Converting Word Hyperlinks into Acrobat

[CEB]

Can anyone tell me how to get my Word links to convert in Adobe Acrobat? I
am using Acrobat 8.0 Standard, Microsoft Word 2003, and Windows XP Home
Edition. When I converted an e-book (363 pages) I wrote in Microsoft Word
2003 to a .PDF file using Acrobat 8.0 Standard, I had a problem with the
conversion of hyperlinks. The hyperlinks in the table of contents converted
just fine. Those hyperlinks were generated in Word using the
"Insert/Reference/Index and Tables/Table of Contents" tabs. However, I
inserted many other hyperlinks throughout the Word document using the "Copy"
and "Paste as Hyperlink" functions under the "Edit" tab. Those hyperlinks
link words to the glossary, appendices, and other sections of the document.
After the conversion to .PDF, all those "Copy/Paste as Hyperlink" hyperlinks
link back to page 1 of the Acrobat document instead of linking to the
sections of the document I assigned them to in Word.

Thanks,

Chuck Bagby
San Antonio, TX

 

[Idaho Word Man]

I hope my advice will be accurate in Acrobat 8.0 (I still use 7.0).

There's more than one way to create a PDF from a Word file. On my machine,
I have a toolbar in Word and I also have an Adobe PDF print driver.

If I use the print driver, all I get is a picture of the file. No TOC, no
bookmarks, no hyperlinks, nothing. Just a picture of the pages. If I use
the toolbar icon, or if I create the PDF from within Acrobat (Create PDF from
file), everything works.

It sounds to me like you're printing to the Adobe PDF print driver if your
hyperlinks don't work.

I hope this helps.

Fred

 

[CEB]

Fred,

I was not using the Adobe PDF print driver. I was using the Adobe PDF
toolbar in Word 2003. I tried a conversion through the “Create PDF from
file†within Acrobat as you suggested, but the results were the same. The
table of contents links work as they should, but the links I created using
the "Edit/Copy/Paste as Hyperlink" functions within Word did not convert
correctly to PDF. Within the Acrobat PDF conversion, when I click on those
links created in Word with the “Edit/Copy/Paste as Hyperlinkâ€, the little
hand shows up, but every one of those links goes back to the first page of
the document instead of to the location I assigned them to in Word. A friend
told me that it sounds to him like the “anchor tags†of the links created
using the “Edit/Copy/Paste as Hyperlink†within Word are not converting
correctly within the Acrobat document. When another friend of mine converted
my document using Acrobat 7.0, he had the same flawed results. Got any other
ideas?

Chuck

 

[Lene Fredborg]

I have made a test using Adobe Acrobat 7 (do not have version 8) and also
came to the result that Acrobat has a problem. Actually, I also tested what
happened in Adobe Acrobat 6 and the result was even worse: in the PDF file,
the hyperlinks pointed to the original Word file (when converting the .doc to
PDF, error messages popped up telling that bookmarks were missing).

In Word, when you create a hyperlink using the Paste as Hyperlink command, I
can see that Word adds a hidden bookmark named "_Hlk" followed by a unique
number. The bookmark surrounds the content you copied before pasting as
hyperlink. Acrobat seems to have problems with the bookmark and hyperlink
combination.

I create a lot of PDF files, also files including a lot of links. However, I
never use the Paste as Hyperlink command so I have not seen the problem
before, nor have I seen bookmarks of the type "_Hlk".

A suggestion:
If you replace your hyperlinks by ordinary cross-references (as created via
Insert > Reference > Cross-reference), Acrobat will be able to create correct
links. If your references point to items that are not by default listed in
the Cross-reference dialog box (headings, numbered items, etc.), those places
need to be bookmarked first - but this has already been done! You have your
_Hlk bookmarks, and as far as I can test, they will be carried correctly to
the PDF file if they are used by cross-reference fields.

The next step is to find an easy way to change your hyperlink fields to
cross-reference fields (i.e. fields of the type REF) without having to create
them one by one. You should be able to use Find/Replace. If you toggle field
codes (Alt+F9), you will see that the code inside your hyperlinks is
something like:
HYPERLINK \l "_Hlk159264263" \l "1,0,7,0,,This is a test"
And you should end with something like:
REF _Hlk159264263 \h
You may need more switches depending on what you want the field to show.

See this article for help on using find replace with wildcards:
http://www.gmayor.com/replace_using_wildcards.htm

About the Adobe Acrobat settings in Word:
In Word, I think you will need to check your settings in Adobe PDF menu >
Change Conversion Settings > Settings tab. I think you need to turn on these
options: "Add links to Adobe PDF" and "Add bookmarks to Adobe PDF" (may be
named and placed differently in version 8). Also make sure that "Convert Word
Headings to Bookmarks" on the Bookmarks tab is turned on.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[CEB]

Following your instructions, the hyperlinks within the Acrobat conversion
from Word seem to work now - almost. I created a bookmark of the word on a
page to which I want to hyperlink, and then I inserted a hyperlink to that
bookmark. However, when I click the hyperlink, I am taken to the top of the
page on which the bookmarked word is located instead of directly to the word
itself. I need to go precisely to the bookmarked word on the page instead of
to the top of the page. For instance, I have bookmarked words within the
glossary, and need to go directly to the word in the glossary instead of to
the top of the page on which that word is located. Any ideas how to resolve
this problem? Thanks for your help so far!

Chuck

 

[Lene Fredborg]

I am glad to hear that things work better now.

I think that the problem with your new hyperlink is the same as with the
ones created using "Paste as Hyperlink" - i.e that Acrobat in general does
not convert them correctly.

Try this:
Keep your new bookmark. Instead of the hyperlink, insert a cross-reference
to that bookmark as you did in all other places (via Insert > References >
Cross-reference).


--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word