Participating Frequently

Question

print to pdf looses links in Acrobat

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
December 1, 2016
7 replies
31480 views

Ok, I know there is problems with this, but there should not be from Acrobat Pro DC. So could someone confirm what I am finding.

I have a Acrobat Pro DC document. I add a link (hyperlink). I save the document. Link works a treat. If I print this document using the pdf printer the links do not work in the printed document. Is this correct?

Strangely enough if I create the links in Indesign then use the pdf maker to create the pdf open acrobat, and print the document to the pdf printer - the links all translate to the printed document. What is even more annoying is if I do the same thing in WORD the document links print OK. The problem seems to be in Acrobat and I am assuming the links work because I used the pdf maker to create the pdf's.

Is there a way to run the pdf maker in Acrobat? or is there some setting in Acrobat that I have wrong.

Just now to make this work, I am creating my links in WORD, running the pdf maker, then copy and paste from the resulting pdf into my Acrobat document, before I print. What a mess.

HELP

Edit and convert PDFs

M

Mike5E6E

Participant

From Indesign File->Export->Adobe PDF Interactive

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

The answer is not to print to Adobe PDF, but I don't think I can muster the energy to spend 20 more posts arguing that.

C

Cool 123456 DudeAuthor

Participating Frequently

I Do HEAR what you are saying about Don't Print.

I could use script to lock the form, or perhaps digital signatures. But printing also greatly reduces the size of the file, and I am not sure if I could code for that. I did look at "switching the form". So that a different form is used for presentation of the data, that is what we are currently doing for the Infopath forms. But the method in Acrobat was certainly not straight forward.

I am open to suggestions

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

You are the only person here I think who believes that links will sometimes, somehow, survive the PDF printer. Of course, you might be right, but we're unable to be likely to help with something WE believe to be impossible.

Now, if you can publicly share a series of PDFs (especially, those before PDF printing with links, and those after PDF printing still with links), we might either be able to explain it, or you might prove us wrong. Remember though, these must not be visible URLs or www links on the page!!

C

Cool 123456 DudeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Superb! smart cookie.

Interesting, a lot of them are www links, but what do you mean by visable links. I think that is where the confusion lies. Well done.

All my links, I think, (but I would need to check back), are either www or http://.

So, is that why they work? now can you tell me why they don't work when they are created in Acrobat Pro and printed?

Bernd Alheit

Community Expert

Enable this entry in the preferences of Acrobat (see reply 10) and you will see the links.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

Please answer questions 2-3. How EXACTLY do you make the PDF from Word and InDesign. You seem to be giving contradictory information about whether you use the PDF printer.

C

Cool 123456 DudeAuthor

Participating Frequently

OK, I have got it.

It is to do with the way Indesign handles the links that lets them be retained even when printed using the PDF Printer. I have just tried Illustrator and it works too, links created in Illustrator are retained when you print to PDF. It would be nice if this worked in Acrobat Pro but I can't find a way to do this, I think Acrobat has always been the poorer software in the suite.

C

Cool 123456 DudeAuthor

Participating Frequently

The answer could also be "Don't print to the Adobe PDF printer".

If you already have a PDF file, then printing to the Adobe PDF printer will produce a lower quality file. There is no need to print to PDF - you already have a PDF file. There is almost never a good reason to re-fry a PDF (that's what we usually call this printing a PDF to the PDF printer). Unless you know exactly what you are doing, and are aware of all the potential problems involved, you should never use this method for saving a PDF file. If you are looking for certain side-effects of this refrying (e.g. flattening interactive content), there is always a better way to accomplish that without reducing the quality of the file. This BTW is also Adobe's position. You can find Adobe's official position here in Dov Isaacs' first comment (not the second one that was accepted as the correct answer): How to reduce the size of PDF

Thanks Karl for your reply. Interesting but worrying.

I have created these forms for the last 8 years. They are a key part of our business process. As is the printing element.

To let you understand, our consultants fill in the forms, the data they provide in the fields automatically generates a dashboard with KPI;s in the document (yes we use javascript). We don't want to send our customer a form that can be changed, so we print to lock the information. A consultant can generate at least a thousand of these printed documents for 1 peice of work for a customer. I have never had any complaints about the quality, they look good, and although a document can have up to 20 urls I have NEVER had a url that has not transferred and works in the printed document. That is a pretty good statistic, 8 years, thousands of document with no failure in the url working. My feeling is that the way InDesign flattens the link when it creates the pdf makes it readable by the printer?

What I have taken away from this discussion is, Acrobat cannot do what I want and I do not know why InDesign can. That I need to consider Adobe's stance on printed documents and investigate alternative technologies to provide this process.

We currently have a test running with Infopath for 2 of our forms, it has a better method of locking the information, but honestly they just don't "Rock" like Adobe.

many thanks

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

Printing to PDF does not preserve links. Not ever. End of story. So, some questions to understand what is really going on.

1. Are these on-screen URLs - you see http:// stuff on the page?

2. What exact steps do you follow to make a PDF from Word?

3. What exact steps do you follow to make a PDF from InDesign?

4. What exact steps do you follow to make a link in Acrobat?

C

Cool 123456 DudeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Could I have a "Magic" copy?

I am not a big Word user only went there in dispair. But in Indesign both a url attached to text or www.bbc.co.uk text set as a link work. Once my design in complete I use pdf maker to create a pdf of my Indesign document, I then create my form ontop of my design in Acrobat. When I print this to pdf printer the links from Indesign work in the printed version - honest.

I think the links work because when they are converted from Indesign to a pdf they are an object? One interesting thing is I can't change the links in Acrobat. Acrobat does see it as a link though. (If you use the view all links feature). Happy to send an example pdf.

In the end I dont want to be going back and forward between Indesign and Acrobat just to add a link. I am going to try some more tests with Word. That way I can just copy and paste from there. Could it be one of the setting I have for print production in Acrobat? or is there a way to add a link in an object in Acrobat? I think the pdf maker does a better job of creating the pdf, can I run the pdf maker from Acrobat?

try67

Community Expert

Using the PDFMaker plugin is NOT the same as printing to PDF. The latter means using the Adobe PDF Printer. The former means using the special Adobe plugin to generate PDF files, and it indeed preserves links and other objects that were added to the original file format.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

You will always lose all links on the PDF printer. But if the page has recognised URLs they work as links anyway. Exporting from InDesign or sing PDFMaker in Word doesn't use the PDF printer.

C

Cool 123456 DudeAuthor

Participating Frequently

Weird - so why do the links I create originally in Indesign or Word WORK when printed to pdf? It is only the links I create in Acrobat Pro that don't. So that is my question, Why don't they work if created in Acrobat Pro?

M

MiSun

Participating Frequently

Solution, SAVES AS PDF, do not PRINT PDF. Your URLs will be show links if saved as PDF, not printed as PDF.

try67

Community Expert

Yes, this is expected and correct behavior. Printing a file to the PDF printer should be thought of the same as printing it to a physical printer, more or less. You get a flattened version of that file, without any "meta" objects like form fields, links, comments, etc.

May I ask why you're doing it?

C

Cool 123456 DudeAuthor

Participating Frequently

We have about 50 forms that we have created, they work great. The process for filling out the forms works best for us if our people can print the completed form to pdf. I know there are other ways, but for our people this works best. When they complete the form they print it to pdf. They are then stored as a sealed file. But I do want the links to work in the printed document. To have to switch back into Indesign to create the links seems mad - but to reiterate THE LINKS WORK IF ORIGNALLY CREATED IN INDESIGN or WORD. Being a big Adobe fan I refuse to start creating my links in Word just so that they will print. Could it be a setting in print production that I have wrong?

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