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hyperlinks from MS Word not working in PDF

Engaged ,
Jan 10, 2017 Jan 10, 2017

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Hello

I have created a MS Word document that i have converted into a pdf.

the hyperlinks in the images link to the bookmarks against headings 1 and 2 in the following pages.

However, when i convert my MS Word document into a PDf, the images are not linked, and i don't see a hand icon when i mouse over the images.

Capture.PNG

I wld appreciate if someone can provide some insight into this.

Regards

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

New Here , Nov 20, 2017 Nov 20, 2017

Hi all,

I was having the same issue and here is what I found:

Before attempting to convert the document from Word to PDF, look to see if it says "compatibility mode" at the top of the Word window. Mine did, even though it was already a .docx file. If it does, there will be a "convert document" option under the FILE menu (which disappears after you choose this option). Choose that. It will convert to the most recent file version. After I did that, I was able to successfully save the file as PDF wit

...

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New Here ,
Apr 03, 2020 Apr 03, 2020

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ya...having almost same problem. My hyperlinks are working on pc, laptop and mobile in adobe. But not in normal PDF Viewer. Idont know what should I do to avail it in normal PDF Viewer. Norally when people open a file to view PDF, they select the normal PDF Viewer option and secondly how do i know if the user is having Adobe in his/her phone or not. The word doc is a book to be published where the hyperlink is added to the doc itself( in the content to the pg no. orthat page)

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Community Expert ,
Apr 03, 2020 Apr 03, 2020

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Quote: << But not in normal PDF Viewer. >>

 

Please give us more information:

What do you mean by "normal PDF Viewer"?

What is the program's name and operating system?

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents
|    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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New Here ,
May 11, 2020 May 11, 2020

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Apps saved longer time

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Explorer ,
Jul 23, 2020 Jul 23, 2020

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I'm using MS Word 16.0.13001.20255 (32-bit) on Windows 10 v2004 build 19041.388 and have problems with the hyperlinks when printing on the Acrobat Printer (Acrobat Pro v11.0.23). URLs that are spelled out get linked but not words that I have hyperlinked in Word. When I use "save as PDF" the links work but I want to make a high-resolution PDF, which isn't possible with the "Save As PDF" command. Any insight on this problem would be highly appreciated.

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Community Expert ,
Jul 24, 2020 Jul 24, 2020

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When you "Print to PDF", whether that's to the Adobe Acrobat Printer or some other manufacturer's virtual printer,  you'll loose most, if not all, of your interactive features like functioning hyperlinks. So it's not the best method to use.

 

File / Save As / PDF  uses a Microsoft converter that is built into MS Word. It is not an Adobe product. But you can control some of the properties in the final PDF by selecting the Standard (publishing online and printing) option before saving the files. This gives sufficient resolution of graphics for office printing (but not commercial printing presses).

Export to PDF with MS converter.Export to PDF with MS converter.

 

To get a high-resolution PDF that also has full interactive functions, you'll need to use Adobe's PDF Maker plug-in, which is installed in MS Word when Acrobat Pro or Standard is installed.

 

If PDF Maker is installed, you'll have a Ribbon tab in Word labeled Acrobat. On the ribbon, select the Preferences icon to control how the PDF is made, including resolution.

Acrobat-Ribbon_03.png

 

Start by selecting one of the pre-sets from Conversion Settings drop-down menu, you'll have more control over color, image resolution, fonts, and more. Consider Press Quality, or PDF/X-3 for better quality at commerical print shops. And check the option to Add Links.

Export-via-PDFmaker_01.png

 

If you need even more control, click the Advanced Settings button, which takes you to the custom settings dialogue section. Change whatever you need to change, such as the resolution settings for graphics shown below.

 

When done, you'll need to Save the settings, and they will then be available from the first drop-down menu for future use. Very handy if you do this regularly.

Export-via-PDFmaker_02.png

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents
|    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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Explorer ,
Jul 24, 2020 Jul 24, 2020

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Thanks for the reply. I do have the PDF Maker installed but I get the same problem when using "Create PDF" instead of printing with the printer "Adobe PDF". However, it works if I first click "options" in the PDF file saving dialog (no changes made in the options).

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New Here ,
Mar 22, 2021 Mar 22, 2021

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Hi Bevi, these settings are for windows. I'm unable to locate the same settings on Mac version of the acrobat pdf writer in Word. I'm encountering the following issues and have spent many hours trying to resolve them but cannot seem to get every issues resolved in the same document at once

--missing hyperlinks

--transparency in design elements disappears (becoming flat/no longer transparent)

--image quality is fine but file size it outrageous

--file size is reasonable but image quality is horrible

--being forced to choose an online generator which is a privacy issue and causes graphics to shift out of place in the process 

I'm very experienced with both Word and Acrobat and I'm honestly shocked at how difficult this is. I've been googling for hours and have tried several workarounds. As another person commented I'm too old enough to remember having to use ps files to eventually get to PDFs and it was much easier than this seems to be. Please advise! Thank you. 

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New Here ,
Aug 03, 2020 Aug 03, 2020

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What solved the issue of Word non-working underlying links in PDFs for me: 

File > Save as > Browse > [select target dir] [Save as type: PDF] > Save 

"Print" apparently is, regardless, for a paper printer and therefore links are deemed not required and aren't active unless they are spelt out …

 

 

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Explorer ,
Aug 03, 2020 Aug 03, 2020

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Yes, that fixed the links - thanks. However, there is no option of saving images without downsampling them so I can't use this method. Anyway, I solved the problem (see previous post) but I don't understand why it was solved.

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New Here ,
Nov 28, 2021 Nov 28, 2021

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This worked for me! Thanks!

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New Here ,
Dec 18, 2020 Dec 18, 2020

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Hello<top> 

No

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New Here ,
Jan 24, 2021 Jan 24, 2021

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Thank you MarkAH: you are a life saver.

Sigh: I'm old enough to remember when Acrobat Reader just worked.

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New Here ,
Oct 19, 2021 Oct 19, 2021

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A coworker shared this today as it's an ongoing issue with a coworker on a PC

 

Based on that Adobe article, it looks like it is a known issue with Microsoft Word having been updated.  It would explain why some people are able to export successfully and some are not.

 

Windows runs updates to Word (Office suite) as part of Windows update if it is enabled. (Do you know how to check if windows update is set to auto update?)

 

An article I found with a solution was to downgrade your MS Word software and make sure that automatic updates are disabled. (You will want to re-enable them in the future to make sure your software is kept secure.)

 

Here is a link to the forum article: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/cross-references-and-toc-in-word-do-not-work-...

 

In the Answer, he links to the instructions to downgrade/rollback Word but Ill put it here too: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-revert-to-an-earlier-version-of-office-2bd5c457-a91...

ERROR in MAC or PC

https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/44270718-errors-...

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New Here ,
Aug 03, 2022 Aug 03, 2022

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In case anyone stumbles on this thread in anguish (as I just did). Tried many of the suggestions above, but only thing to works was another workaround - use Pages! Basically, open the Word file in Pages and go to "File > Print". Then choose "PDF > Save as PDF" from the print dialogue. Bingo!

 

Details here: https://www.macworld.com/article/181738/embedpdflink.html

 

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New Here ,
Oct 28, 2022 Oct 28, 2022

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Same problem, tried everything mentioned here. Then opened the doc in the browser instead of word, went to File > Save As > Download as PDF and it worked like a charm.

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New Here ,
Nov 02, 2022 Nov 02, 2022

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I cannot believe that 5 years later there is still no actual fix of this idiotically simple issue! 
I tried EVERY SINGLE suggested fix on this thread and every time there's something wrong with each of these 'work arounds'. 

My word doc contains an Excel WorkSheet, so if i use the PDF convert option then the space where my Worksheet used to be is just a big blank space. But yea the hyperlinks work, but a new problem was created. 

If I try it via Pages, it messes up the formatting of the document. 

Another 'workaround' messes up the fonts. 

It is just never ending and I wish someone at Adobe Actually looked into this because it is driving me absolutely nuts! 5 years people! 5 Effin Years!!! 

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Community Expert ,
Nov 02, 2022 Nov 02, 2022

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quote

It is just never ending and I wish someone at Adobe Actually looked into this because it is driving me absolutely nuts! 5 years people! 5 Effin Years!!! 

By @mayo001

 

Oh, you need more than Adobe to look into this! Microsoft is a huge part of the problem, too. And Apple, as well, especially for those trying to make PDFs from Office on Mac OS.

 

[Warning: this post has details so it's long.]

 

Trying to get these billion-dollar corporate behemoths (trillion-dollar behemoth for Apple) to coordinate their programs is worse than herding cats because they all have their own financial interests and investor-dominated boards to deal with. In one way or another, they are all competitors.

 

There is no reason why they should coordinate their programs — or even abide by the PDF standards (defined by ISO 32000 and available to any company that wants to make software that either creates PDF files or processes PDF files).

 

By "process," I mean that the software can open, read, interact with, and provide functionality for us users. The hyperlinks problem in this thread is an excellent example of these programs either not making the hyperlink correctly or not processing them correctly for the end user to click.

 

Microsoft, Apple, and other companies don't often make fully standards-compliant PDF files from their software, nor do they fully process PDF files. They'll do fine on some items and fail on others. There is no law that requires them to follow the PDF ISO 32000 standards. Following a standard is voluntary.

 

The only reason why these companies would invest money into proper programming is to make you, me, and other customers happy.

 

And honestly, how likely are they to do that!  Investors want to invest the least amount of money in a company, spend the least amount on programming the minimum functionality needed to sell the product, and then take out as much money as possible.

 

But we users can still vote with our wallets.

Oh, and at https://acrobat.uservoice.com/

 

Some suggestions to help ameliorate the problems:

 

(Note: I used "ameliorate" not "correct" or "fix." These are intended to help make a lousy situation a bit better. Maybe. Sometimes.)

  • Note re: updates of software. Any changes to Microsoft programs, Adobe Acrobat and PDF Maker, or your operating system can affect how well a solution works. Might work today, but next week after an update, it might not. Just a warning...
  • The most compliant-making software is by Adobe because they invented the PDF file format 30+ years ago and are part of an international committee that maintains the PDF ISO 32000 standard. Although Adobe is highly committed to doing PDFs "right," they do botch it now and then. Beware of updates of Acrobat and Creative Suite and always test new software before depending on it for your livelihood.
    • Exports from MS Office — use Adobe PDF Maker or File / Save As Adobe PDF. Make sure you check all options/settings that are appropriate for your needs. There are no magic wands: check your options 100% of the time.
    • Exports from Adobe InDesign and other Adobe programs — use the File / Export or File / Save As utilities in those programs. This works for both Windows and Mac versions of Creative Suite.
  • Microsoft's built-in PDF export utility is available in MS Office programs (Windows only). It's fairly decent, but is known to develop some bugs after updates.
  • Exporting PDFs from MS Office (Mac) is a nightmare. I'm told by engineers it's a problem with Apple's control of the OS. Try using Adobe's online PDF-making service (upload the source file and then retrieve the PDF), but that doesn't work well for accessible PDFs and forms. Try some of the vendors listed below who have PDF-making software for Macs. And it might be easier to just give up the Mac for this part of your work, and go with Windows. (I know...as a former Apple dealer, that statement makes me a heretic. But I have to get work done!)
  • File / Print to a virtual printer creates a dead file that usually can't be machine readable (for accessibility software), edited, or with any interactivity like clickable hyperlinks. It's the worst way to make a PDF: find another way!
  • The PDF file format (not Acrobat software, just the file format itself) is in the public domain, so any coder can write software that creates PDF files. The problem is how well the coder adheres to the ISO 32000 PDF standard! So try some different PDF manufacturers. Here's a decent list: https://sourceforge.net/software/pdf/  Our shop has used the following brands with varying degrees of success: FoxIt, Nitro, ABBYY FineReader,  WinZip PDF Pro, and Kofax Power PDF meet, more or less, the ISO 32000 standards. We have no experience with the others on the list.
  • No one solution fits everyone. It all depends on what you need in the PDF, like accessibility features, clickable hyperlinks, color fidelity, usable forms, digital signatures, etc.
  • PDFs for press/professional printing must be usable by the print shop's prepress and press equipment, and usually require conformance to the PDF/X standard for printing and graphic arts. Only Adobe's products make that kind of PDF, unless you have other industry software. If you do, you're not likely to be reading this thread because you're in a different universe! <grin>
  • Any solution that works today might be broken tomorrow. Just a warning about those updates by everyone.

 

—Bevi

Disclaimer: I'm just a volunteer here on this user-to-user forum. Not an Adobe employee and don't receive compensation from Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, or any of the other companies listed. That means whatever you choose will make no difference to my retirement fund.

 

I do have quite a lot of experience in PDFs because I was on the original brainstorming team that came up with the concept of a "portable" file format in the late 1980s for Adobe (no money or patents 😞  ). I've been a beta tester for Adobe, Microsoft, and many other companies since then, and have taught / consulted with countless humans on making and using PDFs, probably well over a million by now. I'm a US Delegate to the ISO committees for PDFs and PDF/UA standards.

 

And I still don't know everything about PDFs!

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents
|    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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Community Expert ,
Nov 02, 2022 Nov 02, 2022

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quote

... If I try it via Pages, it messes up the formatting of the document. 

By @mayo001

 

That's to be expected.

  1. Pages is a free, minimal-featured word processor from Apple. It's not likely to respect your fonts, layout decisions, or much else. It just captures keystrokes.
  2. Because of Apple's dogged insanity of how 3rd-party controls can tap into the Mac OS, we're not likely to see good, reliable PDF-making software on Apple computers from any company anytime soon. This policy, I understand, was set during Steve Jobs' tenure.

 

And it's been more than "5 Effin Years."  More like 20 or 25.

 

Maybe complain to Apple, not Adobe?

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents
|    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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New Here ,
Apr 18, 2023 Apr 18, 2023

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I much preferred the functionality and intuitive interface of Adobe Acrobat Pro version 4 (and earlier v.) - Subsequest releases confused its functionality. Relative hyperlinks and retaining hyperlinks for that matter used to be easy manage. Today, however - the Adobe Acrobat interface is cluttered and inaccessible. Day to day tasks that were easy and intuitive with older versions are now graphics-heavy and combersome. Who rewrote the software specification? I urge that you revisit the old specs and glean some insight into why the older releases of Adobe Acrobat Pro were so much easier, faster, reliable than the more current v. Please update the current v to function more similarly to the pre-2000 Adobe Acrobat Pro. My wish - may I die knowing that Adobe does actually care.

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New Here ,
Jun 16, 2023 Jun 16, 2023

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Hello, I found a creative solution around this:
Suppose I have a 9 page Word document and my 8th page has words that are supposed to link but aren't after export to PDF. I finalized the work in Word and exported as PDF, then in parallel, I worked only on page 8 in InDesign and exported page 8 with the working links. Finally, upon opening the 9 page PDF document exported from Word, I selected page 8, deleted it and replaced it with page 8 exported from InDesign with working links - and voila!

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New Here ,
Jun 16, 2023 Jun 16, 2023

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