worldexecutivesdigest.com |5 Tips to Help You Organize PDFs | Too many PDFs! Files everywhere!
This thought has definitely crossed your mind at some point. Sometimes it feels as though the list of PDF files in your computer folders goes on and on.
The benefits of PDFs cannot be denied. PDF files are more secure, and their visuals are much more detailed than a simple Word document. They can consist of text, photos, links, and much more.
Since the invention of a PDF file in 1993, the convenience and security of PDFs have made sharing documents and information much easier. However, even though it may be easier, no one likes to have PDFs scattered around their computer, whether at work or for your personal files.
The trouble is figuring out how to organize them. Once you find a useful way to organize your PDFs, it will be a huge relief when finding what file you need.
Here are 5 tips to help you get started!
- Centralize, Centralize, Centralize
For more hands-on people who like to have control over where things go during the organization process, your first step should be to centralize where your PDF documents go.
Putting all of your PDF files in one central location is a good place to start organizing PDFs. Whether they are saved on the desktop or several other places, it’s best to keep it all centrally located.
Think about how easy this is: once they are all in one place, it will be so much easier for you to continue organizing PDFs. Also, while you move your PDFs to a more central place or folder, you can also begin to weed out the ones you don’t need anymore. It might be time-consuming, but you will end up saving time later once everything is in one spot.
- Use the Alphabet and Sub-Folders
Alphabetizing your PDF files will also help you organize your PDFs. You can do this for the file themselves, or you can even create new folders with alphabetized names.
For example, let’s say you have different files that belong to different projects or groups. Rather than having them scattered around your file explorer and desktop, you can create alphabetized sub-folders in your central folder. These sub-folders will help you keep relevant PDF files together based on the first letter of the PDF file or by project.
Whether you create 26 different folders (one for each letter of the alphabet) or your sub-folders reflect project names, choose the way that makes the most sense to you! When organizing, it is important to have the best-organized system for you and your team.
- Organize Your PDFs by Renaming Them
This step can work with the previous one on alphabetizing and using sub-folders for your PDF files. You can rename your PDFs in a few ways:
- Use the project name or initials in the beginning
- Use the document writer’s name in the beginning
- Use the document date creation in the file name itself
- Shorten the name if you can (longer filenames won’t usually display the full title)These three options can help you continue organizing PDFs more efficiently. Take your pick depending on your personal organization style!
- Compress Your PDF Files
If you have a lot of PDF files, sometimes they’re just too large and take up a lot of memory space on your device. In terms of PDFs themselves, they often have a lot of information in them, and compressing them prepares to upload or share them elsewhere.
I don’t know what compressing a PDF means.
When you compress a PDF, you are reducing the file size. PDFs are often bulky because there is so much information in them, so when looking to upload them to web pages or share them as email attachments, compressing them is the way to go.
Not sure where to start with compressing your files? Head over to https://setapp.com/how-to/compress-pdf-files to get you started on the process. Their PDF Squeezer app can compress whole folders and sub-folders of PDF documents, so take a look.
Compressing the files can also help you consolidate and organize your PDFs. Being able to sort them into folders and then compress them? Even better!
- Completed Files? Put Them in a Different Folder
That’s right: if you have finished projects or documents, there is no need to keep them among the other unfinished ones. It just adds clutter and confusion.
Create a separate folder for finished PDF files and projects. There is nothing more frustrating opening a document and expecting it’s the one you need when it’s in fact an old draft.
By having a folder dedicated primarily to completed files, you can be sure to always open the most relevant and recent one. Besides, you do not want all of those finished projects inhibiting your organization of current projects.
Keep Your PDF Files Organized
By following all of these steps, your PDF files will be organized in no time. PDFs are important and convenient for conducting business or personal matters, so the tidier you can be with them on your computer, the better.
Maybe it sounds like too much work. Don’t worry! There are even various PDF organizers you can utilize to help you organize your PDFs if organization isn’t really your thing.
Knowing where your PDFs are and having a system of organization will help you and your team go about your work. Work and personal business can be so much easier when you know where to find the PDF files you need.
Take the time to organize your PDFs now to save time later.
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