How to add and edit bookmarks in PDF by Zaweba

A PDF without bookmarks is like a book without a contents page. You can still read it, but finding your way back to a section means scrolling and guessing. PDF by Zaweba lets you build or tidy the bookmark outline yourself, so that the panel down the side becomes a real map of the document for you and for anyone you send it to.

Bookmarks are saved into the PDF, so this is one of the more generous things you can do for a reader. A report that arrives with a clear outline is easier to review, and a manual with nested bookmarks is easier to use for years afterwards.

Adding a bookmark

Go to the page you want, then press Ctrl+B. If you have text selected, the new bookmark is named after it, which is the fastest way to make a good one: select the heading on the page, press Ctrl+B, and the bookmark carries the heading's words. With nothing selected, it is named after the page label instead, which you can then rename.

Rename with F2. Short, plain names work best, because the panel is narrow and readers scan it quickly. Use the same words as the headings in the document so the outline and the pages agree.

Arranging the outline

The order and the nesting are what make an outline useful. You can move a bookmark up or down, put it under the one above so it becomes a child, or take it out a level so it moves back up the tree. Building a two or three level outline is just a matter of adding the bookmarks in reading order, then indenting the sub-sections under their chapters.

There is also a command to go to the page in view, which helps when you are checking that each bookmark points where it should. Delete removes one you don't want.

Each of these changes is one undoable step. If you nest something in the wrong place, Ctrl+Z puts it back, so you can rearrange freely without worrying about losing work.

Style, colour and outlines from headings

Bookmarks can be given a style and a colour. Used with restraint this helps a lot. Make chapter bookmarks bold so they stand out from the sections beneath them, or colour the bookmarks for parts of a document that need attention, such as sections still waiting for sign-off. Too many colours have the opposite effect, so pick one meaning and stick to it.

If the document has proper headings, you may not need to build the outline by hand. The accessibility tools in PDF by Zaweba can make bookmarks from headings, which gives you a full outline in one go. You can then use the editing commands above to tidy it: shorten long names, delete ones you don't need and fix any nesting that came out oddly.

Slips that spoil an outline

The most common slip is adding bookmarks out of order and then wondering why the outline reads strangely. Either add them from the start of the document to the end, or use move up and move down afterwards to put them in reading order.

Another is naming every bookmark after its page label. That is fine as a starting point, but an outline full of page numbers tells the reader nothing that the thumbnails don't. Take the extra moment to select the heading text before pressing Ctrl+B.

Finally, remember to save. The outline is part of the file, so if you close without saving, your work on it goes with the tab.

With the bookmarks panel for reading and these tools for editing, a sprawling PDF can be turned into a document people can actually find their way round.