TIP 103: Working with Links in PDF

GoLive gives you powerful control over all aspects of hyperlinks in PDF files. The links can be checked, created, and edited in GoLive whether the PDF was generated with GoLive or another application.

Tool Tip Tip

If you patiently hover your cursor over a hyperlink for a moment, you'll see the link destination in the Tool Tip.

Checking Links in a PDF

When you convert a Web page into a PDF with GoLive, all the hyperlinks are retained. Open the PDF in GoLive and you can click the hyperlinks in PDF Preview mode (Figure 103a). A link to a local PDF file or Web page will open the file in GoLive; a link to an external URL will open your Web browser to that address; a link to a PDF page number or bookmark will change to that PDF view; and a link to an email address will open a properly configured email client.

Figure 103a. Open a PDF in GoLive to verify the links.

Creating Links in a PDF

It's easy to create a new link in a PDF because the tools work just like the rest of GoLive. Open the PDF in GoLive and click the PDF Link Editing tab at the top of the document window. Select the New Link Tool in the toolbar and click and drag in the PDF to define the region of the new link. Now define the link destination in the Inspector palette as usual (Figure 103b).

Figure 103b. Select the link region in PDF Link Editing mode and assign the hyperlink in the Inspector.

Changing Link Editing Color

The default highlight color for links in PDF files is blue, but you can easily change the color in the application preferences. Just look under Adobe PDF in the preferences and select a new color in the Document Display section. This can be helpful depending on the colors used in your PDF document.

Bonus Tip

You can also Command-click (Mac) or Control-click (Windows) to hyperlink a link region in a PDF with the point and shoot tool to define link destinations.

Linking from PDF to a Specific PDF Location

Did you know you could create a hyperlink to a specific page or bookmark within a multi-page PDF? Just select a link region in PDF Link Editing mode of an existing PDF, define the PDF you want to link to in the URL field of the PDF Link Inspector, and type the desired page or choose the named bookmark you want to link to (Figure 103c). This hyperlink will now open the linked PDF and automatically switch to the specified location.

Figure 103c. Link to a PDF and then enter the page number or choose the bookmark name.

LINKING FROM HTML TO A PDF BOOKMARK

Linking from a PDF is interesting, but linking from a Web page to a specific location in a PDF is even cooler. If you've taken the time and care to create well-designed PDF files, then you'll love the ability to link to the PDF bookmarks you've already created. Create a link from a Web page to a PDF and then click Edit PDF Anchor button in the Inspector palette. Now in the PDF Anchor Editing dialog you can choose which bookmark or page number you want to link to (Figure 103d). You can even choose whether the PDF displays the bookmarks tab, the thumbnails tab, or just the page.

Figure 103d. Link to a PDF with bookmarks and then pick from the list in the Inspector.

From Anchors to Bookmarks

HTML anchors become named bookmarks when you convert Web pages to PDF with GoLive.