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Nana Figuera
Participant
March 25, 2021
Answered

Hyperlinks don't work or get messed up in Interactive PDFs exported from Indesign

  • March 25, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 1371 views

Hello everyone,

So, I'm working in a PDF that has a lot of hyperlinks, to different URLs and also to different pages of the document when you click on objects or text. The thing is that when looking at the PDF on desktop, everything works just fine, but when I open it with my phone (android) some links don't work at all. For example, on these buttons (from the capture), when I try to click them all of them open up Twitter when each one has their own hyperlink in Indesign. In other instances, when I click other objects the links simply don't work... why is this? how do I fix it? I find some old posts about this from many years ago (which is only upsetting if this issue hasn't been fixed since 2016) but none of them really come up with a solution.

 

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Correct answer David Popham

If it's working properly in Acrobat, it sounds like your PDF is just fine. The issue is that browser and app support for PDFs outside of Acrobat can render behavior inconsistent. Issues like content not displaying properly or disappearing, deleted elements on master pages showing up, and interactivity problems are not uncommon. Have you tried using the Acrobat Reader phone app?

3 replies

D
defaultpqmw2khq9jua
Participant
December 7, 2022

I am having the same issue with a 1600 plus page online catalog. Many url's and and page hyperlinks. The Indesign file has been manually updated with the correct links multiple times. When the Interactive pdf is made a good number of these hyperlinks are broken. I am using the latest software. My client is growing anxious as I cannot find a viable solution to fix what seems to be an on going issue with both InDesign and Acrobat working together to build an interactive pdf.

    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Derek CrossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 25, 2021

    You can have a word or words or an image (such as a button shape) as a document hyperlink to say another page in the document, or to an external website. Some devices, for example, iPads, don't have rollover capability – only click – you should avoid multi-action buttons like On Click, On Roll Over, etc. Multi-state object (MSO) don’t work at all in an Interactive PDFs.

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      Nana FigueraAuthor
      Participant
      March 25, 2021

      Thank you, Derek. I made sure to remove all the buttons and make them simple hyperlinks but I couldn't make them work properly either way...

      Derek Cross
      Community Expert
      Derek CrossCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 25, 2021

      All of them or some of them?

       

      David Popham
      David PophamCorrect answer
      Participating Frequently
      March 25, 2021

      If it's working properly in Acrobat, it sounds like your PDF is just fine. The issue is that browser and app support for PDFs outside of Acrobat can render behavior inconsistent. Issues like content not displaying properly or disappearing, deleted elements on master pages showing up, and interactivity problems are not uncommon. Have you tried using the Acrobat Reader phone app?

        N
        Nana FigueraAuthor
        Participant
        March 25, 2021

        oh, that's a shame. Unfortunately, it's for a catalog that my client will be sharing with their customers (who will most likely be looking at it on their phones) so I can't really control which apps/browsers they're going to be using. Thank you for your insight, David.

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