Links in PowerPoint 2010 Not Working in PDF

[Fifi2u]

My PowerPoint 2010 file has several internal links.  Some pages/slides have multiple links.  When I save the file as a PDF, some of the links work correctly, but most of them disappear.  Trouble-shooting experiments so far include grouping and ungrouping items that have links -- there doesn't seem to be a pattern for what's going to work or not in the PDF.  My other experiment was creating the links using PowerPoint's "Hyperlink" feature instead of the "Action" feature.  That doesn't appear to make a difference. 

I know how to recreate the links in the PDF file but that's not very efficient.

Anyone know the trick for telling Adobe Pro to retain all links?  Thanks!

[Bill12]

It may depend on your version of Acrobat. To embed the links you need to set the prefrerences in PDF Maker (the Acrobat menu in PPT) and use that menu to create the PDF, not print to the Adobe PDF printer. However, you need at least AA X version 10.1 or so have this capability with PPT 2010.

[Fifi2u]

Hi Bill -- thanks so much for your reply!  I'm using Adobe Acrobat Pro v. 9, so I'm going to upgrade today for sure.  When I create a PDF in PowerPoint 2010, I use the File -> Save As -> PDF option, which works well for everything except my current links issue. 

I added "PDF" to my PowerPoint 2010 ribbon.  It has only one command -- "Save as PDF." I don't see any commands for setting preferences about how the links should work.  I see the additional preference options for saving a PDF, but they don't include link options. 

Any additional clues?  Thank you!

Fifi

[Fifi2u]

Hi Bill -- thanks so much for your reply! I'm using Adobe Acrobat Pro v. 9, so I'm going to upgrade today. When I create a PDF in PowerPoint 2010, I use the File -> Save As -> PDF option, which works well for everything except my current links issue.

I added "PDF" to my PowerPoint 2010 ribbon. It has only one command -- "Save as PDF." I don't see any commands for setting preferences about how the links should work. I see the additional preference options for saving a PDF, but they don't include link options.

Any additional clues? Thank you!

Fifi

[Bill12]

Not sure why you got the Acrobat menu in OFFICE 2010. Generally that requires AA X as I recall. Keep in mind that printing to the Adobe PDF printer is always an option (use expand to fit page in PPT), but the links and such will not copy when printed. I am not sure if the links are provided by the MS plugin for PDF creation.

[Fifi2u]

So -- I've purchased and installed Adobe Acrobat XI. I've confirmed that the option to include links is selected in PowerPoint's Adobe settings.  The only links that work correctly in the PDF I create are those that go to the first, last, next, or previous page.  All links that go to specific pages (like page 2, page 14, etc.) do not work.  They appear as clicable objects (mouse pointer appears as a hand with a pointing finger), but nothing happens when the item is clicked.

Eventually I'll get through to a support person and find out whether links to specific pages are supported or not (without having to be re-created in the PDF file itself). This issue pertains to viewing the file onscreen.

Fifi

[Fifi2u]

Just in case anyone is following this -- the Adobe Chat person has just answered my question.  The issue is a known bug.  Always good to know that the reason something doesn't work isn't because you aren't using the correct method.  The new version is pretty slick, even if it doesn't do support something I need.  Glad I upgraded.

[Guest]

Hi Fifi2u,

I am having some trouble figuring something out and it seems you had similar issues.

I want to save my powerpoint (which contains links to other pages within it) as a pdf while retaining these links when it is viewed. I have adobe acrobat pro and powerpoint 2011 but when I save it as a pdf none of the links work. I created them using the actions which is the same as going throught the hyperlink path.

Do you have any idea if it is possible to do such things? I want this to be something that can be view on a tablet and easily run through as a pdf.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Fifi2u]

Hi LotteNZ,

Just for clarification, I'm using PowerPoint 2010 and Adobe Pro XI. I have an ongoing project for which I have to produce a PDF based on a PowerPoint file that has a lot of links. I eventually found an actual Adobe person who answered my question so I could stop looking for features that don't exist.

Here's the bottom line:

- Links that go to Next, Previous, First, or Last slide will work correctly in the PDF

- Links that go to other specific slides within the file will not be transferred to the PDF

- The links that don't get "inherited" in the PFD have to be re-created in the PFD (which isn't difficult -- just tedious when there are a lot of them)

Adobe is aware of this but the person who wrote me did not know of any specific plans to fix it in future releases (which doesn't necessarily mean that they won't).

I think Adobe supports "its own" first, which makes sense. I believe that If the source file was created in InDesign, all of the links would be supported. But for a variety of reasons, in my case, my source file has to be PowerPoint.

It's annoying having to recreate links every time I make changes in my source file and so one trick I've learned is to only replace pages that have changes. It's an imperfect system, but it does speed things up.

Hope that helps!

Fifi

www.FifiKlein.com

[Bill12]

I am glad you found the answer from Adobe, though it was not that positive for you. Providing the information to the rest of us is useful and I wanted to be sure you got our thanks. Hope that Adobe gets it fixed for you soon.

[Fifi2u]

A few moments ago I PDF'd a PPTX file containing links to a variety of slides -- not just next, last, previous or first. To my happy surprise, all of the links were maintained in the PDF! Maybe the PDF elves have been repairing things behind the scenes!

Fifi

www.FifiKlein.com

[Mardiac]

If you have dropbox, this is how you solve the problem. Go to the file you want to insert; right click on share link with Dropbox; you'll be directed to retrieve the link from dropbox; click the dropbox icon at the top of the page, the document will open. Click share at the top of the document; copy the https: link and use that as your hyperlink.

[rajashekars85478819]

There is an excellent software that converts and keeps hyperlinks intact. Please check and download the correct version.

http://store.gaaiho.com/download/extenddown.aspx