Working with Bookmarks

2 Sep 202416 minutes to read

Essential PDF provides support to insert, remove and modify the bookmarks in the PDF Document.

Adding Bookmarks in a PDF

The PdfBookmarkBase collection represents the bookmarks in a PDF document. You can add a bookmark in a new PDF document using PdfBookmark class. Please refer the following code example.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Creates a new document.
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
//Adds a page.
PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();
//Creates document bookmarks.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1");
//Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(page);
//Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(20, 20);
//Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Color = Syncfusion.Drawing.Color.Red;

//Save the document into stream.
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
document.Save(stream);
//Closes the document
document.Close(true);

C# [Windows-specific]

//Creates a new document.
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
//Adds a page.
PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();
//Creates document bookmarks.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1");
//Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(page);
//Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(20, 20);
//Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Color = Color.Red;

//Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf");
document.Close(true);

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Creates a new document.
Dim document As New PdfDocument()
'Adds a page.
Dim page As PdfPage = document.Pages.Add()
'Creates document bookmarks.
Dim bookmark As PdfBookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1")
'Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = New PdfDestination(page)
'Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = New PointF(20, 20)
'Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold
bookmark.Color = Color.Red

'Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf")
document.Close(True)

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Adding Bookmarks in an existing PDF document

To add bookmarks to an existing PDF document, use the following code example.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Load the PDF document.
FileStream docStream = new FileStream("Input.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument(docStream);
//Creates document bookmarks.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1");
//Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(document.Pages[0]);
//Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Color = Color.Red;
//Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(20, 20);

//Save the document into stream.
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
document.Save(stream);
//Closes the document.
document.Close(true);

C# [Windows-specific]

//Loads the document.                       
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument("input.pdf");
//Creates document bookmarks.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1");
//Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(document.Pages[0]);
//Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Color = Color.Red;
//Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(20, 20);

//Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf");
document.Close(true);

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Loads the document.
Dim document As New PdfLoadedDocument("input.pdf")
'Creates document bookmarks.
Dim bookmark As PdfBookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1")
'Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = New PdfDestination(document.Pages(0))
'Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold
bookmark.Color = Color.Red
'Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = New PointF(20, 20)

'Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf")
document.Close(True)

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Adding a Child to the Bookmarks

You can add a child bookmark by using Insert method. Please refer to the following code example.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Creates a new document.
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
//Adds a page.
PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();
//Creates bookmark.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1");
//Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(page);
//Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(20, 20);
//Adds the child bookmark.
PdfBookmark childBookmark = bookmark.Insert(0, "heading 1");
childBookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(page);
childBookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(400, 300);
childBookmark.Destination.Zoom = 2F;
//Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Color = Syncfusion.Drawing.Color.Red;

//Save the document into stream.
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
document.Save(stream);
//Closes the document.
document.Close(true);

C# [Windows-specific]

//Creates a new document.
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
//Adds a page.
PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();
//Creates bookmark.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1");
//Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(page);
//Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(20, 20);
//Adds the child bookmark.
PdfBookmark childBookmark = bookmark.Insert(0,"heading 1");
childBookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(page);
childBookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(400, 300);
childBookmark.Destination.Zoom = 2F;
//Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Color = Color.Red;

//Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf");
document.Close(true);

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Creates a new document.
Dim document As New PdfDocument()
'Adds a page.
Dim page As PdfPage = document.Pages.Add()
'Creates bookmark.
Dim bookmark As PdfBookmark = document.Bookmarks.Add("Page 1")
'Sets the destination page.
bookmark.Destination = New PdfDestination(page)
'Sets the destination location.
bookmark.Destination.Location = New PointF(20, 20)
'Adds the child bookmark
Dim childBookmark As PdfBookmark = bookmark.Insert(0, "heading 1")
childBookmark.Destination = New PdfDestination(page)
childBookmark.Destination.Location = New PointF(400, 300)
childBookmark.Destination.Zoom = 2.0F
'Sets the text style and color.
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold
bookmark.Color = Color.Red

'Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf")
document.Close(True)

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Inserting Bookmarks in an existing PDF

When loading an existing document, the Essential PDF loads all bookmarks of the document.

Each loaded bookmark is represented by the PdfLoadedBookmark object. The following code example illustrates how to insert new bookmarks in the existing PDF document.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Load the PDF document.
FileStream docStream = new FileStream("Input.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument(docStream);
//Inserts a new bookmark in the existing bookmark collection.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Insert(1, "New Page 2");
//Sets the destination page and location.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(document.Pages[1]);
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(0, 300);

//Save the document into stream.
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
document.Save(stream);
//Closes the document.
document.Close(true);

C# [Windows-specific]

//Creates a new document.
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument("Input.pdf");
//Inserts a new bookmark in the existing bookmark collection.
PdfBookmark bookmark = document.Bookmarks.Insert(1, "New Page 2");
//Sets the destination page and location.
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(document.Pages[1]);
bookmark.Destination.Location = new PointF(0, 300);
//Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf");
document.Close(true);

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Creates a new document.
Dim document As New PdfLoadedDocument("Input.pdf")
'Inserts a new bookmark in the existing bookmark collection.
Dim bookmark As PdfBookmark = document.Bookmarks.Insert(1, "New Page 2")
'Sets the destination page and location.
bookmark.Destination = New PdfDestination(document.Pages(1))
bookmark.Destination.Location = New PointF(0, 300)
'Saves and closes the PDF document.
document.Save("Output.pdf")
document.Close(True)

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Removing Bookmarks from an existing PDF

You can also remove bookmarks from the existing PDF document by using Remove method. Please refer the following code example.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Load the PDF document.
FileStream docStream = new FileStream("Input.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument(docStream);
//Gets all the bookmarks.
PdfBookmarkBase bookmarks = document.Bookmarks;
//Removes bookmark by bookmark name.
bookmarks.Remove("Page 1");
//Removes bookmark by index.
bookmarks.RemoveAt(1);

//Save the document into stream.
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
document.Save(stream);
//Closes the document.
document.Close(true);

C# [Windows-specific]

//Loads the PDF document.
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument("Input.pdf");
//Gets all the bookmarks.
PdfBookmarkBase bookmarks = document.Bookmarks;
//Removes bookmark by bookmark name.
bookmarks.Remove("Page 1");
//Removes bookmark by index.
bookmarks.RemoveAt(1);

//Saves and closes the document.
document.Save("Output.pdf");
document.Close(true);

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Loads the PDF document.
Dim document As New PdfLoadedDocument("Input.pdf")
'Gets all the bookmarks.
Dim bookmarks As PdfBookmarkBase = document.Bookmarks
'Removes bookmark by bookmark name.
bookmarks.Remove("Page 1")
'Removes bookmark by index.
bookmarks.RemoveAt(1)

'Saves and closes the document.
document.Save("Output.pdf")
document.Close(True)

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Modifying the Bookmarks

Essential PDF allows you to modify the bookmarks in the existing PDF document. The following modifications can be done to bookmarks in an existing document.

• Modify the bookmark style, color, title, and destination.
• Add or insert new bookmarks into the root collection.
• Add or insert new bookmarks as a child of another bookmark.
• Assign the destination of the added bookmarks to a loaded page or a new page of the document.

The following code example shows how to modify the Destination, Color, TextStyle and Title of an existing bookmark collection.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Load the PDF document.
FileStream docStream = new FileStream("Input.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument(docStream);
//Gets all the bookmarks.
PdfBookmarkBase bookmarks = document.Bookmarks;
//Gets the first bookmark and changes the properties of the bookmark.
PdfLoadedBookmark bookmark = bookmarks[0] as PdfLoadedBookmark;
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(document.Pages[0]);
bookmark.Color = Syncfusion.Drawing.Color.Green;
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Title = "Changed title";

//Save the document into stream.
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
document.Save(stream);
//Closes the document.
document.Close(true);

C# [Windows-specific]

//Loads the PDF document.
PdfLoadedDocument document = new PdfLoadedDocument("Input.pdf");
//Gets all the bookmarks.
PdfBookmarkBase bookmarks = document.Bookmarks;
//Gets the first bookmark and changes the properties of the bookmark.
PdfLoadedBookmark bookmark = bookmarks[0] as PdfLoadedBookmark;
bookmark.Destination = new PdfDestination(document.Pages[1]);
bookmark.Color = Color.Green;
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold;
bookmark.Title = "Changed title";

//Saves the document.
document.Save("Output.pdf");
//Closes the document.
document.Close(true);

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Loads the PDF document.
Dim document As New PdfLoadedDocument("Input.pdf")
'Gets all the bookmarks.
Dim bookmarks As PdfBookmarkBase = document.Bookmarks
'Gets the first bookmark and changes the properties of the bookmark.
Dim bookmark As PdfLoadedBookmark = TryCast(bookmarks(0), PdfLoadedBookmark)
bookmark.Destination = New PdfDestination(document.Pages(1))
bookmark.Color = Color.Green
bookmark.TextStyle = PdfTextStyle.Bold
bookmark.Title = "Changed title"

'Saves the document.
document.Save("Output.pdf")
'Closes the document.
document.Close(True)

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

Bookmark page index in an existing PDF document

You can get bookmark page index from the existing PDF document using PageIndex property as shown in the following code snippet.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Load the PDF document.
FileStream docStream = new FileStream("input.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
PdfLoadedDocument loadedDocument = new PdfLoadedDocument(docStream);
//Gets all the bookmarks.
PdfBookmarkBase bookmark = loadedDocument.Bookmarks;
//Get the bookmark page index. 
int index = bookmark[0].Destination.PageIndex;

//Save the document into stream.
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
loadedDocument.Save(stream);
//Close the document.
loadedDocument.Close(true);

C# [Windows-specific]

//Load the PDF document.
PdfLoadedDocument loadedDocument = new PdfLoadedDocument("input.pdf");
//Gets all the bookmarks.
PdfBookmarkBase bookmark = loadedDocument.Bookmarks;
//Get the bookmark page index
int index = bookmark[0].Destination.PageIndex;

//Save the document.
loadedDocument.Save("Output.pdf");
//Close the document.
loadedDocument.Close(true);

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Load the PDF document.
 Dim loadedDocument As New PdfLoadedDocument("input.pdf") 
'Gets all the bookmarks.
Dim bookmark As PdfBookmarkBase = loadedDocument.Bookmarks
'Get the bookmark page index. 
Dim index As Integer = bookmark(0).Destination.PageIndex

'Save and close the document. 
loadedDocument.Save("Output.pdf") 
loadedDocument.Close(True)

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.