Actions, a feature of Acrobat X and XI Pro, are a powerful way to standardize processes by automating routine, multistep tasks.

Actions may be extended via JavaScript so that operations not found in the program itself may be created. Thus, it is possible to deliver unique capabilities via an Action.

In the Acrobat X timeframe, I worked with our partner Windjack to produce a series of Actions that are useful for legal professionals. These Actions were made available on the Adobe Acrobat Actions Exchange.

I’ve updated the actions to work with Acrobat XI and am publishing both versions (X and XI) here for you.

Note:1. These Actions below are not published or supported by Adobe Systems Incorporated. 2. Use these Action at your own risk. I suggest using a copy of your files until you understand how each Action works. 3. I cannot customize these Actions for you. If you require customization, please contact Windjack.

Need to find out more about how Actions work?To learn more about how to import and work with Acrobat XI Actions, click here.

Below, you can learn more about these free Actions and download them to try them yourself.

Enjoy!

Actions only work in Acrobat Pro X and Acrobat Pro XI. To get the Actions:

**Acrobat X Pro
**Download the PDF which contains the Acrobat X version of the Action and follow the installation instructions in the PDF.

**Acrobat XI Pro
**

  1. Download the Acrobat XI Action file and save it to a convenient location such as your desktop
  2. Double-click the file and Acrobat Pro XI will ask you to import the Action
  3. Optional but recommended: Download the PDF documentation

Create Bookmark Report

The Create Bookmark Report Action processes multiple PDF documents and outputs a Summary Document containing:
• A unified report, by document, listing bookmarks in a hierarchical fashion
• A Comma Separate Values (CSV) file which may be opened in a spreadsheet program

Legal Professionals often bookmark pages throughout document sets. This Action helps you create a meta-report of bookmarks.

Download Create Bookmark Report Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download Create Bookmark Report Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)

Find and Highlight Words and Phrases

The Find and Highlight Words and Phrases Action provides a process to help you add highlight annotations across multiple documents. Before running the Action, you must supply a Word List which includes all of the words and phrases you wish to highlight across documents.

Acrobat then highlights every search term across your document set. This is a good method to quickly find key names and facts across your document set.

With all your search terms highlighted in your document set, you might consider running the companion Action Extract Commented Pages (below)

Download Find and Highlight Words and Phrases Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download Find and Highlight Words and Phrases Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)

Sort Commented Files

The Sort Commented Files Action processes multiple files and detects whether documents have comments or not. Document with comments are copied to a folder of your choosing. Optionally, you may copy documents without comments to a different folder.

The Action also creates a Summary Report which lists the processed files.

This Action is helpful when you are reviewing a document set and commenting on the useful files you wish to separate.

Download Sort Commented Files Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download Sort Commented Files Action Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)

Create Comment Summary

The Create Comment Summary Action processes multiple PDF documents and outputs:

If you like to comment on PDFs in a case, this Action can create a report of all comments across all of the files you reviewed.

Download Create Comment Summary Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download Create Comment Summary Action Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)

Extract Commented Pages

The Extract Commented Pages Action processes multiple PDF files and extracts pages in two ways— to a subset of files from the original document and to a summary document containing all pages extracted from source documents.

Download Extract Commented Pages Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download Extract Commented Pages Action Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)

Document Numbering

The Document Numbering Action allows you to stamp two separate numbering items at the same time— the document number and the page number.

This Action is useful for exhibit numbering since it could stamp documents at Exhibit 1 – Page 1, Exhibit 1 – Page 2, etc.

The Action supports a variety of prefix and suffix types.

Download Document Numbering Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download Document Numbering Action Action Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)

Flatten Fields and Comments

The Flatten Fields and Comments Action moves the data from editable form fields and annotations into the main layer of the document preserving the appearance of form fields, highlights, stamps, and other annotations.

This Action is useful if you want to embed drawing markups so that they not editable using the standard tools in Reader or Acrobat.

Note: Unless you restrict editing (Protection section) which sets a usage restriction, it is still possible to edit content in a PDF.

Download Flatten Fields and Comments Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download Flatten Fields and Comments Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)

File Name Stamper

The File Name Stamper Action automates the process of stamping:

Download File Name Stampers Action (Acrobat XI Pro)

Download File Name Stamper Documentation (PDF, includes embedded Acrobat X Action)