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dougjackson091351
dougjackson091351
New Participant
February 13, 2022
Question

Add tags to pdf files

  • February 13, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 16763 views

Is there a way to add tags to pdfs in windows file explorer. I am in Windows 11 running 64 bit. I have a program that allows me to add the category "Tags" but doesn't allow me to add any tags.

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1 reply

Y
ynwtf
Inspiring
February 13, 2022

That's a different tag completely, if I understand youre description. The "tags" in Windows Explorer are likey more for search and sorting features when looking for files within Windows Explorer and unrelated to the tags used for accessibility.

 

The accessibility "tags" are closer related to HTML tags like H1 for header 1, H2, H3, P for paragraph, etc. To edit that within the PDF you would need Acrobat Pro to have access to the Tags Panel tool to manually set such tags against the PDF content.

 

Your tag description may help ID a document at the document level when doing a sort/search within Windows, but it cannot identify line-level text, images, or other elements within the PDF.

 

Someone please feel free to correct me if I'm misreading.

    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Brainiac
    February 14, 2022

    @ynwtf is correct.

    The tags for accessibility are different from those used to "tag" subjects and categories.

    Tags are just a way to lable content, and there are different systems or sets of tags used by different technologies. Some of the common tag sets in use today:

    • HTML, used to tag websites and EPUBs.
    • PDF/UA tags, used to tag PDFs for access by assistive technologies. it appears that this is what @dougjackson091351 is trying to do. Here's a quick guide to the PDF/UA-1 tag set: https://www.pubcom.com/blog/2020_05-02_tags/pdf-ua-tags.shtml
    • XML tags (extensible markup language) are custom sets of tags developed by various industries to label and  exchange data. A publisher can also create their own schema / DTD to define their own custom set of tags for their specific publishing needs.

     

    The best method to created a tagged PDF is to learn how to make an accessible source document that produces the correct tags when the file is exported to PDF. Some common source documents are Word, PowerPoint, and Adobe InDesign. Take a class to learn how to do this.

     

    You can also tag an existing PDF. Adobe Acrobat has a utility called AutoTag, but it really doesn't do a good job. Accessibility requires not just tags, but the right tag on each type of content in the file, as well as a logical reading order. The automated tools miss this by a mile.

     

    |    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
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