Exporting, importing and summarising PDF comments
Export comments as XFDF or FDF, import them or another PDF's comments, make a summary PDF, show or hide them, flatten them and set your name.
A review rarely stays inside one file. Reviewers each comment on their own copy, comments need to be gathered in one place, a manager wants a list of what was said and the final document must go out with the marks baked in or removed. PDF by Zaweba has a set of tools for moving comments around and wrapping a review up.
You can export all or chosen comments as XFDF or FDF, import XFDF, FDF or the comments of another PDF, make a summary PDF, show or hide comments, flatten them into the pages and set the name that appears on your comments.
Exporting comments
XFDF and FDF are small files that hold only comments, not the document. Exporting to one of them lets you send your remarks without sending the whole PDF again, which is handy for large files or slow connections. You can export every comment or only the ones you choose, such as your own.
Importing comments
Import brings comments back in. Load an XFDF or FDF file, or the comments from another PDF, and they are added to the open document.
That is how separate reviews come together. If three people each commented on their own copy, import the comments from each copy into one master file, and all the remarks appear on the same pages, each with its author.
Making a summary
A summary PDF lists the comments in a new document. It is useful for sending to someone who needs to know what was said but does not need to go through the pages, or for keeping a record of a review alongside the final document.
Showing, hiding and flattening
Show or hide comments switches them on and off on screen. Hiding them gives a clean view of the page; showing them brings the review back.
Flattening is permanent. It draws the comments into the page itself, so they are no longer comments but part of the content. That is what you want when a stamped or annotated document must go out looking exactly as it does on screen, with nobody able to move or delete the marks.
Setting your name
The name on your comments comes from a setting you can change. Set it before you start reviewing so every comment you make carries the right name. In a team review, this is what tells the author who to ask about each remark.
A sensible review routine
Before sending out a document, set your name and decide how comments will come back: as XFDF or FDF files, or as commented PDFs. When they return, import them all into one copy. Work through them in the Comments panel, setting a status on each, and make a summary PDF as a record. Finally, decide whether the final version should have comments flattened, hidden or removed, and save a clean copy for sending. Keep the commented master separately, because flattening cannot be undone once saved, and the master is your record of the review.
If the document was revised between rounds, Comment > Migrate comments can move comments from the earlier version onto the new one.
All of this works offline in PDF by Zaweba, so confidential reviews stay on your own PC from the first comment to the final file.
