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Transcript

Learn how to use guided actions to run one or more commands across numerous documents with a single click–saving you time and keystrokes. To open the Use guided actions tool, select All Tools and under the prepare category, select Use guided actions.

An action is a defined set of commands you use with specific settings, and in a specific order that you apply to a file or files in a single step. You can even scan and combine several documents into a single PDF before running an action. You can also export and import actions and commands to share with others.

Acrobat includes several simple predefined actions that you can use to streamline your work, which you can see on the left. These actions represent common tasks you might routinely perform, like preparing files for distribution or accessibility. You cannot edit these prebuilt actions, but you can copy and rename to make changes by selecting the three ellipse dots.

To create a new action, select Actions New Action at the bottom of the panel. I’m going to create an action that applies the same password to several files that are in a specific folder.

To do this, I’ll select the protection tool from the left side of the panel and choose encrypt and move it to the right side to create my guided action. I want to run an action on an existing folder of PDF files, so I’ll select the folder option. Currently, my encrypt step is untitled, so I’ll go ahead and give it a name. In this case I’ll call it Add Password. Next I’ll enter my password to encrypt the files and choose my options. I’m making it printable and searchable. I’ll enter a strong password and then confirm it.

I’ll uncheck this box so the users aren’t prompted each time to add a password. Add another step here. We’ll call this one Save PDF.

And then add the tool which saves the PDF. We’re going to go ahead and add some options here. We’re going to add to the file name. In this case we’ll add an underscore secure. So we know that each one of these files have been secured.

Finally I’ll save name and provide instructions for the Acrobat action in case I want to share with others. To run the action, simply select it in the left hand pane and after the action is run, you can view a full report in the lower left corner here or select done to complete the action.

And if you open the document properties which is control + D on windows or Command + D on the Mac, you can see that the PDF has automatically been secured.

Use guided action tool can save you a lot of time and keystrokes when working with your documents. It can also provide uniformity and consistency when preparing your PDF files.