AutoBookmark ($189 or $99 each in a 5 license pack) is an Acrobat plug-in (Windows only). It adds a menu item and a panel to Acrobat. A free trial is available if you want to check it out.
AutoBookmark is my go-to Acrobat plug-in tool for managing complex projects with a lot of bookmarks and links. You can easily copy bookmarks between files, create bookmarks from headings or Bates numbers and about a hundred other features.
It’s a great tool to have if you prepare sets of linked exhibit files in complicated cases.
The latest release of AutoBookmark can (ta-da!) create a Table of Contents from Bookmarks in your document.
Adding a TOC to your PDF makes it easier to navigate and it looks great, too. It’s a requirement when creating closing binders and final document sets.
The first step will be to bookmark the pages in your file. Acrobat can generate bookmarks via the following methods:
- Automatically using the PDF Makers in Office applications
- Headings 1-9 in Word
- Worksheet Names in Excel
- Slide Titles in PowerPoint
- Optionally, when Using Combine Files
- A bookmark to each document name is created
- Navigate to a page in a PDF and create a bookmark (CTRL-B)
With AutoBookmark, there are a number of ways to create bookmarks automatically if your PDF doesn’t have them. Here are a few you can read about on the EverMap site:
Automatic bookmark generation from text content
Bookmark text from a user-defined search list
Bookmark text patterns
Creating bookmarks from links, text highlights, comments and destinations
Creating bookmarks from ASCII text files
Create a TOC in Seconds
With your bookmarked file open, you can create a TOC in a couple of clicks with AutoBookmark.
- Inspect your Bookmarks to make sure they are what you want. Here is an example:
- Choose Plugins> Table of Contents> Create from Bookmarks
NOTE: This menu is installed by AutoBookmark and is not present unless you purchase AutoBookmark
- The TOC window opens. You can set many options for font, color and size.
- Click OK
The Resulting TOC
Awesome! In just seconds, I added a TOC to my PDF.
AutoBookmark created links to each of the bookmarked pages. If you change the PDF, you can delete the TOC and regenerate it easily. I tested PDFs with hundreds of bookmarks. In one case, I created a 21-page TOC.
AutoBookmark is a wonderful add-in tool for Acrobat. If you spend a lot of time bookmarking files and links or manually creating TOCs, this tool will pay for itself quickly!