Inspiring

Question

Microsoft print to pdf and links

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
November 29, 2019
5 replies
11811 views

How to keep links in f.ex. mail active after having used the Microsoft Print to pdf function to create a PDF-file of the mail.

One cannot use the link in the created pdf-file, if the url was not shown in the mail being printed to PDF.

Feature request

This topic has been closed for replies.

try67

Community Expert

When you print to the Adobe PDF printer you lose a lot of information, especially . If possible, you should use the PDF Maker plugin, instead.

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

Hyperlinks in e-mail are coded in HTML. Without the underlying HTML code, everything is just plain text. Evidently, that's what's happening when you convert mail to PDF. The conversion is wiping out the HTML code.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

John T Smith

Community Expert

You still have not answered... what ADOBE program are you using to create the PDF?

If you are using a Microsoft program, or an email program, this question needs to go in a forum for that program

G

GeorgBCAuthor

Inspiring

The problem does exist whether I am using the "Adobe pdf" printer routine to print a document to a PDF file or I am using the "Microsoft Print to pdf" print routines to write a document or mail to a PDF-file.
I suppose that conversion routine behind is the Adobe distiller routine.

One can use, as you probably know, the Adobe pdf or Microsoft print to pdf from whatever program at the computer to convert a document to a pdf-file. These two routines is selected in the print dialog for each program.

T

Test Screen Name

Brainiac

By the way "I suppose that conversion routine behind is the Adobe distiller routine." - no, the technology is all belonging to Microsoft in this case. If you want Distiller you have to license Acrobat. PDF is not owned by Adobe, and anyone can write software to work with it, good or bad.

T

Test Screen Name

Brainiac

This isn't an Adobe issue, but I can tell you anyway: PDF printers don't keep links. The advice is: NEVER PRINT PDF TO PDF. Why would you do this strange thing?

G

GeorgBCAuthor

Inspiring

I do not print pdf to pdf. I do print mails to pdf. I have seen active links in pdf document generated from for exampel word, so I am wondring why it does not work printing a mail containing links to pdf.

D

Dave Merchant

Brainiac

There are two things going on. First, how the PDF is created:

If software (Word, etc.) exports to PDF (e.g. via a Save As menu), it can include the interactive parts of the document such as links, tables of contents etc. no matter how they are visually represented.
If it prints to PDF then all the interactivity is lost, and you only get a dumb visual representation of the document. It's effectively just an electronic sheet of paper.

Then you have to look at how the PDF is viewed - some software (Acrobat/Reader included) will automatically turn all the text URLs and email addresses into clickable hotspots, even if there are no links defined in the PDF itself. That only happens where the visible text contains something recognizable. You can disable this feature in the preferences, but it can confuse people into thinking there are real links embedded in the PDF when there are not.

John T Smith

Community Expert

You do not seem to be asking about an Adobe program

Please post the name of the program you use so a Moderator may move this message to that forum

G

GeorgBCAuthor

Inspiring

I suspect that the Adobe routine behind is Adobe pdf and Acrobat destiller.

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