Edit PDF Files

• Manage Bookmarks
• Manage File Attachments
• Manage Page Thumbnails
• Show or Hide PDF Layers
• Work with Audio & Video
• Work with Image Annotations
• Create Links in a PDF
• Spelling Check

Manage Bookmarks

Bookmarks are navigation tools that make your PDF files easier to read. With Foxit PDF Reader, you can easily add, edit, or delete bookmarks in a PDF file if the security settings allow.

Open the Bookmark Panel

• Do any of the following to open the Bookmarks panel:
  • Choose View in the menu bar > Navigation Panels > Bookmarks.
  • Click View in the Ribbon > View Setting > Navigation Panels > Bookmarks.
  • Click the Bookmarks button  in the Navigation panel.
• In the Bookmarks panel, you can click the Expand or Collapse button  to expand or collapse all bookmarks.

Add a Bookmark

• (Optional) If you want to add a bookmark in a bookmark list for a PDF file that contains bookmarks, select the bookmark after which you want to place the new bookmark.
• In the document page, do the following:
  • To save the current view as a bookmark, navigate to the page and location where you want the bookmark to link to.
  • To save the selected text as a bookmark, select text with the Select Text command or Hand command (if you have checked the Make Hand Tool select text option in Preferences > General).
• Do any of the following:
  • (For selected text only) Click  on the floating toolbar to save the selected text as a bookmark. By default, the selected text will be used as the bookmark name. You can follow the steps in “Rename a Bookmark” to rename it, if necessary.
  • Click the Add Bookmark button  in the Bookmarks panel, and then input the name for the bookmark.

Tip: After adding a bookmark, you can also move it to a desired hierarchy, if necessary. Please refer to Move a Bookmark for more information.

Edit a Bookmark

In Foxit PDF Reader, you are able to rename a bookmark, reset a bookmark’s destination, or customize the text appearance of a bookmark with ease if the security settings allow.

Rename a Bookmark

• In the Bookmarks panel, double-click the bookmark you want to rename (or right-click the bookmark and choose Rename).
• Type the new name, and press Enter.

Reset a Bookmark's Destination

• In the document page, move to the location you want to specify as the new destination.
• In the Bookmarks panel, right-click the bookmark which you want to reset the destination, and choose Set Destination.
• Click Yes to confirm your operation.

Customize the Text Appearance of a Bookmark

• In the Bookmarks panel, right-click the bookmark, and choose Properties.
• In the Bookmark Properties dialog box, click the Appearance tab, and select the font style and color for the text.
• Upon completion, click Close to close the dialog box.

Tip: After defining a bookmark's appearance, you can set it as bookmarks' default property by right-clicking the bookmark and then selecting Use Current Appearance as New Default option.

Add an Action to a Bookmark

• In the Bookmarks panel, right-click the bookmark, and choose Properties.
• In the Bookmark Properties dialog box, click the Action tab.
• Choose an action from the Select Action menu and click Add, and then do the following:
  • Select Trigger – Specify the user action that initiates an action.
  • Select Action – Specify the event that occurs when the user triggers the action.
    • Go to a page view – designate to a specific page view. You can not only designate to a page in the current PDF, but also to the page in another PDF. Also, you may change the current zoom setting and then set the position. To go to a page view, choose this option, click Add button and do the following:
      • If your document includes named destinations, choose any of the following options in the pop-up dialog box first. If not, skip this step.
        • Use Page Number: Go to a page in the current document or newly opened document. After checking the option, following the steps in “Set the position in current document” and “Set the position in another PDF document” complete your setting.
        • Use Name Destination: Go to a specified named destination. After checking the option, click Browse to select a named position from the list in the pop-up dialog box, and click OK.
      • Set the position in current document – scroll the current document, go to a new position where you want to set and change its magnification (if necessary), and click Set this position.
      • Set the position in another PDF document – click the Open button in the File menu > select the PDF you want to set position > scroll this document and go to a position where you want to set > change its magnification (if necessary) > click Set this position.

        Tip:The new PDF document should be opened in the existing window but not a new window.

    • Open/execute a file – designate to open another file. To do this, choose Open/execute a file > click Add button > select the destination file and click Open.
    • Open a web link – designate to open a web link. To do this, choose Open a web link > click Add button > enter the URL of the destination web page > click OK.
    • To show/hide a field, select the option > click Add > choose to show or hide the selected button when the user triggers the action, and click OK.
    • To execute a menu item, select the option > click Add > select one of the items in Menu Item Selection dialog box, and click OK.
    • To submit a form, select the option > click Add > choose the export format, submission method, decide which fields should be submitted, and click OK.
    • To reset a form, select the option > click Add > select the fields that will be reset, and click OK.
    • To import form data, select the option > click Add > choose the FDF file that contains the form data you want to import, and click Open.
    • To run a JavaScript, select the option > click Add > enter JavaScript, and click OK.
  • Actions – Display the list of triggers and actions that you have defined.
  • Up and down buttons – Change the order in which the selected action appears listed under the trigger. (Available only when you have defined multiple actions for the same trigger.)
  • Edit – Open a dialog box with specific options for the selected action. You can also double-click the actions to open a dialog box.
  • Delete – Remove the selected action.
• Upon completion, click Close to close the Bookmark Properties dialog box.

Delete a Bookmark

To delete a bookmark, please do one of the following in the Bookmarks panel:

• Select the bookmark you want to delete, and click the Delete Bookmark button  at the top of the Bookmarks panel.
• Right-click the bookmark you want to delete, and choose Delete.
• Select the bookmark you want to delete, and press the Delete key in your keyboard.

Tip: Deleting a bookmark deletes all the bookmarks that are subordinate to it.

Move a Bookmark

To move a bookmark, please do one of the following in the Bookmarks panel:

• Select the bookmark that you want to move, and drag it to the desired place.
• Right-click the bookmark that you want to move, and click Cut from the context menu. Then right-click the destination bookmark, and select one of the options:
  • Paste under Selected Bookmark: Paste the bookmark as a child bookmark under the destination bookmark.
  • Paste after Selected Bookmark: Paste the bookmark as a parent bookmark after the destination bookmark.

Manage File Attachments

Open the Attachments Panel

Do any of the following to open the Attachments panel:

• Choose View in the menu bar > Navigation Panels > Attachments.
• Choose View in the Ribbon > View Setting > Navigation Panels > Attachments.
• Click the Attachments button  in the Navigation panel.

Add a File Attachment

• In the Attachments panel, click the Add Attachment button.
• In the File Attachment dialog box, click Add Files, and select one of the following options:
  • Add Files: Add one or more files. You can choose files from local drives or click Open from ECM to select files from ECM systems and cloud services.
  • Add Folder: Choose a folder to add all the supported files in that folder.
• Click OK, and then the selected files will be added as attachments in the PDF document.   

Work on the File Attachments

Configure Security Settings

You can configure the security settings about how to open a file attachment with the following steps:

• In the Attachments panel, click the Settings button .
• In the Preferences dialog box, do any of the following:
  • To add a new extension, click the Add button, input the file extension, and click OK.
  • To delete an extension, select the existing extension in the list, and click Delete.
  • To change the settings of how to open the attachment of a certain type, choose the desired option from the Strategy drop-down list.
  • Click OK to apply the settings.

Manage File Attachments

In the Attachments panel, right-click a file attachment, and select one of the following options from the context menu:

• Open: Open the attachment in Foxit PDF Reader or other supported application installed in your local computer. Please note that how the file attachment will be opened depends on your security setting in the Preferences. And you can also double-click the file attachment in the Attachments panel to open it.
• Delete: Delete the selected attachment.
• Save Attachment: Save the selected attachment as copy in your local disk.
• Properties: Add a description for the selected file attachment.

Manage Page Thumbnails

Open the Pages Panel

Do any of the following to open the Pages panel:

• Choose View in the menu bar > Navigation Panels > Pages.
• Choose View in the Ribbon > View Setting > Navigation Panels > Pages.
• Click the Pages button  in the Navigation panel.

Work on Page Thumbnails

The Pages panel displays all the page thumbnails of a PDF file which is opened in Foxit PDF Reader. In the Pages panel, you can do any of the following:

• To resize the page thumbnails, click the Enlarge button  or Reduce button , or right-click on a page thumbnail and select Enlarge Page Thumbnails or Reduce Page Thumbnails.
• To change the visible area of the page in the document pane, click on a page thumbnail, and move the red rectangle.
• To print a selected page, right-click on a page thumbnail, and select Print Pages.
• To specify the tab order for a selected page, right-click on a page thumbnail, and select Properties. Then select an order as desired in the Tab Order tab.
• To add an action to a page, right-click on the page thumbnail, and select Properties. In the Page Properties dialog box, click the Actions tab, choose a trigger method and action from the Select Trigger and Select Action menu, and click Add. And then refer to the section of “Add an Action to a Bookmark”.

Show or Hide PDF Layers

In a PDF, information can be stored on different layers. To show or hide related content stored in a variable number of separate layers, you can simply refer to the Layer panel on the left side of the work area. Please note that you cannot create or edit layers in Foxit PDF Reader; however, you can view layers and choose to show or hide the content associated with each layer.

• Do any of the following to open the Layers panel if it is hidden:
  • Choose View in the menu bar > Navigation Panels > Layers.
  • Choose View in the Ribbon > View Setting > Navigation Panels > Layers.
  • Click the Layers button  in the Navigation panel.
• To hide a layer, uncheck the layer.
• To show a hidden layer, click the empty box and a checkmark will appear.
• To show or hide all layers, check or uncheck Select All directly.
• From the Options menu at the top left corner of the Layers panel, choose one of the following:
  • List Layers for All Pages – Show every layer across every page of the document.
  • List Layers for Visible Pages – Show layers only on the visible pages.
  • Reset to Initial Visibility – Reset layers to their default state.
  • Expand All – Expand all layers.
  • Collapse All – Collapse all of the current layers in the view.
  • Apply Print Overrides – Determine whether to display a layer according to its corresponding Print setting in the Layer Properties dialog box. The option is available when Never Prints or Always Print is selected.
  • Apply Export Overrides – Determine whether to display a layer according to its corresponding Export setting in the Layer Properties dialog box. The option is available when Never Exports or Always Exports is selected.
  • Apply Layer Overrides – Display all layers in the document regardless of the settings in the Layer Properties dialog box, and you cannot change layer visibility until you deselect this command or choose Reset to Initial Visibility in the Options menu. However, you are still allowed to rename layers when the command is selected.

Work with Audio & Video

Play Audio or Video

To play audio or video, please make sure you have necessary media player installed on your device, and then do the following:

• Make sure that you have selected the Hand command.
• Click the play area of the audio or video.

Add Audio or Video

Foxit PDF Reader allows you to add audio and video in the popular formats (including .mov, .mpg, .mpeg, .mp4, .wav. .mp3, etc.) to PDF files.

Add Audio or Video

• Choose Home in the Ribbon > Audio & Video.  
• Press and hold mouse button down, drag to select an area on the page where you want the audio or video to appear.
• In the pop-up Add Audio & Video dialog box, you will see some options listed below:
  • Location: Click the Browse button to select the movie file you want to insert.
  • Content type: Specify the type of the media you insert. It is selected automatically. But you can also specify the clip type if you want. Please note that changing the Content Type setting may cause problems playing the media.
  • Embed content in document: Include the media file into the PDF file. This option will increase the file size of the PDF. It is selected by default. If the check box is cleared, you will not be able to play it if you open this PDF file on other computers.
  • Show Player: Specify whether or not to display the player when an audio or video is played. The player will allow you to stop, pause, or resume the media. This option is checked by default.
  • Poster Settings: Choose whether to display an image in the play area when the movie isn’t playing. You can choose to use no poster, or create poster from file.
• Upon completion, click OK to add the audio or video.

Edit the Play Area

• To edit audio or video, firstly you need to make sure that you have chosen the Select Annotation command (choose Select > Select Annotation in any tab except for the File/Help tab) or Audio & Video command (choose Home > Audio & Video). 
• Click the play area to select audio or video, and then do the following:
  • To move the clip, drag the rectangle to a new location on the page.
  • To resize the play area, drag any of the handles on the rectangle.
  • To delete the clip, press the Delete key on your keyboard.
• Right-click the play area of audio or video, and then do any of the following:
  • Choose Properties from the context menu to set audio & video properties. Please refer to “Set Audio & Video Properties” for more details.
  • Choose Cut, Copy, Paste, or Delete from the context menu to cut, copy, paste, or delete the selected clip.
• To arrange multiple clips, do the following:
  • Use Shift/Command + click to select multiple clips that you want to arrange.
  • Right-click the play area of an anchor clip, and do any of the following:
    • Choose Center to center the selected clips vertically, horizontally, or both.
    • Click Align to align selected clips based on the anchor clip. This is available when you have selected two or more clips.
    • Click Size to adjust the size of selected clips based on the anchor clip. This is available when you have selected two or more clips.
    • Select Distribute to distribute the clips vertically or horizontally based on an anchor clip. This is available when you have selected three or more clips.

Set Audio & Video Properties

Audio & Video Properties

• To edit audio or video, firstly you need to make sure that you have chosen the Select Annotation command (choose Select > Select Annotation in any tab except for the File/Help tab) or Audio & Video command (choose Home > Audio & Video). 
• Double-click the play area, or right-click the play area and select Properties.
• In the Appearance tab, specify the appearance of the selected audio or video.  
  • Annotation is hidden from view – Specify the visibility of the player area for the audio or video. If this option is checked, the play area will be invisible in Hand Mode.
  • Border – Select the border width and the border’s style and color.
  • Change Poster – Change a poster for the audio or video.
• In the Settings tab, you can specify the title, alternative text, and rendition settings.  
  • Annotation Title - Type the title of the audio or video in the Annotation Title box. This title does not determine which media file is played.
  • Alternate Text - Type a description of the media file in the Alternate Text box.
  • Renditions - Allow you to create alternate or other renditions to ensure that users can play the audio or video on their systems.
    • List Renditions for Event - You can assign different renditions to different actions but Mouse Up is chosen by default. Mouse Up means that when the mouse button is clicked and released, the rendition is played.
    • Add - There’re three ways for you to choose: Use a File, Use a URL, By Copying an Existing Rendition.
    • Edit – When clicking the Edit button, the Rendition Settings dialog box appears, which allows you to specify the playback location, and other settings to differentiate it from other renditions. Please refer to “Rendition Settings” for details.
    • Delete Delete the selected renditions.
    • Up/Down – Arrange the order of the renditions. If the first rendition cannot be played, the next available rendition is played.
• In the Actions tab, add actions to the audio or video. For more information, please refer to “Actions tab”.
• After setting the properties, you can check the Locked option to lock the properties and prevent other users from changing them. Please note that checking the Locked option on any tab will lock all the options for the multimedia file in all the three tabs, but not just the current tab.

Rendition Settings

• Media Settings
  • Rendition Name: Enter the name for the rendition, which will appear in the list of renditions. (This name does not determine which media file is played.) If you want to make the rendition accessible to JavaScript, check the Rendition is accessible to JavaScript option.
  • Media Clip Location: Specify the clip by typing or navigating to it.
  • Content Type: Content Type will be selected automatically when you specify the clip location. Changing the Content Type setting may cause problems playing the media.
  • Embed content in document: Includes the media file into the PDF file. This option will increase the file size of the PDF. It is selected by default. If the check box is cleared, you will not be able to play it if you open this PDF file on other computers.
  • Rendition Alternate Text: Type a description of the rendition.
  • Allow temp File: Specify whether writing a temp file is allowed and when. Some media players write a temp file when they play a movie or sound clip. If you want to prevent users from easily copying the media content in a secure document, you may want to disallow the creation of temp files. However, selecting this setting may prevent the movie from being played by media players that require the use of temp files.
• Playback Settings
  • Keep Player Open: Select whether you want the player to close after it plays the movie or sound clip.
  • Volume: Let you specify how loud the movie will be played.
  • Show player controls: Select to display a controller bar at the bottom of the play area allowing users to stop, pause, or play the media, provided the media player supports player controls.
  • Repeat: Let you replay a clip two or more times, or continuously.
• Playback Location
  • Playback Location: Select the location for playing a movie or sound clip.
  • Background Color: Select the background color for the media player.
  • Show title bar: Select to show or hide title bar when playing the media in a floating window.
  • Show control closing window: Select to show or hide the close button at the top right corner in a floating window.
  • Title Text: Add a title for the media that will be showed on the title bar when playing the media in a floating window.
  • Resize: Determine to allow or forbid users to resize the floating window.
  • Window Position: The window position is determined relative to the document window, application window, the virtual desktop or document monitor.
  • Width/Height: Specify the width and height of the floating window.
  • If Window is Off-screen: Select to play, do not play, or move window onto screen to play the media file if the floating window is off-screen.

Use current playback settings as default for this type of media: Set your settings as the new default for all the multimedia files you create in future.

Work with Image Annotations

Add an Image Annotation

You can add an image annotation to a PDF with the Image Annotation command.

To add an image annotation, do the following:

• Choose Home > Image Annotation.
• Drag a rectangle on the page to define the canvas area for the image.
• In the Add Image dialog box, click the Browse button to select the image that you want to insert.
• Click the Advanced button to edit the setting of the image.
  • When to scale – choose when to scale the image you insert.
  • Scale – choose to scale the image non-proportionally or proportionally. This option will be disabled when you select Never in the field of When to scale.
  • Border – drag and move the scroll bar to change image’s position in the rectangle. The coordinates change when you move the scroll bar.
• Click OK for your changes to take effect, or click Reset to reset the data to the original settings.
• Click OK.
• (Optional) If you want to place the image annotation in the same position on multiple pages, do the following:
  • Right-click the image annotation, and choose Place on Multiple Pages.
  • In the Place on Multiple Pages dialog box, specify the page range and subset, and click OK.

Manage Image Annotations

After you insert a new image annotation, you can adjust its size and position, change the appearance and other settings, etc.

Move an Image Annotation

• Make sure that you have chosen the Select Annotation command or the Image Annotation command.
• Do any of the following:
  • Select the image annotation you want to move, and drag it directly to the desired location.
  • Select the image annotation, and use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move it to the desired location.
  • Right-click the image annotation that you want to move, and choose Cut. Then navigate to the target location, right-click on the page, and select Paste. You can also use the shortcuts Command + X and Command + V to cut and paste the selected image annotation.

Resize an Image Annotation

• Make sure that you have chosen the Select Annotation command or the Image Annotation command.
• Select the image annotation that you want to resize, and do any of the following:
  • Drag any of the border handles directly.
  • Use Option (or Option + Shift) + arrow keys on your keyboard.

Delete an Image Annotation

• Make sure that you have chosen the Select Annotation command or the Image Annotation command.
• Do one of the following:
  • Right-click the image annotation that you want to delete, and choose Delete.
  • Select the image annotation that you want to delete, and press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Set Properties of an Image Annotation

• Make sure that you have chosen the Select Annotation command or the Image Annotation command.
• Double-click the image or right-click it and select Properties.
• In the Appearance tab, do any of the following:
  • Annotation is hidden from view – If this option is checked, the image annotation will be invisible in Hand command mode.
  • Border – Select the border width of the image and the border’s style and color.
• In the Settings tab, follow the steps in “Add an Image Annotation”.
• For the Actions tab, please refer to “Actions Tab”. 
• (Optional) To prevent any further changes to the image properties, check the Locked option in any tab.
• Click Close to apply the properties, and close the Image Properties dialog box.

Arrange Image Annotations

For existing image annotations in a PDF file, you can align, center, distribute, or resize them based on an anchor object. For more information, please refer to “Arrange Comments”. 

Create Links in a PDF

Links help you to lead the readers to related articles, references, or the intended web page.

Add Rectangle Links

• Click Home > Link.  
• Position the cursor on the place you want to add the link, hold and drag your mouse button to draw a rectangle.
• In the pop-up dialog, do the following:
  • Specify the link appearance in the Appearance group.
  • Select one of the following link actions in the Destination group:
    • Go to a page view: To designate the link to a specific page view, check Go to a page view option > click Next > scroll the document to the position where you want to set destination > click Set this position.
    • Open/execute a file: To designate the link to open a specific file, check Open/execute a file option > click Next > select the destination file and click Open.
    • Open a web link: To designate the link to open a web page, check Open a web link option > click Next > input the URL address or select an address you have added before from the drop-down list > click OK.
    • Others (View Action Properties dialog box): Open the Link Properties dialog box to view, add, or edit the link actions.

Move or Resize a Rectangle Link

You can move and resize the rectangle link after you create it.

• Select the Link tool in the Home tab, and then click on the link to select it.
• To move the link, drag it to the desired position.
• To resize the link, drag any corner point to adjust its size as desired.

Delete a Rectangle Link

• Select the Link tool in the Home tab.
• Do any of the following:
  • Click the link that you want to delete, and press the Delete key.
  • Right-click the link that you want to delete, and choose Delete from the context menu.

Spelling Check

By default, Foxit PDF Readerautomatically checks the spelling when you add text comments or fill in text fields in interactive PDF forms. The suspected misspellings will be underlined with red squiggly lines. You can right-click a misspelled word to find suggestions and correct it quickly. To change the default settings, please choose File in the Ribbon (or Foxit PDF Reader in the menu bar) > Preferences > Spelling.