TIP 107: Modifying Bookmark Appearance
We naturally see bold and colored text as more important than regular black text. You can use that natural tendency to make it easier for your readers to understand how your document is organized. This is a great strategy to apply in combination with a hierarchical listing. For example, use a bold, colored text for the first-level bookmark, a bold text for the second level, and regular black text for the third level.
Develop a Bookmarking Workflow
This is my method of creating a set of bookmarks easily and accurately: Build the bookmark title list. Organize and arrange the hierarchy structure in the Bookmarks pane. Test and set destinations for the list. Modify the bookmarks' appearance. Test the Bookmarks list. Set the document properties to include the bookmarks in the initial view. Save the document.
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Coordinating a bookmark list with the document's color scheme gives it a professional look, especially when you set the document's initial view to open displaying both the document and bookmarks. Figure 107a shows the "before" look in an example project. The bookmark hierarchy is in place, but it is difficult to see what is really important in the listall the bookmarks use the same weight and color of font and are differentiated only on the basis of their indentation.
Figure 107a. A document's bookmarks nested appropriately display the content in a hierarchy, but it's difficult to get a sense of more or less important headings.
Contrast that with the "after" look in Figure 107b. The bookmarks have the same structure, but you can easily see that the three section headings are the most dominant in appearance (after the title bookmark). The third-level bookmarks in italics are bookmarked images in the document.
Figure 107b. The modified set of bookmarks clearly shows the most dominant headings and makes the document's content easier to see at a glance. The bookmark labels are wrapped so they can be read regardless of the width of the Bookmarks pane.
Here are some tips on manipulating the appearance of bookmarks, including some shortcuts and timesaving methods: Before you start modifying, open the Bookmarks list and click a top-level bookmark. Click Expand Current Bookmark on the Bookmarks pane so that all lower-level bookmarks are visible. How you manipulate the bookmarks depends on the content and how you like to work. I prefer to use right-click or shortcut keys when practical. I also like to group items and work with them simultaneously. Open and close levels as needed to keep track of what you are doing. Another method that works well is to define an appearance for your bookmarks when you start. Add the first bookmark and then configure it using the Bookmark Properties toolbar (Figure 107c). Right-click the bookmark and choose Use Current Appearance as New Default.
Figure 107c. Use the Bookmark Properties toolbar to save time as you work. As you select a bookmark, the toolbar becomes active.
Belly Up to the Toolbar
All of the tools used for modifying bookmarks are in the Bookmark Properties toolbar. Open the toolbar to make configuration quicker (see Figure 107c). Right-click the toolbar well at the top of the program window and choose Properties Bar or use the shortcuts Ctrl+E/Command+E. If you are working with a large number of bookmarks, drag the toolbar into the toolbar well to dock it. When you click a bookmark in the list, the Bookmark Properties bar is active. Click More on the toolbar to open the Bookmark Properties dialog if you want to set actions for the selected bookmark. |
Sometimes your bookmarks are quite lengthy. Although you should try to keep the titles short, sometimes that isn't possible. Right-click/Control-click any bookmark and choose Wrap Long Bookmarks from the shortcut menu. Regardless of the width of the Bookmarks pane, your reader can always read the bookmark label without scrolling; the wrapping feature is shown in Figure 107b. You can resize the text in the Bookmarks tab. Click the Options menu and choose Text Size > Small, Medium (default), or Large. Changing size has no effect on the other text characteristics, such as italic, that you set in the Bookmark Properties toolbar.
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