Preserve absolute links when converting Word documents

Report · Jul 28, 2017

I asked a similar question a year ago. I came away with the impression that what I am trying to do is not possible, but I will ask anyhow in case there is new information.

When I convert from Word to pdf using Acrobat XI, all links to files on our LAN are converted to relative links. I do the conversion by way of the Acrobat toolbar that is added to Word (2010), not by saving as pdf. The links are absolute in the Word document (\\ServerName\FolderName\etc.), but Acrobat converts them all to relative links.

When I create a link in the exact same way in Excel, or when I copy the absolute link address from a Word document (obtaining the address via Edit Hyperlink) to an Excel file, then convert to pdf, the link is converted properly as an absolute link.

In both Word and Excel I have unchecked the option to convert automatic links when saving.

Summary: Links to files on the LAN, created in the same way in Word and Excel (or copied directly from the Edit Hyperlink dialog in Word and pasted into the same dialog in Excel, or vice versa), are converted to pdf as relative links in the Word-based pdf, and absolute links in the Excel-based pdf.

It wasn't always this way. At one time Acrobat converted correctly. I don't know why it changed. I have already uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat.

Can anybody think of a setting I overlooked, or any other reason for this erratic behavior?

I need to be clear that relative links are unacceptable, if for no other reason than that even if I manage to set up the folders so that relative links work, the user is prompted every time as to whether it is safe to open the document.

I can convert the links manually in the pdf so that they open the file rather than opening a web link, but would rather avoid this tedious workaround.

Report · Jul 29, 2017

How did you verify that the links in the PDF are relative? Just looking at the link's property will not tell you that, as it would always display a full file-path, even if the link is relative.

Also, are the original files saved on the same drive as the linked-to files? I believe if they are on the same drive, the links to them are relative by default. Only if they are located on a different drive will it default to absolute paths.

Report · Jul 31, 2017

_How did you verify that the links in the PDF are relative?

When I hover over them on the pdf file (or open the properties and view the Action for the link) they show front slashes instead of backslashes, the icon shows a "W", spaces are replaced with %20 etc., and they open in a web browser. Ongoing additional annoyance: although I select the option to allow opening links, I get a security prompt every time.

_Also, are the original files saved on the same drive as the linked-to files?

No. I create the files in a working folder on a separate drive, then move them to the folder from which the users access them. The results I described previously, and to which I will add some details below, are the same whether the working folder is on the LAN or in my local My Documents folder.

I create the hyperlink in the Word document as follows:

Insert >> Hyperlink (or Ctrl + K)
Click the Browse for File icon, navigate to the folder on the LAN where the link target is located, select the file, and click OK. It makes no difference whether I navigate to a network folder (\\servername\foldername\subfoldername\filename.pdf), use a mapped drive letter, copy the fully qualified path (\\servername, etc. from a text file, or type the entire path and file name. The result is always the same: a web style path, and a prompt every time I try to open the file in a web browser.
Note: When I follow the exact same procedure in Excel, Acrobat creates the link as a standard network path (\\servername, etc.), and opens the file with the program registered for that file type. Why would Acrobat handle the links, created in the exact same way, differently in the two programs?

Further, it used to work properly (or at least in the way I expect, and as it still works when converting an Excel file: with a standard network path being created as the same thing in the pdf file). I don't know when it changed. Perhaps it was an errant update. I uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat XI, but with the same result.

For the cost of Acrobat I should not have to accept it that it is going to do its own thing in this matter, and further to go about it differently in Word and Excel, but even then the simplest thing would be to accept the flaw and move on if not for the invariable security prompt every time a user opens a file. That is absolutely unacceptable.

The workaround is that I have created a Word macro to list to a csv file the hyperlinks for all Word documents in the current folder. I create the pdf file, then edit the pdf hyperlinks one by one, replacing the Open a Web Link action with Open a File. I copy the network path from the csv file, and paste it into the File link. At least Acrobat accepts it and doesn't decide to change it back to a Web link.

Report · Jul 31, 2017

The "w" you're seeing when hovering above the link indicates that it's a

link to a URL ("w" = "web"), not to a local/remote file path. As such, it

will always be absolute.

How are you creating the links in Word?

On Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 2:17 PM, BruceM1631 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

Report · Jul 31, 2017

I described the process in the previous posting in this thread, in the numbered section under "I create the hyperlink in the Word document as follows:".

Again, please note that when I create a link in Excel using the same procedure, then convert to pdf, it is rendered in the pdf as a network link, not a web link as it is when I convert from Word. In both Word and Excel I have turned off the option (File >> Options >> Advanced >> Web Options) to update automatic links when saving.

Report · Aug 02, 2017

In case anybody is curious, this problem does not have a solution other than the laborious workaround I described, where I edit the links manually. It may have been an errant Acrobat update at some point, but in any case it is extremely unlikely Adobe has any more interest in fixing it than they did a year ago.

There is some hope, I suppose, that the DC version addresses the problem, but I fear it is at least as likely that it will be perpetuated.