Unclear PDF title

Silktide tests that the title set in each PDF document's properties is meaningful - not a filename, a generic placeholder, or a couple of characters. This title is what PDF viewers can show and what assistive technology announces when the document opens.

The title is metadata stored with the file - it is separate from the filename and from any heading visible on the first page.

Why this matters

The title is often the first thing a user hears when a PDF opens. A title like "document.pdf" or "Untitled document" tells them nothing about what they have opened, so they must start reading to find out. Weak titles also make documents indistinguishable in tabs, search results, and document libraries.

How to fix it

Set a descriptive title in your authoring tool before exporting:
- Microsoft Word: File, then Info, then Properties, then Title; export it as a .
- Google Docs: the document name is used as the PDF title on export.
- Adobe InDesign: File, then File Info, then Document Title.
Or fix it on the finished PDF in an editor such as Adobe Acrobat Pro: File, then Properties, then Description, then Title.
Describe the document's content, such as "2026 Annual Report" - concise and specific beats slogans or boilerplate.

How Silktide tests this

Read the title from each PDF document's properties. Documents with no title at all are reported separately by PDF title.
Flag the title as weak if any of the following apply:
- It is shorter than 3 characters. This is deliberately generous - short names like "BBC" or "NASA" can be legitimate titles.
- It looks like a filename, such as "report.pdf".
- It exactly matches a known generic placeholder, such as "Untitled document", "Microsoft Word - Document", "Homepage", or "Home" (case-insensitive).

Troubleshooting

My short title is legitimate

Titles of one or two characters are flagged even if intentional. If the title is genuinely right for the document, you can ignore the finding.