We're about to share a legacy product archive with a partner and need to apply a standard confidentiality watermark to…
Open Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Go to the Tools view and select Action Wizard.
Click New Action to create a new batch process.
In the left pane, expand Pages and double-click Add Watermark or Add Header and Footer to add the desired action to the action steps.
Configure the watermark or header/footer settings as needed in the dialog that appears, then click OK to save your settings.
Under Files to be Processed, choose Ask When Action is Run or specify a folder containing your PDFs.
Click Save, name your action, and click Save again.
Run the action by selecting it from the Action Wizard list and clicking Start.
Best practiceIf you need to apply different watermarks or headers/footers to different batches, create separate actions for each variant.
You can preview the watermark or header/footer settings on a sample page before running the batch process.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
The Action Wizard is a feature in Acrobat Pro that helps you automate tasks. You can set up a list of steps, like adding a watermark or changing file settings, and then run these steps on many PDF files at once. It saves time by doing repeated jobs automatically.
The Action Wizard can slow down or fail because of 'resource leaks'. This means Acrobat uses up too much computer memory over time when processing many files. It's best to process files in smaller groups, around 100-200 at a time, to keep the process running smoothly and prevent serious slowdowns or crashes. Breaking large jobs into smaller batches helps manage your computer's resources better.
If your PDF files are protected with passwords, the Action Wizard can help. You need to set your digital ID to auto-enter passwords. This tells Acrobat to use your saved digital ID to automatically open protected files as part of the action. This way, you don't have to type passwords for each file during the batch process.
No, you cannot directly use Action Wizard for command-line batch processing without extra tools. Adobe Acrobat does not support this feature by itself; you would need a third-party plugin. Also, be careful with JavaScript steps in an action, as they can sometimes not work without giving an error. For robust automation outside the Acrobat interface, you might need to explore other solutions or specialized plugins.