Program tutorials

Click to enlarge Add a new Query

Go to Tools → Settings → Include/Exclude Words. Choose Include words (to index) or Exclude words (to skip), then click Add Query.

Give it a descriptive name like “Email addresses” or “Names query”.

You have two ways to create the pattern:

• Advanced way: Write directly using regular expressions. Learn regex basics here →
• Simple way: Use the Query Generator Tool (recommended for beginners).

Click to enlarge Query Generator Tool

In the Add Query dialog, click the Query generator tool button.

We want to match “Capital letter + small letters + space + Capital letter + small letters”:

• Count: 1 | Character: Capital letter → Click Add
• Count: n | Character: Small letter → Click Add
• Count: 1 | Character: Specific character… → Type a space → Click Add
• Count: 1 | Character: Capital letter → Click Add
• Count: n | Character: Small letter → Click Add

Apply: Click Apply to use the generated pattern in the Add Query dialog.

Format: In the Format field, type: \4, \1

What does this mean? Each set of parentheses in the pattern has a number. For the pattern ([A-Z]{1}[a-z]+)((\ ){1})([A-Z]{1}[a-z]+):

• \1 = First name (e.g., William)
• \2 = The space
• \3 = The space (inside parentheses)
• \4 = Last name (e.g., Shakespeare)

So \4, \1 means: Last name, First name → “Shakespeare, William”

Test: Enter sample text like “William Shakespeare was an English poet.” in the Paragraph field, click Test, and see the results.

Save: Click Save to save your query. In Step 2, enable it under Include words and generate your index.

Click to enlarge Step 3 results table

Each word has a checkbox in the first column:

• Checked (enabled): The word will appear in the final index.
• Unchecked (disabled): The word will be skipped.

You can also:

• Select multiple rows and right-click to enable or disable them all at once.
• Use the Select/Deselect All checkbox below the table to toggle all visible words.

Click to enlarge Edit word dialog

Double-click any word (or right-click and select “Edit”) to open the Edit Word dialog.

You can modify:

• Word title – Change how it appears in the index.
• Word count – Number of times found in the book.
• Page numbers – Use comma-separated values (e.g., 2,7-9,15) or 0 for no pages.
• Word type – Normal, Header, Sub-Header, Sub-Sub-Header, or Sub-Sub-Sub-Header.
• Cross-references – Add “see” or “see also” references.

After editing, the word row turns green to show it was modified.

Right-click anywhere in the table and select “Add word” to manually add a new entry to your index.

You must specify:

• Word title
• Word count
• Page numbers
• Word type
• Cross-references (optional)

Added words also appear in green.

Click to enlarge Edit word font

Highlight one or more words and click the Edit Word Font button on the toolbar.

You can change:

• Font type (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman)
• Font size
• Font color
• Bold or Italic styling

Changes are immediately visible in the results table.

Click to enlarge Merge words dialog

Select 2 or more rows, right-click, and choose “Merge words.” This combines them into a single entry.

You can:

• Choose which word becomes the final title or type a new one.
• Page numbers are automatically merged.
• The word type is set to “Normal” by default (you can change it).

Select one or more rows and click the Duplicate Words button on the toolbar.

This creates a copy of the selected words with the same title, count, pages, and type.

Useful for setting the same word as a Sub-Header under multiple Header words.

You can undo or redo up to 10 actions (increased from 3 in version 3.0).

This gives you confidence to experiment with edits without fear of losing work.

Click to enlarge Ignore words

Right-click any selected words and choose Ignore Words to add them to the Ignore list.

These words will be automatically excluded in all future indexing projects.

You can edit the Ignore list anytime from Tools → Settings → Include/Exclude Words → Exclude Words and select the “Ignore list” category.

Click to enlarge Define cross-references

Cross-references help readers find related topics. Common prefixes:

• “see also” – Guides readers to related index entries.
• “see” – Redirects readers to a different entry.
• Other prefixes: “and see”, “see above”, “see below”, “see under”.

Example: Physicians, 12-14, 121; see also Hospitals; Medical schools

Click to enlarge Export words dialog

Export Words: Save all or selected words to an external file (.txt or .pdfig).

• Useful for reusing terms in other projects.
• Export options include page numbers, count, word types, and more.

Import Words: Load words from an external file back into your project.

• If duplicates exist, you can choose to merge or ignore them.

Click to enlarge Increment/Decrement page numbers

Adjust page numbers for selected rows by a specific value.

Use this when: You add or remove pages from your book after generating the index.

Example: If you insert 5 blank pages at the beginning, increment all page numbers by 5.

Note: Negative page numbers are not allowed. They will be set to 0.

Click to enlarge Merge duplicates dialog

Automatically merge words that differ only in capitalization (e.g., “Allowances” and “allowances”).

You can:

• Edit suggested final words.
• Delete entries you don’t want to merge.
• Choose formatting options: lowercase, uppercase, capitalize first letter, or title case.

Click to enlarge Format words menu

Apply formatting to selected words:

• Convert to small letters – e.g., “Business” → “business”
• Convert to capital letters – e.g., “business” → “BUSINESS”
• Capitalize first letter – e.g., “business” → “Business”
• Capitalize each word – e.g., “business management” → “Business Management”
• Reverse Person Name – e.g., “Albert Einstein” → “Einstein, Albert”
• Restore Person Name – e.g., “Einstein, Albert” → “Albert Einstein”
• Append / Prepend text – Add text before or after selected words.
• Replace text – Find and replace text within selected words.

Click to enlarge Replace text

Click to enlarge Append/Prepend text

Use the Search field above the table to quickly find specific words.

• Type the text and press Enter or click the Search button.
• Click Reset to clear the search and show all results again.
• Use wildcards like A* to find all words starting with “A”.

Click to enlarge Filter results menu

Click the F button beside the search field to filter the table:

• Show All – Default, shows everything.
• Enabled words – Only words that will appear in the index.
• Disabled words – Only words that are turned off.
• Not found words – Words from Include categories that weren’t found in the book.
• Edited words – Words you’ve modified.
• Added words – Words you’ve manually added.
• Merged words – Words resulting from merge operations.
• Normal words – Only standard entries.
• Header words – Only top-level headers.
• Sub-Header words – Only indented entries.
• By page number – Words found on specific pages.
• By word count – Words found a specific number of times.
• By number of letters – Words with specific character counts.
• By include category – Words from a specific Include category.
• By header word – Sub-Headers under a specific Header word.
• By cross-references – Words with cross-references.

Tip: Combine filters with search for powerful filtering.

Click to enlarge Word labels menu

Assign colored labels to words in the “Id” column to group them for later editing.

Why use labels? Instead of repeatedly selecting the same words, label them once and filter by label to make batch changes quickly.

Manage labels by right-clicking any word and selecting Word label → Manage labels…

Click to enlarge Add a new category

Go to Tools → Settings → Include/Exclude Words → Include words.

Click Add Category or edit an existing one.

Type your words and use the Tab key to indent sub-headers:

Result in Step 3:

• “Muffins” → Appears as a Header word
• “Nuts and seeds” → Appears as a Sub-Header under “Muffins”
• “Pork” → Appears as a Normal word (no indentation)

Click to enlarge Edit word dialog

Double-click any word (or right-click and select Edit).

In the Edit Word dialog, select the Word type from the dropdown menu.

Available types:

• Normal word – No indentation (default)
• Header word – Top-level, can have sub-headers
• Sub-Header word – Indented under a Header
• Sub-Sub-Header word – Indented under a Sub-Header
• Sub-Sub-Sub-Header word – Indented under a Sub-Sub-Header

Click to enlarge Sub-Headers dialog

If you set a word to Header, Sub-Header, or Sub-Sub-Header, the Sub-Headers button becomes enabled.

Click it to specify which words should appear as sub-entries under the current word.

Note: This button is not available for Normal or Sub-Sub-Sub-Header words (they cannot have sub-headers).

Click to enlarge Right-click menu

Select one or more rows in the results table, right-click, and choose Word type.

From the sub-menu, select the word type you want to apply.

The menu shows all available Header words that can have sub-headers.

Click to enlarge Edit index template

You can customize the font for Normal, Header, and Sub-Header words:

• Go to Tools → Settings → Writing Index → Index templates
• Select a template and click Edit
• In the template editor, you can set different fonts, sizes, and colors for each word type

This gives your final index a professional, polished look.

Click to enlarge Step 4 interface

In Step 4, you can choose where to write your index:

• Append to existing PDF – Adds the index to your book’s PDF file
• Create new PDF – Creates a standalone PDF with just the index
• Write to text file – Saves the index as a .txt file
• Write to Word document – Saves the index as .docx or .doc (available in version 3.4+)

Click to enlarge Writing options

Click Writing Options to open the Index content settings. Here you can:

• Index Title – Set a custom title (e.g., “Appendix” or “Index”)
• Write Index After Page – Choose where to insert the index in your PDF
• Links – Make index words and/or page numbers clickable links
• Blank Pages – Insert blank pages before and/or after the index
• Page Setup – Set page dimensions and orientation (A4, A5, custom)
• Page Numbers – Choose to show all pages or just the first occurrence
• Header Words – Show page numbers for header words
• Word Count – Show how many times each word appears

Click to enlarge Page setup

Click Index pages setup to control the physical appearance of your index pages:

• Paper Size – Choose A4, A5, or custom dimensions
• Orientation – Portrait or Landscape
• By default, the program matches the size of the page before the index

Click to enlarge Select template

Click Select Template to choose from pre-designed styles.

Available templates: Classic, Stylish, Artistic, Business, and more.

Click the Sample button to preview how a template looks before using it.

Click to enlarge Edit template

• Edit – Modify a template’s fonts, colors, and margins
• Copy – Duplicate a template to create your own custom style
• Delete – Remove custom templates (default templates cannot be deleted)

Best practice: Copy a template first, then edit the copy. This preserves the original.

After setting your options and choosing a template:

1. Click Start Writing to generate your index
2. A progress bar shows the writing status
3. When complete, a success message appears
4. Your index is now ready!

Note: If writing takes too long, a timeout warning may appear. You can adjust the timeout in program settings.

Each index term becomes a clickable link that takes the reader to the first page where that term appears in the book.

Example: Clicking on “Shakespeare, William” in the index takes you directly to the page where William Shakespeare is first mentioned.

Each page number in the index becomes a clickable link that takes the reader directly to that specific page.

Example: Clicking on “23” in “Shakespeare, William, 12, 23, 45” takes you to page 23.

Click to enlarge Index content settings

Go to Tools → Settings → Writing Index → Index content.

In the Index content tab, you’ll find two link options.

• ✓ Write words as links – Makes each index term clickable.
• ✓ Write page numbers as links – Makes each page number clickable.

Enable one or both options based on your preference.

After enabling the link options:

1. Go to Step 4 in the program.
2. Select a PDF to append the index to.
3. Click Start Writing.
4. Note: Creating links is slower than regular writing. Be patient for large indexes.
5. When complete, open the PDF and test the links.

Click to enlarge Case sensitivity settings

Go to Tools → Settings → Generating Index.

Check the option Ignore case sensitivity of book.

This tells the program to treat all words as lowercase for matching purposes.

You can also control case sensitivity specifically for your Include and Exclude categories.

In the same settings window, you’ll find:

• Ignore case sensitivity of include words – When enabled, your Include category terms will match regardless of capitalization.
• Ignore case sensitivity of exclude words – When enabled, your Exclude category terms will be skipped regardless of capitalization.

Example: If you exclude “car”, both “car” and “Car” will be excluded.

Click to enlarge Index templates settings

Go to Tools → Settings → Writing Index → Index templates.

You’ll see a list of available templates.

• Copy – Creates a duplicate you can rename and customize.
• Edit – Directly modifies the selected template.
• Delete – Removes custom templates (cannot delete default templates).

Best practice: Click Copy to create your own template, then edit the copy.

In the General tab, find the Number of columns option.

• 2 columns – Best for most books (balanced readability and space)
• 1 column – Easier to read but uses more pages
• 3-5 columns – Saves space but can be harder to read

Change the value and click Save.

In the General tab, you can adjust:

• Top margin – Space at the top of the page
• Bottom margin – Space at the bottom
• Left margin – Space on the left side
• Right margin – Space on the right side
• Internal margin – Space between columns

The template editor has separate tabs for each element:

• Title – Index title font, size, color, alignment
• Letters – A, B, C… letters font, size, color
• Normal words – Standard entries font, size, color
• Header words – Header entries font, size, color
• SubHeader words – Sub-header entries font, size, color
• Cross references – “See also” text font, size, color
• Page numbers – Page numbers font, size, color
• Paginator – Page numbering at the bottom

Each tab lets you set the font type, size, color, and style (bold, italic).

Click to enlarge Index content settings

First, enable pagination in Tools → Settings → Index content:

• Check Paginate the book Index
• Click Advanced to open paginator settings

Click to enlarge Paginator settings

You can customize:

• Numbers format – Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3), Roman numerals (i, ii, iii), or letters (a, b, c)
• Start At – Which number to start with (e.g., start at 13 makes first page page 13)
• Numbers position – Where to place page numbers: Top/Bottom, Left/Center/Right
• Numbers template – Custom format like “INDEX | 33” (33 is replaced with the actual number)
• Ignore first page number – Hides the page number on the first index page (useful for a cleaner look)

Click Sample to preview your settings before saving.

Click to enlarge Page setup

In Tools → Settings → Index content, click Index pages setup:

• Paper size – Choose A4, A5, or custom dimensions (in inches)
• Orientation – Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal)

By default, the program matches the page size of the book page before the index.

Read through your book and copy all important terms, phrases, and names you want in the index. Save them in a text file.

Indented terms are sub-headers.

Click to enlarge Step 1 interface

• Browse and select your PDF book.
• Click Advanced page numbers to set page numbers.
• Our book has 164 pages: pages 1-6 are Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi), page 7 is blank, and pages 8-164 are Arabic numbers (1-157).

Click to enlarge Advanced page numbers

• Enable Index specific pages and select pages 8-164 to skip the introductory pages.

Click to enlarge Include pages

Click to enlarge Define include category

• Go to Tools → Settings → Include/Exclude Words → Include words.
• Click Add Category and name it “Doctoral category”.
• Paste all your collected terms in the Keywords field, each on a separate line.
• Click Save.

Click to enlarge Add category

Click to enlarge Add query

• Go to Tools → Settings → Include/Exclude Words → Include words.
• Click Add Query and name it “Links query”.
• From the Template dropdown, select “Web links”.
• Click Save and then Ok.
• Press Next to go to Step 2.

Click to enlarge Step 2 interface

• Enable Index specific words in the book.
• Click Include words and enable “Doctoral category” and “Links query”.
• Click Exclude words and enable common word categories like Adjectives, Adverbs, etc.
• Click Generating index settings and set Ignore words containing less than 3 letters.

Click to enlarge Include words

Click to enlarge Generating settings

• Click Generate Index. This takes about 1 minute.
• When complete, click Done to go to Step 3.

Click to enlarge Generating index

Click to enlarge Step 3 results

• The table shows 2064 words. Disable Select/Deselect All to disable everything.
• Click Filter → By include category → select “Doctoral category”.
• Now only 115 words from your list are shown. Enable them all.
• Click Filter → Show All to see everything again.
• Search for www. to find web links from the query. Enable the 3 found links.

Click to enlarge Add word

• Click Add word to add a new header: “Important links” (Count: 0, Pages: 0, Type: Header word).
• Select the 3 links, right-click → Word type → “Important links” to make them sub-headers.
• Click Reset to clear the search.
• Set word types for any other headers and sub-headers as needed.
• Press Next to go to Step 4.

Click to enlarge Set sub-headers

Click to enlarge Step 4 interface

• Click Writing settings and set:
  • Index title: Appendix
  • Write page numbers as links: Enabled
  • Write page numbers of Header words: Enabled
• Click Select template and choose the Artistic template.
• Click Start Writing to append the index to your book.
• When complete, save your project and exit.

Click to enlarge Writing settings

Click to enlarge Select template

Click to enlarge Final index sample

Click to enlarge Step 2 – Font queries option

In Step 2, enable the option “Index words that have specific font format”.

Then click the Font query link to configure your font rules.

You can combine multiple attributes in a single query. For example, index only bold AND italic text, or 14pt AND blue text.

Click to enlarge Add font query dialog

Click Add Font Query to create a new font rule.

Specify the font attributes you want to match, give it a name, and click Save.

You can create as many font queries as you need.

This gives you maximum flexibility to capture exactly what you need.

Scenario: In a technical manual, all important terms are in bold text.

Solution: Create a font query with:

• Font Weight = Bold

Result: The program captures only bold terms from your book.

Scenario: In an academic paper, foreign terms are written in italic.

Solution: Create a font query with:

• Font Style = Italic

Result: Words like Schadenfreude, Weltschmerz, and Zeitgeist are indexed automatically.

Scenario: Section headings in your book are 18pt and bold.

Solution: Create one font query with:

• Font Size = 18
• Font Weight = Bold

Result: Only 18pt bold text (headings) is indexed.

Install PDF Index Generator normally. On Windows, the default installation path is:

• Windows: Start Menu → Command Prompt or PowerShell
• macOS: Applications → Utilities → Terminal
• Linux: Terminal from your applications menu

Use the cd command to go to the installation directory:

Click to enlarge Command Line screenshot

The basic command format is:

The cmd parameter is mandatory – it tells the program to run in Command Line Mode.

This command indexes a folder of PDFs, indexing only odd pages, excluding specific categories, and using the Stylish template:

• Reads every PDF in the specified folder
• Calculates the final pages to index (odd pages only)
• Generates the index, excluding all specified categories
• Appends the index to each PDF using the Stylish template
• Prints a detailed report in the console

Click to enlarge Command Line Indexing Report

Click to enlarge Configuration file sample

Instead of typing many parameters in the command line, create a text file with all parameters (one per line).

Config file example:

Then run:

Note: The cmd parameter must be in the command line, not in the config file.