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Links in pdf files won't work right...

by Mike Shain
5 replies
Hi again Warriors...

I am having problems with links in my PDF files.

The links work fine if I use the actual url, but when I try to make it into a text link - Click here - it does not work.

I have tried Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office and Open Office and Adobe Pro 7 & Adobe Pro 9 - all the same results.

Any idea how I can make a workable text link so I don't have to use full urls?

Thanks for any help!
#files #links #pdf #work
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Shain
    Nevermind - I found a way to do it with Microsoft Office.

    I tried right clicking the file and choosing Convert to PDF - it made a pdf file but the links were not clickable.

    I tried to open the document with Nitro PDF and creating a pdf that way. Again it would make a pdf but the links were not clickable.

    I tried printing to adobe pdf pro - that made a pdf but the links were not clickable.

    Finally I looked around Microsoft Office and found a tab labeled Add-Ins. Click this tab and it shows Nitro PDF. You just select Settings and check Add links to PDF. Close settings, select Convert to PDF and you are all set.

    There still has to be something wrong if this is the only way I could create clickable text links...

    Thanks anyway.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve Diamond
      It's a common problem that many PDF ebooks suffer from. Apparently their authors weren't as observant or persistent as you. Many of the existing PDF conversion tools just don't handle this situation correctly.

      I'm glad you found a solution but I'm surprised to hear that you had this problem with OpenOffice. In my experience that is the most flexible and reliable way to create PDFs. In fact I've tried deliberately to make OpenOffice fail at this, and I haven't succeeded.

      Are you running the latest OpenOffice.org release, version 3?

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Shain
        Hi Steve,

        Thanks for your reply.

        Yes I am using the latest version of Open Office (v3) - I just downloaded and installed it last night after doing a search here and finding that someone recommended it for eBook creation...

        After reading your post I went back to Open Office and tried again using the Export to PDF function and it did create a pdf with a clickable link, however nothing happened when you clicked it.

        On a hunch I restarted my laptop - lo and behold the link worked fine after the reboot. So I guess the good news I can use both Open Office and Microsoft Office.

        Thanks again for your help!
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by Steve Diamond View Post

        In fact I've tried deliberately to make OpenOffice fail at this, and I haven't succeeded.
        If you try to fail and don't succeed, what have you done?
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  • Profile picture of the author ghayth
    Unfortunaely, the only way I know of to cleanly make links say whatever you like is go big. Buy Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word and it works flawelessly. Word is great at this. I use this feature (right click, Edit Hyperlink) every day in Word before I convert to PDF. Yeah, it's spendy, but I get THE most functional and easy to navigate PDF ever.
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