How to bookmark a page in PDF

Ebooks are usually in the PDF format, so it would be useful if you could bookmark a page on a PDF file you are reading, just like you bookmark a page in a real book. That can be done in Acrobat Reader with a small hack. Now Acrobat Reader is such a resource hog that you might not want to use it. Even I don't use it. Recently, I wrote about another PDF reader, the Adobe Reader Lite which is much faster and lighter than the original version. This hack works with the Lite version too.

Download Bookmark JavaScript for Acrobat Reader. Unzip it, and then copy it into your Acrobat Reader JavaScript's directory (/Adobe/Reader 8.0/Reader/Javascripts). Now open any PDF file with Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Reader Lite. Scroll a few pages and then open the View menu. Here you will find 4 new options - Bookmark this page, Go to bookmark, Remove bookmark and Clear bookmarks. (Note: you can't see the bookmark items when a PDF file is opened to the first page. You have to get to at least the second page for the bookmark items to become visible). The items are self explanatory. You can create as many bookmarks you want in a single PDF file. "Remove bookmark" will allow you to remove a single bookmark and "Clear bookmarks" wipes out all the bookmarks.


bookmark pages in Acrobat reader


The bookmarks created by this JavaScript aren't PDF bookmarks that get saved with the document. They behave more like web browser bookmarks in that they enable you to quickly return to a specific PDF page.

[Found via O'Reilly Hacks]

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23 comments
Andy M-S said...

Brilliant! I was reading a 150pp file and thought "somebody must have come up with a bookmarking system." And someone had.

Brilliant!

Yun said...

thanks a lot! It is really helpful.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that Adobe hasn’t thought of this. I have a 1198 page study file and this plug-in has made all the difference. I can now refer back to my bookmarks and get the information needed right away.

Thanks Genius

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Why the hell haven't Adobe done this :(

Anonymous said...

If you are using Adobe acrobat 9 you can open the document preferences (right click on the document) and then check "Restore Last view settings when reopening documents" This way your file will always open in the last page you read or where you close your document. Hope it helps too! Cheers

Anonymous said...

Works like a dream !
e-book readers finally blessed

Anonymous said...

THANKS A LOT !

Anonymous said...

Works only for about 30 bookmarks, when i try more then i have lost everything :-(

Anonymous said...

For some reason the bookmarker only boomarks certain PDF's. on some it give me "internal error occured"?

can you help?

Anonymous said...

very helpful!!
Tks

clement said...

Thank you very much!

Pete said...

Restore last view point works better I think. The bookmarks display across all PDF's for privacy reasons that isn't to good. Then if you click a bookmark from one PDF made in another it causes an error. I'm getting an error now with the javascript "An internal error occurred"

Anonymous said...

thnx buddy

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much i am so surprised this isnt a standard feature. you rock!

Jitendriya Kartikeya said...

To open the pdf from the last viewed page.
Go on the menu bar and in the edit menu:

Edit->preferences or press (Ctrl +K)
On the left hand side in categories:
click on the document category and check mark
"Restore Last view settings when reopening documents"

Anonymous said...

Very Very Very Gooooood !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Awesome utility.Thanks Buddy.Cheers!!!!!

sukjunar said...

PERFECT!!!

Anonymous said...

Whoever wrote this program is an absolute genius.
Ttttttthank-you for saving me and many orhers save a lot of time.

Anonymous said...

how come i only able to create 1 bookmark only, when create 2nd one, got "Internal error occurred error"

Anonymous said...

For anyone who is still having trouble with Vista. I put file in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Javascripts. Works great.

Sanish Joseph said...

Wow Superb.. I loved it. Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kaushik,

Nice program but I found a little problem. It doesn't work in two-up. I read a lot of technical manuals and always use full screen two-up.

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