Can you extract/print multiple pages from single pdf based on a keyword or specific comment?

[ejmerry]

Hey Guys & Gals,

I'm dealing with a 500 page pdf with multiple bookmarks and would like to know if it's possible to extract/print certain pages based on a keyword or specific comment.

I've tried to look this up and I believe it is possible technically, but has never been done before. If you've ever used iTunes or Photos, this function I'm asking for is similar to a Smart Playlist or Smart Album. You enter a keyword or identifier on a specific item and then can pull up all items marked with that identifier without having to look up all those items individually. Now switch word "item" with "page" and that's what I'd like to do with this pdf.

The closest I've found so far is an action that will extract pages from a pdf that are commented on and saves them to their own pdf in the same directory as the original. I believe this is a javascript action and maybe I need to modify this javascript code to pull comments with certain words in them. I don't know javascript or coding at all, but this is just a guess.

Do think you can help me or point me to something like this that has been done before. I'm pulling my hair out trying to find a solution.

[Barb Binder]

Hi! You posted this question in the non-technical Lounge forum. I'll move it over to an Acrobat forum so that you can get an answer.

Here is a list of the forums, for future reference:

https://forums.adobe.com/welcome

[ejmerry]

Thanks Barb!

[try67]

It is possible to do it, but Acrobat tends to have problems with scripts that need to process a lot of information, like a file with 500 pages.

There are some workaround that make it easier, but it's "iffy". A better approach is to use a stand-alone tool. I've developed such a tool so if you're interested in it feel free to contact me privately at try6767 at gmail.com and we'll discuss the details.

[try67]

One option of doing it in Acrobat is by utilizing the results of the Advanced Search tool, which can be exported to a CSV file and then used to extract the pages where matches were found. See: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Print or Extract Pages from CSV Search Results

[ejmerry]

Hi, would the advanced search tool only search the comments field or the entire pdf. I'm afraid that my keyword choices would interfere with whats in the pdf and pull pages I didn't want.

Do individual pages have any metadata that can be scraped and used to pull the pages?

[try67]

It searches the static contents of the file. You can tell it to also search bookmarks and/or comments, if you wish.

Individual pages don't have metadata information, only the file as a whole. Not sure how that would help, though...