Link to a Specific Page in PDF File?

[Gareth_Williams]

I am trying to add a link in a web page to a PDF file which takes you to a particular page in the PDF file. I have followed these instructions from elsewhere on the internet and it does not to work! 😞 For example for page 4 the advice I have got is to add #page=4 to the end of the link. Thus the whole link for a file (in the same folder) which is called Script_310317.pdf would be as follows …

Script_310317.pdf#page=4

This should take you to page 4 of the PDF but it still just takes you to the top or page one of the file. What have I done wrong? I am using Safari.

Thanks for your help,

Gareth

[pziecina]

You may be better advised asking in the Acrobat forum, but as a guess i would say you would also require an anchor or target 'link' in your pdf at the specific page/point for this to work.

Having said that, most browsers are now blocking the use of plug-ins such as the pdf and flash ones, and only alowing the use of the built in html5 and the pdf api for such items. Reading the pdf api, i cannot see that it allows direct linking to a specific section of a document, but as the api is based on web standards it may be that such usage is taken as a 'given'.

[BenPleysier]

The link should include the full URL like

<a href="http://www.example.com/myfile.pdf#page=4">

[Gareth_Williams]

That is not possible at the moment as the pages are still only local and not yet uploaded to the web. However, I will try uploading it with the full URL and tell you how it goes. This would be …

http://www.gwilliams-designs.co.uk/Films/DrJekyll_01/Script_310317.pdf#page=4

Though as the file is in the same folder wouldn’t just the last bit (blue bit) work?

[BenPleysier]

Have a look at http://bunchoblokes.org/pdf/General-Documents/BOB-Manual.pdf#page=4

[Gareth_Williams]

It didn't work. it took me straight to the top of page one! 😞

[BenPleysier · Accepted solution]

I tried again with the following results

• Firefox: OK
• Chrome: OK
• Edge: Failed
• Safari: not tested
• Opera: not tested

Fortunately Firefox and Chrome constitutes 90% of the browser market.

[Jon Fritz]

This also won't work for any device set to open the PDF with Acrobat, or set to download the PDF vs opening it in the browser.

It's really not a reliable way to present information online.

[BenPleysier]

Just came across Create a URL to open a PDF file at a specific page

[Gareth_Williams]

I tried the link above with FireFox and it worked perfectly. Safari is the problem. This is quite annoying because I am trying to direct people to a particular part of a long document so if this doesn't work they would have to download it and open it in Preview or PC equivalent to see the page numbers. 😞

[Jon Fritz]

If it's important that they see the specific info you are trying to direct them to, why not simply extract that page/set of pages and offer it/them as a smaller, more pertinent to their interests PDF?

It would help in download time, and in case of mobile, data usage to have them download an excerpt rather than the whole document..

[Gareth_Williams]

The PDF is a film script, it's easier from my point to have links directing to various scenes (or the page on which the scene starts) rather than creating a separate PDF file for each scene. This is especially impractical as if or when I make alterations to the script I will have to then make the same alteration to the separate PDF for each scene as well. However, I have just added a note telling people that the link to the correct page doesn't work on Safari on a Mac and to use FireFox or Chrome, or download the PDF and open it in Preview where they can see the pages. This will do the job. Thanks for your help. I will mark the list of browsers that this link works on as the correct answer for this question.

[Nancy OShea]

Gareth,

Maybe you're using the wrong tools for this.  Adobe Story is made for screenwriters and facilitates online collaboration. Something to consider.

https://story.adobe.com/#/projects

Nancy

[Nancy OShea]

What Jon said.  PDF is external media requiring helper apps or plugins which some people don't have.

Split your large PDF in Acrobat DC, placing your target content into a separate PDF file.  Or put it into standard HTML which everyone can access without any problems.

Acrobat DC, Split a document |

[Guest]

These is what I find:

#page=4 (wants the "=" sign)

Chrome browser from PC

#page4 (doesn't want "=" sign)

Chrome browser from iPhone

Safari browser from iPhone

Nothing works for Microsoft Edge browser.

Would be nice to have a common solution.

[Mekeri]

ob63887335  wrote

These is what I find:

#page=4 (wants the "=" sign)

Chrome browser from PC

#page4 (doesn't want "=" sign)

Chrome browser from iPhone

Safari browser from iPhone

Nothing works for Microsoft Edge browser.

Would be nice to have a common solution.

That is exactly my findings. Makes putting up a pdf for the whole world to see basically impossible without breaking the PDF into pages and uploading them separately. This still doesn't work if the user may want to view other pages. Alas... not sure of a good solution here. 

[Nancy OShea]

PDF is media.  Formerly, we had helper apps like Acrobat or Acrobat Reader plugins to view files in browsers.  Now however, all browsers have dropped support for 3rd party plugins in favor of browser based APIs which are very limited in what they do.

Ideally, your PDF document will contain thumbnails or bookmarks which people can access by opening the PDF document directly in Acrobat or Acrobat Reader instead of their browsers.

Page thumbnails and bookmarks in PDFs, Adobe Acrobat

The other option is to split your PDF into multiple files with Acrobat Pro

Rotate, move, delete, and renumber PDF pages in Adobe Acrobat

Nancy

[raddc2016]

I just came across this thread and have the same problem. Has anyone ever tried to fix it with a short JavaScript? For example, if browser = IE/Edge/Chrome then #page=3, if browser=Safari then #page3.

[B i r n o u]

did you try using a destination in within the PDF document ?

[B i r n o u]

as a test you can give it a try and see what's going on

• link on the page - http://www.birnou.net/PDFs/Lorem-ipsum.pdf#page=2
• link on the destination - http://www.birnou.net/PDFs/Lorem-ipsum.pdf#pagefive

[Mekeri]

Birnou,

I just attempted your solution with the destination and used your test links as well. Safari still doesn't work and it opens the first page each time.

Thanks!

[B i r n o u]

thanks for the feedback... I will set  virtual machines and play around with some browser on differents mac os... if you find some ways, please send feedbacks...