Adobe Acrobat XI add line numbering on left hand side

[XIAO-FU]

In Adobe Acrobat XI were is the option to add line numbering on the left hand side of the page for documents?

[try67 · Accepted solution]

No, but it can be done with a script (in some cases).

[Test Screen Name]

Though it can be very tough. A PDF isn't a Word document, and it isn't divided into lines. The characters could be anywhere on the page. Usually, they have collections with the same baseline - and we call that lines. A script needs to do some complex analysis of baselines to guess lines.

[Phillip M Jones]

If it is a Word document that you used to create the PDF, Then Word has the ability to show line numbers.

Two methods:

1. Layout Tab on Ribbon click in Line Numbers.
2. From Main Menu choose format Menu > Document > Layout. Click Linember button and set up as desired.

Then create your PDF.

Note this is shown using a Mac. But the same thing is in The PC version as well.

[Guest]

As far as I know it will not do this as in a Word Document.  Ideally create the desired line numbers in the original document.

You can however create line numbers in an image and paste it on to the PDF and move to the desired position or add them manually using the typwriter tool or similar method.

[Bill12]

This is a neat idea to solve the problem. I would suggest creating the line number image as suggested and adding the image to each page as suggested.

[Phillip M Jones]

See this Movie: http://www.screencast.com/t/q4zioKEv

1. It's a little long and the Parts between inserting the Line numbers and creating the PDF is unimportant. (I've even edited unnecessary section out to shorten)
2. And it is Based on Mac. But the same indential thing should be in the PC version (except ho wthe PDF is made)
3. the important part is showing how to set line numbers. The what it looks like when opening the finished PDF.

[HarleyTDavis]

If you're like me, in a stage management class and you want to make a promptbook, you'll need a way to do this with any scanned document.  Or maybe you're just looking to get some documents into a format you can mark up, share and discuss in open forum, or educational lecture.

You'll need one more software plug... ...For indesign.  Google "Place multiple page PDF in Indesign".  or Multipage importer indesign.  Those will get you to the site where you can download a free plugin to allow you to import an entire document from acrobat to indesign, keeping your multiple page structure, all at once.  I like to provide enough room for my line numbers, so I choose a page size larger than the original and go with it.  Simple.

Step 1:  Scan your document and put it in Acrobat.  OCR if you must to straighten, no more no less.  You'll need one more software plug... ...For indesign.  Once you have it installed in your scripts...

Step 2.  Create the indesign document at a larger size than your original document.  This will provide enough space for your line numbers to fit.  We'll be repeating these two steps later, so remember them.

Step 3: Use the plugin to place your doc in the center of the master.  Let it run.  Save or Export as a PDF.  Eh?  What?  We just got to indesign!  Why PDF?!

     You can save as an indesign doc for later use, but exporting back to PDF is a must.  Some actually like to print to pdf and OCR again afterward for good measure.

Step 4: open in acrobat, run OCR, export to Microsoft word document, and open with your favorite Microsoft or openoffice editor, add the line numbers or whatever else you need.  You should have plenty of excess space to work in.

Step 5: From microsoft word, export back to Acrobat and you're ready to go.

As a stage manager, you're always looking for ways to make things go faster.  I use a tablet pc when available, log in to CC, and use InDesign to create layers for lighting notes, sound cues, blocking, prop movement, and revisions.  Each revision layer has three shapes, a white block to cover all underneath, a text block over that, and a pastel overlay to color the page in my view.  I'm working on scripts that print only pages that contain a Revision layer.  But I haven't yet been able to figure it out.  Perhaps I should try only pages with a color shape with a specific name.  I'd like to build a panel with the tools, so they would automatically build what's needed, but for now I'll stick with freehand.

[try67]

If you want to do it in Acrobat, check out this tool I've developed, exactly for this purpose: Custom-made Adobe Scripts: Acrobat -- Add Line Numbers

[HarleyTDavis]

That's great for one or two pages, or for when your text is all in line as one object.  It doesn't help much if you have 150 pages.  It's a great idea, to put this into acrobat.  And this script is such a great leap.  Unfortunately, it's still limited.  I often don't have the original text file, only a scan of a file, and I don't have the fonts that are used (a proprietary font to prevent piracy).  The documents I work with are 25-6000 pages, and they have to be perfectly set for taking notes, showing mappings.  The font doesn't matter as much, only the content, and the lines.  It all has to match.

Again for a few pages, that script just works... ...I love it.  But to pay for it just to use it once a year, if that?  No.  I can't justify that expense when I can do the same thing anyway, faster and better, all at once by just cycling it through MSWord.

My Most common operation:

I have to take an odd sized booklet apart, scan it, center it on the page at the same size, then apply the numbers only to text that's pertinent.  Adobe acrobat exports to WORD, where I can select all the text, add the line numbers as I need (only every 5 lines of pertinent text; no titles).  In MSWord, I can select each title or nonpertinent, and then have it skip that with a single click, and the existing line numbers react.  Then I can bring the document back to Adobe Acrobat, where I can OCR again and have access to even the line numbers as text.

Granted, I still have to select all the titles, and remove the line numbers.  It's easier to do that maybe 15-25 times than to add line numbers to every section, one at a time, on each page, of 25 pages of material that have several caveats.  It's faster to hit it all at once, then remove a few and have it fix itself, then come back to acrobat for the final layout.

So... ...a great option, I love it for small jobs.  For big ones, go with the tried and true.  It works every time.

[APenNameAndThatA]

Regarding the add-line-numbers script: *it does multiple pages*. At least the paid version says that it does!

[HarleyTDavis]

I tried the unpaid version, and the multipage doesn't work on scans.  The problem is that the baselines are skewed for each page.  It takes considerably longer to process each page than it does a whole document, due to the repeated checks of the baselines, but there's also another problem that comes in.  What if the text areas are separated by slightly offset distances?  In reality, doing this with a SCANNED set of documents is unrealistic using Acrobat, despite it's amazing ability to recognize text, sending it back out to word for editing.

Here's my problem:

The text is deliberately varied and pressed.  It's a proprietary font consisting of glyphs from several others with adjusted kerning and spacing.  The press also bleeds some letters together.  The spacing is mechanical, not digital, so while OCR gets most of the text right, the font isn't matchable for a baseline.  I've tried with schoolbooks too.  Even though the baseline is a standard font lead, any pages where there is an offset paragraph doesn't number correctly with the script.  The only reason I scan my books is to make them easier to carry, but it would be great to be able to post notes by line number.  If you could script from a word document with flowing text, you wouldn't have an issue.  I've tried it.  It does work as far as I can tell, but the font needs to be all one font, one baseline, and the spacing needs to run together.  In Word, the software doesn't care about all that.  Once you have it all in the software as text, it counts the lines on the page based on lines with text, lines without text, etc.  You can even go to lines you want to exclude from the count and remove them, adjusting the count of the entire document.

Two ways to do it; both in word:

Method 1: This is for when you need to keep the document formatting as close as possible

Adobe will keep the formatting for you, but it will get irregular, which can be a problem if you want a uniform look and you have a lot of pages.  The first step is always to scan, but after that, you need to crop your pages and clean them up.  In my case, there were some rag lines to deal with from the script book I had to take apart, so I cleaned those up after getting the pages all in order.  Next I place the pages onto a standard size document in some kind of editor.  I used InDesign, and placed every page to an upper bound using a script.  I cropped all the pages to the same size anyway, but I wanted to add some extra margin, so I added an inch in my setup, and planted them, exporting the whole thing back to pdf.  Then I recognized the text again.  By keeping the sizing all the same, the fonts were close.  I then extract all the pages and export each one to Word with the new page size.  Doing it this way allows me to alter the font exactly as I choose.  I then save each page and match the font size, spacing and kerning.  Then all I have to do is recombine each page in acrobat, recognize the text, send it back to Word, put in the numbers etc and I'm done.

Method 2: When uniformity of font is less important

I allow adobe to maintain the formatting instead of text flow.  First I scan clean and crop, then out to InDesign or print to PDF on a larger page size (not my final page size!!!  I need more room on the outside edges for other notes), just a bit bigger.  Then I save it as a pdf and bring it to word for numbering, corrections and such, then output from there to an editable PDF, and from there put it where I need it.  I use scripts for indesign that place the PDF's into the document and split the documents right and left as I need.

Apple blocks the print to adobe feature, but you can preview the document in preview and save it from there from the system print dialogue.  It isn't perfect but it's close enough.  It works for me, but I use Windows lately, so I just round trip.