Export Bookmarks to XML

Overview

Export Bookmarks to XML writes the bookmark tree of the active PDF to an XML file that preserves the hierarchy. The PDF itself is not changed.

How to use

  1. Open a PDF that contains bookmarks.
  2. Go to Plug-Ins > Bookmarks > Views & Reports > Export Bookmarks to XML.
  3. In the Save dialog, choose a file name and location for the .xml file.
  4. Click Save to export.

Output format

Unlike the text, HTML and Excel exports — which flatten the tree and record depth as indentation or a level number — the XML export nests the elements. A bookmark with children is written as a <Bookmark> element containing them; one without children is written as a self-closing element. Both carry title and destination attributes, inside a single <Bookmarks> root.

ElementDescription
Title The full text of the bookmark title, escaped so that characters such as & and < survive intact.
Destination For page destinations the page number is written as Page N. For URI actions the URL is written, for Launch actions the file path. Anything else is written as Action: <type>, and a bookmark with no usable action as Action: Unknown.

Note

This is the export to choose when something else has to read the structure back, since the parent and child relationship is explicit. Every bookmark is exported regardless of level.

See also