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

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
December 26, 2017
1 reply
15693 views

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.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Steve Werner

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:

Steve WernerCorrect answer

Community Expert

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:

CyndeeMAuthor

Inspiring

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

Dov Isaacs

Brainiac

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.

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

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)

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