materials against time.

And yet, all this isn't enough. If your end-user can't quickly access all of the information you've crammed into that nifty little file, it is essentially worthless to them.

Bookmarks make your PDF file easier to navigate - boosting the interactive and usefulness factors. They can be set to jump the reader to a specific section of text, a page number, a graphic on a page, or an Internet link or email address. In short, the bookmark instantly adds value for your reader, and you'll be happy to know they're very easy to set up.

Creating Bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat

There are essentially two ways of adding bookmarks to your PDF files. You can add them in after you create your file, or you can let a software program do the work for you when your file is being turned into a PDF. Acrobat's plug-in for Microsoft Office products is a perfect example - these programs will automatically search for headline texts to use as bookmarks when you convert from that program.

Let it be said that this is often more of a time-waster than saver. You'll still have to go through your converted file and add bookmarks that weren't added during conversion, but you'll also have to edit out ones that were automatically added for some unknown reason that leaves you scratching your head in wonderment at the complications of technology.

Right. So, let's just go on from the whole viewpoint of manually adding your bookmarks.

By default, Acrobat will look at the current view you see on your screen to determine where you're setting a bookmark. So, before you create one, you should scroll down so that you're looking at the page you want users to see when they select the bookmark you're about to make.

The second thing you'll want to be able to see is the Bookmarks Navigation Tab. If you don't see it already, click "View", choose "Navigation Tabs", and select "Bookmarks". Now you're ready to get rolling.

Bookmark Text: Grab your Select Text tool from the Acrobat toolbar (View Illustration 01). Click and drag across the text you want to bookmark. This will highlight the specific text you're going for - headlines are usually the target. With your text highlighted, click the "New Bookmark" icon. This automatically creates a bookmark viewing the page exactly as you see it. The bookmark is added to the Bookmark Navigation Tab, and the text is highlighted so that you can edit it if you want. When you're happy with what it reads, hit the "Enter" key on your keyboard to set it.

By the way, this is the same method to use to link to an Internet URL or an email address.

Bookmark an Image: Scroll down through your document to find the image you want to mark. With your "Select" tool still activated (or reactivated if you changed it), click once on the image. This will highlight the image, and you can click the "New Bookmark" icon. Like the specific text step, this one will automatically create a bookmark for you with the view you have on your screen. Unlike the text step, though, you will have to change the name or it will read "Untitled". Since the text is already highlighted, you can just type a name right in and hit the "Enter" key on your keyboard to set the mark. (See Illustration 02)

Editing Bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat

Hey! Adding bookmarks is kinda fun! It makes you feel all uber-helpful, highlighting all these hugely important and highly enlightening passages of text and images for people's eager and easy perusal.

Maybe it's a personal addiction, but it is one ... and it's easy to go all mark-happy and add way too many or realize that you've not set one to the right place after all.

No need to let your balloon burst, though - they're as easy to edit as they were to create.

Edit a Bookmark's Name: This one's really, really easy. All you have to do is right-click the bookmark's name (or use Ctrl + Click if you're on a Mac), and choose "Rename". The name will get highlighted and you can type away. Hit the "Enter" key on your keyboard to put your change in place.

Edit a Bookmark's Destination: I so often find myself guilty of this one ... I get all the way through a document only to realize that half the bookmarks I've set don't go to the view that I really wanted. My hands get ahead of my brain (or visa versa) and part of the view I was going for is ... well, hidden. Luckily, this is easy to fix too. First, navigate to the view that you really wanted to point to. Then, right-click (or Ctrl + Click on a Mac) the bookmark and choose "Set Destination". Acrobat will pop up a nifty little box that asks if you really want to change the bookmark's destination. If you're sure you've got it set this time, click "Yes".

And just like that, with a couple of sinfully easy steps, you can feel all special because your PDF document has the great bookmarks that Joe Blow's doesn't have. You really are uber-helpful ... really.