In Adobe Acrobat (the application, not the .pdf reader) use the Link Tool to edit the hyperlinked text object. Remove the “Open a web link” action assigned by default to handle the hyperlinked text when clicked. Assign a new action to the linked text that will open the hyperlink in a new window.
Note: The links have to be established each time you create a PDF – they do not carry over from In Design or any other software.
1. Access the Link tool (Tools > Advanced Editing > Link Tool)
2. Right click on the hyperlinked text and select Properties
3. In the Link Properties dialog box click on the Actions tab
4. In the middle of the Actions panel in the Actions section click on the Open a web link action listed there to select it.
5. Click the Delete button located just below that section in the lower right corner. This removes the action from the list and the Actions section should now be empty.
6. In the Add an Action section right above the Actions section click on the Select Action drop down menu and select the Run a JavaScript action from the list.
7. Click the Add… button.
8. In the JavaScript Editor that opens up, click your cursor in the Create and Edit JavaScripts area, like you would in a word processor to begin typing, and type the following line:
app.launchURL("http://www.MySampleURL.com/someFolder/somePage.html", true);
9. Change the hyperlink text between the quotation marks to your desired URL.
Ex: app.launchURL("http://www.cnn.com", true);
Caution:
1. The code is case sensitive so make sure you typed app.launchURL NOT app.launchurl or some other case combination.
2. Make sure that you have quotation marks around your hyperlink URL.
3. Make sure there is a semicolon at the end of the line of code you just typed.
4. Make sure that the quotation marks are straight up and down – not on an angle.
10. Click OK to close the JavaScript Editor dialog box.
11. Click OK to close the Link Properties dialog box.
12. Save the .pdf and test your .pdf hyperlink by opening the .pdf document in a browser, click the link and check to see that it opens in a new browser window.