Bookmarks for PDFs in Android

PatNY · 08-02-2013, 12:07 PM

Does anyone know of a pdf reader for android whose bookmarks will show up as bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat for the desktop (or in another pdf reader for Windows)?

I found that annotations such as sticky notes and drawings made on the PDFs with some android apps will show up just fine in Adobe Acrobat for Windows, but I haven't yet found a way to make the bookmarks carry over.

The android apps which I've tried so far are Mantano Premium, EZPDF, and Adobe Reader. I couldn't even find any bookmarking capbility at all in Adobe Reader for android, which I think is kind of strange.

Any ideas?

--Pat

tomsem · 08-02-2013, 02:27 PM

Bookmarks are considered an Authoring feature in PDF and they aren't editable with PDF readers. For example that is what is used to create a PDF Table of Contents. The bookmarks have associated text.

PDF readers can add stuff to an annotation layer, which is a PDF standard feature, but those don't include the equivalent of 'bookmarks' i.e. a way for readers to mark certain pages in the PDF. PDF readers may have their own bookmark implementation for this, but it does not carry over as a PDF standard. You can of course create an annotation to mark those locations assuming the software is using that annotation layer and not some homegrown variant. (highlight, sticky note, sketch etc.) It does seem a little odd that there is not a more specialized 'dog-ear' annotation after all these years.

PatNY · 08-02-2013, 04:02 PM

Thank you, tomsem, for that information. That helps to explain what I am seeing.

Yes, I am surprised no one has come up with a solution to do proper bookmarking of PDFs on Android yet. I would think that Adobe would be able to do that if they wanted to. I would pay for that in an app. Don't know why they don't incorporate that into their current Android app.

Until someone does that, I will make do marking up the pdf with notes and comments instead. At least in Adobe Acrobat on Windows, I can bring up the notes and comments in a separate window -- almost like bookmarks -- and navigate through them. It's just slightly less convenient than using actual bookmarks. But it works.

--Pat

08-02-2013, 12:07 PM	#1
PatNY Zennist Posts: 1,022 Karma: 47809468 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: iPod Touch, Sony PRS-350, Nook HD+ & HD	Bookmarks for PDFs in Android Does anyone know of a pdf reader for android whose bookmarks will show up as bookmarks in Adobe Acrobat for the desktop (or in another pdf reader for Windows)? I found that annotations such as sticky notes and drawings made on the PDFs with some android apps will show up just fine in Adobe Acrobat for Windows, but I haven't yet found a way to make the bookmarks carry over. The android apps which I've tried so far are Mantano Premium, EZPDF, and Adobe Reader. I couldn't even find any bookmarking capbility at all in Adobe Reader for android, which I think is kind of strange. Any ideas? --Pat Last edited by PatNY; 08-02-2013 at 12:25 PM.

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08-02-2013, 02:27 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,939 Karma: 27060151 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Bookmarks are considered an Authoring feature in PDF and they aren't editable with PDF readers. For example that is what is used to create a PDF Table of Contents. The bookmarks have associated text. PDF readers can add stuff to an annotation layer, which is a PDF standard feature, but those don't include the equivalent of 'bookmarks' i.e. a way for readers to mark certain pages in the PDF. PDF readers may have their own bookmark implementation for this, but it does not carry over as a PDF standard. You can of course create an annotation to mark those locations assuming the software is using that annotation layer and not some homegrown variant. (highlight, sticky note, sketch etc.) It does seem a little odd that there is not a more specialized 'dog-ear' annotation after all these years.

08-02-2013, 04:02 PM	#3
PatNY Zennist Posts: 1,022 Karma: 47809468 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: iPod Touch, Sony PRS-350, Nook HD+ & HD	Thank you, tomsem, for that information. That helps to explain what I am seeing. Yes, I am surprised no one has come up with a solution to do proper bookmarking of PDFs on Android yet. I would think that Adobe would be able to do that if they wanted to. I would pay for that in an app. Don't know why they don't incorporate that into their current Android app. Until someone does that, I will make do marking up the pdf with notes and comments instead. At least in Adobe Acrobat on Windows, I can bring up the notes and comments in a separate window -- almost like bookmarks -- and navigate through them. It's just slightly less convenient than using actual bookmarks. But it works. --Pat

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