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how does one remove bookmarks from a LaTeX generated pdf file?

I wrote the article in LaTeX. When submiting the .pdf to IEEE eXpress for checking, I get the error:

file contains bookmarks.

Any ideas how to solve it?

I already tried: 

\hypersetup{bookmarks={false}}
karlkoeller
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Andreina
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5 Answers5

72

Option bookmarks can only be given at package loading time. Setting it later with \hypersetup will give the warning:

Package hyperref Warning: Option `bookmarks' has already been used,
(hyperref)                setting the option has no effect on input line 3.

Bookmarks can be disabled, if bookmarks=false is given to \usepackage:

\usepackage[bookmarks=false]{hyperref}

Or

\PassOptionsToPackage{bookmarks=false}{hyperref}

can be tried, before hyperref is loaded by another package or class and option bookmarks is not explicitly set by the other package or class.

If the requirements of "PDF Specification for Xplore" are holding, then you should not use hyperref at all, because links are not allowed either. Thumbnails can be added by package thumbpdf; the PDF file can be converted by pdfopt of ghostscript for fast web view.

Heiko Oberdiek
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    Thank you this saves my day! multiple errors after IEEE eXpress check were fixed just by using bookmarks=false! – iamaziz Nov 15 '16 at 13:53
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    Sometimes, you need to put the order \PassOptionsToPackage{bookmarks=false}{hyperref} at the very beginning of the document (first line) to pass the check. – ccy Feb 09 '18 at 12:22
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    \PassOptionsToPackage{bookmarks=false}{hyperref} worked for me! – manooooh May 20 '19 at 21:42
4

An alternative is to use Draft mode 

\usepackage{hyperref}
\hypersetup{draft}

The PDF created in Overleaf with the document class

\documentclass[conference]{IEEEtran}

passed the IEEE eXpress checking

R Cassani
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2

Or just try any viewer with edition options, like the free version of PDF Exchange Viewer, with which you can remove bookmarks from any unprotected pdf file.

Andrestand
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  • This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post - you can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post. – jub0bs Jan 12 '14 at 13:25
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    @Jubobs This might IMHO answer the question. The fact that some PDF viewers are able to remove the bookmarks is valuable here, and it might be an option for the OP. – yo' Jan 12 '14 at 14:52
  • @tohecz I agree, but I think it's a bit short to warrant a full-blown TeX.SE answer. It would have been more appropriate as a comment. – jub0bs Jan 12 '14 at 15:18
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    @Jubobs Quite certainly, it is not of the quality we're used to. However, I think that it has its value nevertheless, and I don't really see how could it be expanded. – yo' Jan 12 '14 at 15:25
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I just found out a simple solution. "Print" your PDF, and in the option for "Printer", select the option "Microsoft print to PDF", and it will remove the hyperlinks and bookmarks. I suppose there should be similar options for Mac or Linux users.enter image description here

Kristada673
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  • This might be true, but printing it this way increased the file-size for a simple two-page, text-only document from 75kB to almost 1MB, so no, this is not an option. – Alexander Pacha Aug 21 '17 at 15:29
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For some reason, none of the proposed solutions (e.g. \PassOptionsToPackage{bookmarks=false}{hyperref}, \hypersetup{draft}, ...) worked for me. It might have something to do with the libraries I have used or including PDFs as graphics.

Anyways, I ended up using the following command:

pdftk A=paper.pdf cat A1-end output paper-nobookmarks.pdf

which is pretty much a command-line equivalent of Kristada673's "print to PDF" solution. The IEEE eXpress test passed after that.

Iman Akbari
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