As scanning has increased, so too has the use of Acrobat. Many firms are starting to scan old files into Acrobat PDF files. Much of this is uncontrolled – I have seen PDF files as big as 5GB or even more! This is just a disaster waiting to happen. Here are some simple things you can do to make the use of your Acrobat files more efficient.
1. Scan in smaller batches and assemble. Instead of scanning thousands of pages, scan in groups of (say) several hundred. (You may want to experiment on the best number) Then select “Create” then “Merge files into a single PDF.” Drag and drop all the files you want to include into the resultant screen (I have dragged over 600 files at one time). This will create a single PDF. Each file is listed on the Bookmarks Panel which makes the resulting document easier to navigate. To get the Bookmarks Panel to display when the document is opened, go to File | Properties | Initial View and select “Bookmarks Panel and Page.”
2. Make sure your scans are OCR’d. What good does it do to have 5,000 pages of documents in a file if you can’t search for anything in it? Although Acrobat will do this, it is a slow process. If you plan to scan large amounts of documents, you need to invest in an OCR program. Some large printer/copiers claim to be able to OCR, but check carefully – I recently came across a relatively new Xerox copier that was “OCR’ing” using Acrobat 5!! Check to see what version your scanner is using. If you are using Worldox, check out Symphony OCR from Trumpet, Inc. which OCR’s in the background and can save tremendous time and effort (and hence money).
3. Embed an index. If you have a very long document, searching can be quite slow. If you embed an index, it is very fast. In Acrobat 9, this is under Advanced | Document Processing | Manage Embedded Index. Select “embed index.” In Acrobat X, it is under Tools | Document Processing | Manage Embedded Index. Warning: for some totally illogical and counter-intuitive reason, if you save the file after you embed the index, it wipes out the embedded index.
4. Use the Search function, not the Find function. “Find” simply finds the next instance of what you are looking for. “Search” lists all the instances, which makes it much faster to navigate through.
Other resources: Rick Borstein’s “Acrobat for Legal Professionals” features a lot of “how to” columns as well as a wealth of other material.
In addition, Ernie Svenson’s “PDF for Lawyers” can be very useful. He also writes the “Ernie the Attorney” blog.