Preserve absolute links when converting from Word

[BruceM1631]

Acrobat Pro XI:  My Word document has absolute links.  At least, they look like absolute links in that they have backslashes, use spaces instead of %20.  When I convert to pdf the created file has relative links.

I do not want relative links.  The files are in fixed locations, accessed on our internal network only.  I want to keep the absolute links, and have the files opened with Reader (or Acrobat if that is the default for pdf files), not in a browser.  How do I convince Acrobat of this?  Until very recently this was not a problem, and absolute links were preserved as absolute links.

Further, manually editing the link does no good.  It asks if I want to open the file, but backslashes are replaced with %5C, along with spaces being replaced by %20.  If I agree to allow the file to be opened it at least opens with the correct program rather than in a browser as if it is a relative link, but it does not remember, and I am prompted every time even though I check the box telling it to remember.

This behavior is the same in Reader.  It is a major problem, as we have trained people for years to follow hyperlinks to required work documents.  Until now this has worked.  What changed?

[try67]

Any links to other files that you create in Acrobat, unless they are to files that are located on other drives, will be relative.

How are you creating these links, exactly?

[BruceM1631]

The links are in Word documents, and the pdf document is created by using the Create PDF icon on the Acrobat ribbon in Word 2010.  The links are ALL to files on other drives.

Again, this used to work as expected.  This business of refusing to open the link without going through the drill of agreeing for every single link clicked is new behavior.  I have not updated Acrobat recently, nor have I made any deliberate changes to Word or Acrobat settings.

[BruceM1631]

I will just add that it is possible a link would be to a file in the exact same folder as the file with the link, but most often it is to another folder on the LAN.

[try67]

I was just discussing a very similar issue with another person, and it turned out they were using the Save as Adobe PDF command under the File menu of Word instead of the PDFMaker plugin, which was causing this issue. Are you sure this is not the case with your files as well? Are you creating them yourself, or is something else doing it for you?

[BruceM1631]

I am creating them myself.  Nobody else is involved.

I create or edit a Word document.  I add or edit links in the Word document.  When I use the option to edit the links in Word I see:

\\servername\sharename\foldername\filename.pdf

If it was a relatiive link I would see the address when I hover, but when I go to Edit I would see backslashes replaced with forward slashes, spaces replaced with %20, and so forth consistent with html (?) links.

After creating or editing the Word document I click on the Acrobat ribbon, then the Create PDF icon.

This ribbon is present, I believe, because of the Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Addin, which uses the file:

Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\PDFMaker\Office\PDFMOfficeAddin.dll

I verified that my Word settings are to use absolute hyperlinks (essentially, made sure the option is cleared to update hyperlinks on save).

I tested with Excel, which uses the same dll Addin for converting to pdf, but with Excel it works as expected (absolute link remains an absolute link in the pdf).  I tested further by going to Edit for the Excel link, copying the file location, and pasting it as a link location in Word.  I also reversed the process, copying the Word link to Excel.

The Word conversion to pdf always resulted in a relative link in every case, and the Excel conversion to pdf preserved the absolute link in every case.  So the problem is not that the Word link is "secretly" a relative link.  Rather, the conversion to pdf, whether because of a Word setting or (more likely) because of an Acrobat setting or automated process, results in relative links in pdf files converted from Word.

[try67]

To make sure your Word links are absolute, try following the steps described here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/903163

[BruceM1631]

That is exactly the document I read.  I followed the instructions, but I had already made the setting as described for absolute links.

This is what I have learned: The problem is that Acrobat is processing all links as web links.  Details and evidence follow.

I have observed that when I convert a document with links, the Action associated with the link in the resultant pdf is to open a web link.  If I delete the link and choose the option to open a file, and copy the link from Word, it works as expected.

If I copy the correct link from the Word document and paste it into the web link address (or type it manually as the web link), it become a relative link, as all web links do.  The corollary occurs when I copy the address from one of the web links in the Acrobat file, complete with %20 and all that muck, and paste it as the address for a newly created link to a file.  Acrobat converts the %20s into spaces, and all the rest that is needed to render the link as a fixed file location.

Something seems to have changed in the conversion process, so that all links are created as web links even though they are clearly file links.  Within the past month or two it worked as expected (that is, it worked in the way it currently works for links in Excel files).

[try67]

Can you share the source Word file (either publicly by uploading it to a file-sharing website and then posting a share link here, or privately via email)?

[BruceM1631]

I suppose I could do that.  I assume the intent would be for you to create a link and do a conversion, since any link I could create would be specific to my computer (other than autoexec.bat or something).

In that case, what e-mail address?

[try67]

try6767 at gmail.com

I'll just test the links you created, first of all. It doesn't matter if they point to a non-existing file. I just want to see how they are converted.

[BruceM1631]

Sent the file.  Please let me know if you did not receive it.

[BruceM1631]

In case anybody wonders about this same thing, it appears there is nothing to be done except maybe reinstall.  Acrobat automates a number of things over which the user has little or no control.  When one of those things goes wrong there is no setting that can be changed to fix it.