How Do I Add a “Title” to a PDF Document?
The Portable Document Format (PDF) contains certain metadata that is beyond the name of the file, including Title and Author. If you open a PDF document in either Adobe Reader or Acrobat Pro, and go to File -> Properties, you’ll see these metadata fields for any document.
Why Are Metadata Important?
If a PDF is viewed on the web by an internet browser, such as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox, the browser tab title will default to this “Title” field if present; this happens in Blackboard when viewing a syllabus PDF in a different tab for example.
Also, screen readers and other accessibility tools depend on this metadata to help a student with a disability make good use of the document.
It is also recommended to add PDF tags (aka keywords) that help with searching and other accessibility features.
How Do I Set the Title?
If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro installed on your computer, when you go to File->Properties, it will let you edit these meta data fields and save the changes to the PDF.
For users who do not have this software, they generally create the PDF from a word processing software like Microsoft Word. When going to Save As and selecting the PDF format, if it does not let you enter the title from there, click on the “More Options” link and look for the “Add a title” field to specify the title of your choice.