How to Create Bookmarks in PDFs

A bookmark in an Adobe Acrobat PDF file functions like a bookmark in a printed book, but has greater capability. Not only can you return to the same page, you can return to a specific location on that page. A careful set of bookmarks becomes a personalized table of contents and is searchable. You can set a bookmark with a custom zoom level. Finally, Adobe Acrobat provides a variety of actions a bookmark can initiate--jumping to another file and activating a web link are among them--that are beyond the scope of this article but worth learning.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Recent version of Adobe Acrobat
• PDF file

Instructions

Preparation

1. Open the file and find the page you wish to bookmark.

2. 

   Pull down the "View" menu and select "Navigation Panels" and "Bookmarks." This opens a Bookmarks pop-out window with several possible actions arranged at the top and the pre-existing bookmarks for your document in the main part of the pop-out window.

3. Adjust settings (view, size...) until you like the way the page looks.

4. Decide exactly what you want to bookmark: an image, part of the image, some text or a whole page.

5. 

   Click the "Select Tool," which is the arrow with an insertion icon. If you do not see this icon, pull down the "View" menu, select "Toolbars," "Select & Zoom," then the Select Tool.

Designate the Bookmark

1. Bookmark the entire page by clicking the "Select Tool" at the top left-hand corner of the page.

2. Mark an image by clicking on it or dragging a rectangle around it. (Dragging is explained in the Tips section.)

3. Bookmark part of an image by dragging a rectangle around the desired area.

4. Mark an area of text by dragging around the selection.

Make a Bookmark

1. Open the Bookmarks pop-out window and click the "New Bookmarks" button or pull down "Options," then "New Bookmark."
   Or use shortcut keys: on a PC press Control B (Ctrl-B); on a Mac press Command B (Cmd+B).
   Or from the Menu Bar pull down "Document" and click "Add Bookmark."

2. Select where you wish the new bookmark to be filed. If you do not specify, it will be added to the end of the list.

3. Rename the new bookmark so that it will make sense to you.

4. Edit the bookmark: move it from its current location to one you like better, rename it again, delete or re-format it. To perform any of these actions, reveal the "Bookmarks" pop-out menu, pull down the "Options" menu and select the desired action.

Tips & Warnings

• Dragging: On a Mac, simply click and drag the selection tool. On a PC, hold down the "Control" key and drag (Ctrl-drag) the selection tool. After mastering bookmark creation, go to the Adobe Acrobat Help Viewer and find out how to make them even more useful. PC users access the help viewer by clicking "Help" at the top of the window or by pressing the F1 key. Macintosh users press F1 or Command plus the question mark (Cmd-?).

• You may need a full version of Adobe Acrobat to be able to create and use bookmarks. You can only create bookmarks if you have security clearance to edit the Adobe Acrobat PDF file.

References

• Adobe Acrobat information

Resources

• Adobe Acrobat downloads
• Free-based software help
• Adobe Corp. support