How to customize your PDF Portfolio in Acrobat X

How to customize your PDF Portfolio in Acrobat X

Donna Baker – October 16, 2010

In this video, you'll see how to organize the content in your PDF Portfolio, and how to customize the appearance.

I've started a new PDF Portfolio in Acrobat X on Windows, and added a few files, both PDF and other formats.

To get files and folders in place, click Add Files to open a dialog box where you can locate and select one or more files.

Click Open to add the file to your PDF Portfolio.

You can even add one PDF Portfolio into another PDF Portfolio.

Click Add Folder to open a Browse dialog box.

Locate and select the folder you want to add and click OK.

You'll see the folder added to the PDF Portfolio.

Double-click the folder icon to open it, and display the cards for your folder's contents.

Rather than adding an existing folder, click Create Folder.

Type a name for the folder in the dialog box, and click OK.

You can nest more files and folders into the new folder.

I'm going to add a web page.

Click Add Web Content.

In the dialog box, type a name for the file, and a description if you like.

Click Add a web link and then copy and paste or type the URL.

If you prefer, you can click Add an embed tag, and embed an online video into the file.

When you're done, click OK.

Acrobat X processes the link, and displays it in your PDF Portfolio as an HTML page.

Double-click the card to show the preview - complete with the video and controllers!

Trying to add and manage folders and files in the layout can be confusing, so click Details to open the panel and display the view.

Here you can choose which fields show on the Details view, although some fields, like the Modified and Size fields always display.

To organize your files, click the Initial Sort dropdown arrow, and pick one of the fields to use for sorting the files.

In some of the layouts, such as Click-Through, you can actually click and drag to move the files around in the Layout view.

Click and drag a file into a folder.

Double-click a folder to open its list of files and you can reorder them, too.

When you open a folder, you'll see a back button linking to the parent location for the folder.

Click to return to your previous view.

Now let's go back to the Layout panel and make some changes to how the PDF Portfolio looks.

The layouts use a set of colors that you can easily change.

Click Color Palettes to show the current colors and some similar palettes.

Click through the options to see how they look.

Be sure to click Preview to check them out without the text boxes.

That looks better!

If you want to change a color, select a palette, and click Create from Existing.

Click a color element to select it, then pick a different color.

I like the new color for the text, so I'll click Save to keep the palette.

If you change your mind, mouse over the custom palette, and click the X to remove it.

By default, Acrobat X applies a background image, such as the wooden desktop image for the Modern theme.

Click Background to open the panel section to make changes.

Click the dropdown list to pick a fill type, I'm using a Linear Gradient.

Then click the color swatch and pick a color, or type the color name and press Enter.

Gradients use one color, and either black or white.

Drag the slider left to use more white, or right to use more black.

If you like, you can use an image along with the background color.

Click the Background Image dropdown arrow and click Choose New to locate and select the image file.

Adjust the scale, position, opacity, and blur for the image.

Be sure to check it out in the Preview, too.

Have you noticed the lighter band across the top of all the PDF Portfolio layouts?

You can add text and images to display a header, which is a great way to personalize your PDF Portfolio.

To get started, click in the header area on the layout view.

You'll see a Header Properties label and settings appear on the Layout panel.

Pick a text or image option from the Templates dropdown list, or you can add items using the buttons.

I'll click Add Image to open a dialog box.

Locate and select the image and click Open.

The dialog box closes, and my image shows in the header.

I can drag it anywhere within the header area, or resize it slightly.

In the Image Properties shown on the Layout panel, you can drag the slider to change the image opacity if you like, or leave it at 100%.

Next, I'll add some text.

Click into the header area again to activate the Header Properties tools.

This time, click Add Text.

A small text box pops into place in the header.

Double-click the box to activate it, and type the heading.

Click and drag to select the text, and then make changes in the Textfield Properties that now show on the Layout panel.

I'll make the text bold, increase its size, and embed the font in the file.

Click the info icon to open a message explaining how embedded fonts increase the size of a file, but lets your PDF Portfolio look the same regardless of the users' available fonts.

Click to close the message again.

Resize the text field by dragging from one side, and drag it on the header to position it.

That looks good.

Finally, I'll change the header's background color.

Pick color options for the header the same way as you saw earlier for the background.

Now click Preview to show the PDF Portfolio without the frames in the header.

Nice!