How to keep links live when creating PDF from other apps?

[CyndeeM]

Note: this a cross post from the Acrobat forum; I rarely get answers there, so I am also posting it here where I always get great solutions. Sorry if this inconveniences anyone.

I deal with an organization who has a print publication that will now also be available on a web page. This publication mainly consists of PDF ads created by outsiders (not me), most of whom are amateurs. Most ads are probably created in Word or Publisher (or other amateur type programs). And the PDFs are not normally created from Acrobat, but either saved directly from those applications or using a freebie program like Cute PDF.

It seems that when put online, some of the URLs in these ads are live and clickable and some are not. I presume that those that are not live exist in copy that has become flattened along the way.

What is the best advice to give to these amateurs as to how to create their PDFs (when not using Acrobat) and still keep the links live? Thanks.

[Steve Werner · Accepted solution]

As long as you set no standards about what application your amateur ad creators are using for creating a PDF, there is no general directions you can give them. Some applications may support saving links and some may not.

If it's important that the ads have clickable, you'll have to add them yourself. The reason that some may have links is because Acrobat and Reader have a preferences turned on to try to create links "on the fly." It's called "Create links from URLs". However, they wouldn't be saved in the PDF, they would only work in Reader or Acrobat. It's found in General preferences:

To reliably create links you would have to use the Edit PDF tool, and select Link on the lower toolbar:

Then you can choose the URL to be used as a web link action:

[CyndeeM]

Steve, could you please repost your last paragraph? The Link Properties dialog that you inserted covers some of the text/

[Steve Werner]

Here you go:

[CyndeeM]

Steve, does that work for any PDF (I presume not for something scanned unless the text is OCRed)?

[CyndeeM]

Also, is there any way to tell when I receive a PDF if the URL in it will work when it is placed online?

[Steve Werner]

Turn off the General preference to "Create Links from URLs". Then when you pause over a real URL, you'll see the "W" in the pointing finger cursor (meaning "Web link") and you'll see the URL appear as a tool tip. Otherwise, you won't see it.

[CyndeeM]

Thanks Steve, that is helpful.

[Steve Werner]

Yes, it it's a scanned PDF you'd need to use Acrobat's Enhance Scan feature to convert to text, then you'd use the Edit PDF tool to create the URL.

[Steve Werner]

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[CyndeeM]

Steve, I've been playing with this and running into an issue -- I hope you can help. I have a PDF, that while not a scan, has no editable text or other items. I used enhance scan on it and did get editable text out of it. Then I used Edit PDF's tool and created a URL. It worked fine in Acrobat.

However, if I place this new PDF into an InDesign document and then generate a new PDF (which is what I do with my project is in the end all of the ads are put together and saved as one final PDF), then there is no live link the PDF created from InDesign. Have I missed something, or is this not possible?

Thanks for all of your help.

[Steve Werner]

You should use the Organize Pages in Acrobat Pro to add the new page to your existing pages.

When you place a PDF into InDesign, it's treated as art: It loses all its live links.

[CyndeeM]

That isn't practical as this document is several hundred pages and consists of ads of assorted sizes plus page headers and footers as well as other information. It needs to be done in InDesign and then exported to PDF. Is there any way to keep the links live with that workflow?

[Steve Werner]

There isn't. You'll have to add them back in afterwards in Acrobat Pro.

[CyndeeM]

I guess we'll have to see if we want to do with that. In a thread on the same subject in the Acrobat DC forum, Dov Isaacs told me that  if a PDF already has a live link, it will remain live when placed into and then exported from InDesign (presumably not referring to one created in Acrobat); is that the case? I haven't tested that, but I do know that in our files from last year's publication, some links did remain live after exporting a new PDF.

[Steve Werner]

If Dov knows a way to make it work, I bow to his expertise. This is not my experience.

It may still work from Acrobat or Reader using the preference to create a URL (turned on by default).

[CyndeeM]

I just went back and reread the conversation with Dov and I see that he did not say that; I misunderstood his reply.

What I do know is that when we posted last year's file on our website (file created in InDesign for print use and exported to PDF); some links did remain live. I guess I would need to check them once that final file is created then recreate in Acrobat and that aren't live.

Thanks for your help.

[Dov Isaacs]

I tried looking up the response I gave that you are are referring because it sounded contrary to what I actually said. In fact what I posted in Re: How to keep links live when creating PDF from other apps? was as follows:

… A bigger problem, though, is that when you place PDF files with links into other publications, such links may very well be lost as part of that placement process. For example, links in a PDF file produced by Acrobat PDFMaker from Word are discarded when such a PDF file is placed into InDesign! …

I also retested this with live documents.  Placing PDF content into an InDesign document indeed results in all annotations (including links, forms data, etc.) in the placed PDF being discarded!

          - Dov

[CyndeeM]

Yes, indeed. I head misread your response. In the testing I've done so far though, I have seen that any copy given to me with an existing working link maintained that link after insertion in InDesign and exporting it to a new PDF. So, if we (and I don't think we will) will want to add links it will have to be at the very end after the final PDF of the document is created. Thanks for your help.

[Dov Isaacs]

All this having been said, would you and others be interested in an option by which annotations in placed PDF for InDesign would be preserved?

          - Dov

[CyndeeM]

I have never had to deal with annotations in PDFs, so it isn't relevant to me.

[BobLevine]

YES! I admit that I wouldn’t use it all the time, but it would certainly help during reviews. But it would be far more beneficial if we could keep at least some interactivity such as bookmarks and hyperlinks.

[Dov Isaacs]

Hyperlinks are reasonably easy to implement, but bookmarks, not so easy. Part of the problem is exactly where to place them in the container document's bookmarks (assuming it already has any).

Quite a few PDF “features” are actually implemented via annotations including forms, multimedia, watermarks, etc. And many times when one receives a PDF file, it turns out that there is content that looks like it is part of the base PDF file, but in fact is annotation content that simply “disappears” when placed into InDesign or Illustrator.

Also, FYI, PDF/X-6 will allow for most annotations including forms and hyperlinks! (PDF/X-6 due likely in 2019).

No promises here, but wanted to test the waters amongst knowledgeable users.

          - Dov

[Steve Werner]

Great news, Dov!

So it sounds like someone would consciously need to select PDF/X-6 as a PDF preset for annotations to be included. They would have to have to use an application and application version which supports the preset. And, assuming it was to be printed as opposed to just being viewed, it would have be printed by a modern version RIP to process the PDF. Right?

[Laubender]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Dov+Isaacs  wrote

All this having been said, would you and others be interested in an option by which annotations in placed PDF for InDesign would be preserved?

          - Dov

Hi Dov,

absolutely.

That would be phantastic.

Of course this should be an option in the import process: "Preserve Annotations and Hyperlinks"

And an option in the export process as well: "Export Annotations and Hyperlinks".

Regards,
Uwe