Help Index › Apply Bookmarks to Pages

Apply Bookmarks to Pages

Overview

Apply Bookmarks to Pages creates a bookmark that targets the current page. You can type a title manually, use selected text from the PDF, or insert dynamic variables such as the page number or page label. The dialog is modeless, so it stays open while you navigate between pages and add multiple bookmarks in a single session.

The Apply Bookmarks to Pages dialog
The Apply Bookmarks to Pages dialog.

How to use

  1. Open a PDF and navigate to the page you want to bookmark.
  2. Optionally select text on the page to use as the bookmark title.
  3. Go to Plug-Ins > Bookmarks > Apply Bookmarks to Pages.
  4. Enter or edit the bookmark title. Use the Get button to pull selected text from the document, or choose a title preset from the dropdown (you can also type a new preset into the dropdown and click Save).
  5. Set the placement, style, color, and destination view options.
  6. Check the Preview panel — it names the page the bookmark will point at and where it will land in the bookmark list.
  7. Click Add to create the bookmark.
  8. The dialog stays open. Navigate to the next page and repeat; every other setting is kept. Click Close when you are done.
    A plain title is cleared after each Add, so a second Add cannot silently create a duplicate. A title containing a variable is kept and selected instead, because it resolves differently on every page — press Add again on the next page to reuse it.

Title options

OptionDescription
Bookmark title The text that will appear as the bookmark name. If text was highlighted in the PDF before opening the dialog, it is pre-filled automatically. Titles may be in any language — Cyrillic, Greek, CJK or accented text is stored as full Unicode, whether typed, taken from a text selection, or loaded from a saved preset.
Get Reads the currently selected text from the PDF and places it into the title field. If Insert selection at cursor is enabled, the text is inserted at the cursor position instead of replacing the entire title. This also updates the selection rectangle used by the Fit Rectangle destination view.
Insert Variable Opens a menu of the variables you can use in a title, and places the one you choose at the cursor position:
  • {page} — the page number (1-based)
  • {label} — the page label defined in the PDF
The variable itself is inserted, not its current value, so the title works as a reusable template — the Preview panel shows what it resolves to for the page you are on. The variable is expanded when you click Add, against the page the bookmark actually targets.
Insert selection at cursor When enabled, the Get button inserts text at the cursor position rather than replacing the entire title.
Title preset An editable dropdown of previously saved title templates. Picking one from the list puts it straight into the Bookmark title field; you can also type a preset directly into the box.
  • Use copies whatever the box shows — picked or typed — into the Bookmark title field. Typing in the box on its own never disturbs a title you have already written.
  • Save stores what is in the preset box. If the box is empty it falls back to the Bookmark title field, so typing a title and clicking Save still keeps that title as a preset. It is unavailable when there is nothing to save. Editing the title by hand clears the preset box, so Save always stores what you are looking at.
  • Delete removes the preset shown in the box, after asking you to confirm. It is unavailable unless the box names a saved preset.
To add a preset by hand, type it into the box and click Save. Click Use as well if you also want it as this bookmark's title.

The older variable spellings {Page Number} and {Page Label} are still recognised, so title presets saved with earlier versions keep working.

Formatting options

OptionDescription
Style Sets the bookmark text style. Choices are Plain, Bold, Italic, or Bold + Italic.
Color Opens a color picker to choose a custom color for the bookmark text. Defaults to black.

Destination view

OptionDescription
Inherit Zoom Uses XYZ with null zoom so the viewer keeps its current zoom level when navigating to the bookmark.
Fit Page Displays the entire page in the viewer window.
Fit Width Fits the page width to the viewer window.
Fit Height Fits the page height to the viewer window.
Fit Visible Fits the visible content bounds to the viewer window.
Fit Rectangle Targets the area you selected on the page. This needs a text selection: select text before opening the dialog, or press Get while it is open. With no selection the setting falls back to Fit Page.

Placement options

OptionDescription
Add at the end of the bookmark list Appends the new bookmark as the last top-level entry, whatever page it points at. This is the default.
Insert in page order Places the new bookmark next to the existing bookmark nearest its page, so the list stays in page order. The Position line in the Preview panel names the bookmark it will be placed after (or before), so you can check before adding.

Preview

The Preview panel shows what will happen when you press Add, and updates as you change options — including as you navigate the document:

LineShows
Resolved title The title with its variables expanded for the current page. This is exactly the text that will be written to the bookmark.
Sample A sample rendered in the selected style and colour.
Destination The page the bookmark will point at (with its page label, if the document has one) and the destination view that will be used.
Position Where the bookmark will land in the existing bookmark list.

Below the panel, a status line reports the result of the last bookmark you added.

Tip

Save frequently used title templates (e.g. Chapter {page}) with the Save button so you can reuse them quickly across sessions. Because the variable is stored rather than its value, one preset works on every page.

Note

The Add button is disabled until the title field contains text. If no text is selected in the PDF, you must type a title manually.

Note

The bookmark is created on whichever page Acrobat is showing when you press Add — not the page you were on when you opened the dialog. The Destination line in the Preview panel always names the page that will be used.

See also