Edit tags with the TouchUp Reading Order tool

You can use the TouchUp Reading Order tool to create tags in untagged PDFs or to add new tags to an existing structure. However, this manual tagging doesn’t provide the same level of detail to the tagging structure as the Add Tags To Document command, such as paragraphs, bulleted and numbered lists, line breaks, and hyphens. Before you clear the existing structure, make sure that manual tagging is your only recourse.

Tag a region

  1. Using the TouchUp Reading Order tool, drag within the document pane to select a region of the page that contains one type of content (for example, a text block).
  2. Do one of the following:

    • To add more page content to the current selection, Shift-drag.

    • To remove page content from the current selection, Ctrl-drag.

  3. Click the appropriate button in the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box to specify the tag type.

Change the tag for a region

If Acrobat tags a page element incorrectly, you can change the tag type for the highlighted region.

  1. Select the TouchUp Reading Order tool.
  2. In the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box, select Show Page Content Order.
  3. To select a highlighted region, do one of the following:

    • Drag to select it.

    • Click the number of a highlighted region.

  4. Click the button for the tag type that you want for the highlighted region.

Add or remove content from a tagged region

The TouchUp Reading Order tool always displays as few highlighted regions as possible. If content within a highlighted region doesn’t flow properly, you may need to split a region to reorder it. Highlighted regions may also contain adjacent page content that is unrelated or that requires a different tag type. Page content may become orphaned from related elements, particularly if the content doesn’t fit within a rectangular shape. Use the TouchUp Reading Order tool to add or remove content from a region, or to split a region to reorder the content.

  1. Select the TouchUp Reading Order tool.
  2. In the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box, select Show Page Content Order.
  3. In the document pane, select a highlighted region.
  4. Do one of the following:

    • To add content to the current selection, Shift-click the content you want to add. The pointer changes to include a plus sign (+).

    • To remove content from the current selection, Ctrl-click the content you want to remove. The pointer changes to include a minus sign (-).

  5. Click the button for the tag type that you want for the highlighted region.

Split a region into two regions

  1. Select the TouchUp Reading Order tool.
  2. In the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box, select Show Page Content Order.
  3. In the document pane, drag to select a small portion of content near the boundary of the first region that you want to create.
  4. Click the Background button in the dialog box. The highlighted region splits into two regions, numbered from right to left.
  5. To correct the reading order, click Show Order Panel, and drag the new highlighted region to the correct location in the Order tab.
  6. Drag to select the first content region you created, including the Background, and then set the tag by clicking a button in the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box.

Apply a heading tag

To help readers navigate a document and find the information they need, make sure that headings are tagged with the appropriate level to indicate their hierarchy in the content.

  1. Select the TouchUp Reading Order tool, and then select the heading text in the PDF.
  2. In the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box, click the button corresponding to the appropriate heading tag (for example, Heading 1, Heading 2).
After applying heading tags, you can convert the headings to bookmarks to improve navigation. For more information, see Add tagged bookmarks.

Remove page elements from the tag structure

When tagging a PDF, Acrobat can’t always distinguish between instructive figures and decorative page elements. Items that visually enhance page layout, such as decorative borders, lines, or background elements, can add clutter to the structure layout and should be removed. Therefore, Acrobat may incorrectly tag artifacts or page elements as figure tags. You can remove artifacts and irrelevant page elements from the tag structure by redefining them with the Background tag or by deleting their tags. If a tagged image in the document doesn’t contain useful or illustrative information for the user, you can remove the element from the tagging structure so that it isn’t read out loud or reflowed.

  1. Select the TouchUp Reading Order tool.
  2. In the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box, select Show Page Content Order and Show Tables And Figures.
  3. Remove the page element by doing one of the following:

    • In the document pane, select the page element, and then click Background in the dialog box.

    • In the Order tab, select the page element, and then press Delete.