Batch processing PDFs with Actions in PDF by Zaweba
Actions in PDF by Zaweba are saved lists of steps, from sanitising and reducing size to redacting and exporting, run on files, a folder or the open document.
Doing something to one PDF is quick. Doing the same five things to forty PDFs every Friday is a chore, and chores lead to slips. Tools, then Actions in PDF by Zaweba turns a routine into a saved list of steps that runs on files, a folder or the open document in one go.
What an action can do
The steps on offer cover most of the app's tidying, protecting and exporting jobs. They include removing hidden information, sanitising, reducing file size, protecting with a password, removing security, flattening, turning or deleting pages, finding and redacting, setting document details, calculating fields, and exporting text, Word or pictures.
Put them together in the order you want and save the list. Next time, choose the action, choose what to run it on, and let it work through.
The built-in actions
Four actions come ready made, each for a common job.
Prepare for distribution gets documents ready to go outside your organisation, the sort of clean-up you'd want before anything is sent to clients or published.
Optimise scanned documents suits files that came off a scanner, which are often large and awkward.
Prepare for web publishing suits documents going onto a website, where size and tidiness matter.
Make accessible runs the steps toward an accessible document, the same sequence available from the accessibility tools.
Open each one before you rely on it, to see which steps it takes. They make good starting points to copy and adjust for your own needs.
Making your own
Think about a job you do repeatedly and write down its steps. A solicitor's office might find and redact personal information, remove hidden information, protect with a password and set document details. A shop might reduce file size and export pictures from a batch of catalogue pages. A school might flatten a set of filled forms and export their text.
Build the action with those steps in that order. Order matters. Redact before sanitising, so the sanitise step also clears anything left behind. Reduce size after flattening, so the flattened content is included in the reduction. Protect last, so the file that gets locked is the finished one.
Running it
Run an action on chosen files, on a whole folder, or on the open document. The folder option suits regular batches. The open document option is a good way to test a new action on one file and check the result before you let it loose on a hundred.
An action can also become a command of its own. Once a routine is settled, making it a command puts it within easy reach, so the weekly job becomes a single click.
Watched folders
For jobs that never stop, Watched folders goes one step further. While the app is open, each PDF put in a watched folder goes through its action automatically. It's the natural partner to Actions once a routine is stable.
Test before you trust it
Test every new action on a copy. Some steps, such as redacting, sanitising and flattening, remove things for good, so you want to be sure the action does what you meant before running it on originals. Keep your actions few and clearly named, so you choose the right one at the end of a long week. And look at the results now and then, especially for find and redact, where the documents vary.
Actions take the repetitive work out of PDF by Zaweba, and because they run offline on your PC, even batches of confidential files never need to go anywhere to be processed.
