SOLIDWORKS drawing to PDF with bookmarks and a table of contents

A SOLIDWORKS drawing set as one PDF with bookmarks and a table of contents is what a reviewer or customer actually wants: click a bookmark, land on the drawing. PDMPublisher exports every component drawing of an assembly and merges them into one master PDF with a contents page and a bookmark per drawing. It works from the add-in or as a SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional task.

What you get

One master .pdf with the assembly drawing and every referenced part and sub-assembly drawing. Add table of content to merged PDF puts a contents page at the front. Table Columns picks Just Name, Name & Quantity or Custom Columns (set up under Customize Table). PDF Bookmarks sets each drawing’s bookmark text from a placeholder pattern.

Both belong to the merged PDF, not to separate files. The merge is assembly processing: Adobe PDF ticked, Export references to file formats individually on, an assembly as the source, each component’s drawing beside it with the same name.

The manual way, and why it doesn’t scale

Save every drawing as PDF, combine them in a PDF editor, drag them into BOM order, type a contents page, add a bookmark per drawing by hand.

After the next ECO three drawings change, the page numbers shift, and contents and bookmarks are wrong until somebody rebuilds it. Nobody does, so the customer gets the old one.

SOLIDWORKS drawing to PDF with bookmarks from the add-in

1. Open the top-level assembly with every reference resolved (Get Latest first). Each component’s drawing must sit beside it with the same filename.
2. On the PDMPublisher tab, select Settings, then Publish.
3. Set Export location, such as (TopAssemblyFolder)\Exports\(Revision), and the Filename pattern, such as (FileNameWithoutExtension)-(Revision); .pdf is added for you.
4. Under File formats, tick Adobe PDF (pdf).
5. Under Sheets to export, keep All sheets, or pick Sheets matching name with a wildcard such as Sheet* to leave internal sheets out.
6. Tick Export references to file formats individually; the merge needs the individual drawing PDFs.
7. In the PDF section, tick Merge exported PDFs into one master PDF, then Add table of content to merged PDF, and choose Table Columns.
8. Set the PDF Bookmarks pattern, such as (FileNameWithoutExtension) - (Revision).
9. Select PDMPublisher > Publish, confirm the review dialog, and check Publishing results afterwards.

PDF is a Community Edition format, but Community is limited to 5 references per run. A bookmarked master PDF of a real assembly needs Premium.

Automate it as a PDM task

PDMPublisher for PDM Professional builds the master PDF as a task at release, so the document in the vault always matches the revision it describes.

1. In PDM Administration, right-click Tasks, select New Task, choose PDMPublisher and name it. Tick the task hosts under Execution Method.
2. On the Options page, set Export Location ((VaultRootFolder)\Exports\Master PDFs, no trailing backslash) and Filename.
3. Under File Formats, tick Adobe PDF. Keep Export affected document on.
4. Set Sheets to export and the Sheet name pattern as in the add-in.
5. Set Template to a PDM BOM layout with name, configuration and quantity columns and enable Export references to file formats individually. Use drawing-derived BOM takes order and quantities from the assembly drawing’s first named BOM.
6. Enable Merge exported PDFs into one master PDF, Add table of content to merged PDF and Table columns. Set the PDF bookmarks pattern; PDM variables such as ($Description) work here.
7. Enable Use PDM search to locate drawings if drawings aren’t always beside their models.
8. Pick Use this version of SOLIDWORKS (a year on the task host, or Latest). For release workflows, enable Get latest revision only so the version tied to the newest revision is exported.
9. Attach the task to a workflow transition, leave it in the right-click menu, or run it from Scheduled Items.

Settings that matter for bookmarks and a table of contents

Setting	What it does	Tip
File formats	Tick Adobe PDF (pdf); invalid formats are dropped.	Several formats per job.
Export references to file formats individually	On an assembly, writes each referenced part and sub-assembly (and with PDF, its same-name drawing) as its own file.	Task: needs a BOM Template with name, configuration and quantity columns.
Merge exported PDFs into one master PDF	Combines the individual PDFs into one master PDF.	Assembly processing only; needs references on.
Add table of content to merged PDF	Adds a contents page to the master PDF.	Merged PDF only.
Table Columns	Just Name, Name & Quantity or Custom Columns via Customize Table.	Quantities come from the BOM calculation.
PDF Bookmarks	Bookmark text pattern for each drawing.	Placeholders depend on PDM or SOLIDWORKS context.

Naming and folders

Placeholders resolve when the job starts, so every master PDF is named and filed the same way:

• (FileNameWithoutExtension)-(Revision) in (TopAssemblyFolder)\Review\(Revision): the master PDF named after the assembly and revision.
• (FileNameWithoutExtension) - ($Description) as the bookmark pattern in the task: Bracket-A - Motor bracket.
• (VaultRootFolder)\Released PDFs\($ProjectNumber)\(State): master PDFs filed by project and workflow state.

Customize Location (Premium in the add-in, standard in the task) gives the pdf row its own folder, overriding the main Export location for that format only. Point pdf at the review folder while STEP from the same job stays in the vault.

Tips and troubleshooting

• No bookmarks or contents page? They belong to the merged PDF. Check that PDF is ticked, references are on and the source is an assembly. The contents controls stay disabled until both merge and table of content are on.
• A drawing missing from the master PDF? Its component has no same-name drawing beside it. In the task, enable Use PDM search to locate drawings.
• The PDF reader reports Cannot find or create the font ‘Helvetica-Bold’? That’s the reader’s font set, not the file. Install the font.
• Missing or wrong reference files from the task? The BOM Template needs name, configuration and quantity columns. Suppressed, virtual, envelope and excluded-from-BOM components are ignored.

Availability

Available in PDMPublisher for SOLIDWORKS (the add-in) and PDMPublisher for PDM Professional (the task).

Documentation and related features

• Run a Publish Job (PDMPublisher for SOLIDWORKS)
• PDF Bookmarks
• PDF bookmarks
• PDF table of content
• Merge multiple drawings into one PDF
• SOLIDWORKS drawing documents
• Run as a SOLIDWORKS PDM task
• Merge multiple SOLIDWORKS drawings into one PDF
• Merge all assembly drawings into one PDF
• Convert SLDDRW to PDF

Frequently asked questions

How do I get bookmarks in a SOLIDWORKS drawing PDF?

They go into the merged master PDF of an assembly. Tick Adobe PDF, enable Export references individually and Merge exported PDFs into one master PDF, set the PDF Bookmarks pattern, and Publish with the assembly open.

Can the PDF have a table of contents with quantities?

Yes. Enable Add table of content to merged PDF and set Table Columns to Name & Quantity, or Custom Columns for property columns.

Why are the table-of-contents settings greyed out?

Both Merge exported PDFs into one master PDF and Add table of content to merged PDF must be on first.

Can a PDM task create the bookmarked PDF at release?

Yes. Create a PDMPublisher task with PDF, a BOM Template, references, merge, table of content and a bookmark pattern, and attach it to the release transition.