Create PDF File With Usable Hyperlinks

There are a lot of different "print-to-PDF" type programs out there (for instance, doPDF) that will allow you to save many types of files to a PDF-format. I have yet to try many of these programs. What I am looking for is a program that will allow me to save a file as a PDF (for instance, from a web-page). Ideally, when I go to open that saved PDF file at a later time, I want to be able to open the embedded hyperlinks within the file, instead of just having the link be underlined.

Or, to look at this question from a different perspective:
Is there a program out there that will allow me to open the hyperlinks within a (pre-saved) PDF file?

Given my limited budget, I would prefer freeware, but might be able to scrounge-up a few dollars for a pay program.

Thank you for you help.

 

http://forums.primopdf.com/showthread.php?t=496
two pages, Google "pdf file with hyperlinks"
Hope you can find a solution...
Bug

 

I use pdf995 to convert a church newsletter from a Word document to a PDF document. I then upload the PDF to the website. Web URLs and email links embedded in the PDF document do open when I view the PDF in Adobe Reader 8.1.3.

Note that the getting pdf995 fully installed requires a 2-step download, as you'll see if you visit http://www.pdf995.com/ and proceed to the download page.

 

Foxit Reader saves PDF's with hyperlinks (with a watermark) and will go to a website if hyperlinked on any other PDF your looking at.

 

I use primo when I need to convert to a pdf and a FF addon called download pdf. The addon also adds an icon on FF's toolbar that I can click to save a webpage as a pdf or email the webpage as a pdf.
Normally when I view any pdf online with the addon, it offers the options to view as an html, view as a pdf or download the pdf.

 

But, will primo create PDF documents with workable hyperlinks in the document? I think that's OP's basic issue.

 

Thank you for your feedback!

Finally had a chance to try out the suggestions.

1) Installed PrimoPDF. Saved (Print-to-PDF) a few different web-pages to check the hyperlink functionality. Opened the pdf's in both Adobe Reader and Foxit Reader, but the links themselves did not work within the file; they were underlined or highlighted in a different color only.

2) Did a search of Firefox add-ons and installed PDF Download (no biggie, I think plodr may have had the name backwards as I didn't immediately see anything called Download PDF). Saved (Save-Page-As-PDF) a few web-pages and then opened the corresponding saved pages in both Adobe and Foxit Reader. Clicked on a few hyperlinks and the links opened in a different browser window.

3) Installed Pdf995, both stages. Followed the same procedure as in #1. Hyperlinks did not work (underlined or highlighted in a different color only).

Conclusion:
#2, the PDF Download (Firefox add-on), seemed to work for me while, unfortunately, the others did not.

Notes:
-- I don't know if it matters or not, but I uninstalled DoPDF prior to trying out the suggestions.
-- Also, if options #1 and #3 have worked for someone else, then perhaps I did something wrong on my end.
-- I didn't try out these suggestions with IE or any other browser or application (such as Word) yet; only used Firefox.

You guys have been great. Thanks again for your help!

 

Let's do a test. If you open http://hosanna-lutheran.org/newsletters/2009/2009-02.pdf and scroll down to pages 4 and 5, you'll a hyperlink on each of those pages in the right column. Do they open a website for you?

This is one of the newsletters converted from a Word document to a PDF document using pdf995.

 

I opened a blank document in Word 2003, typed one sentence, followed by a hyperlink, then converted it to PDF using PrimoPDF. The hyperlink works. The file is here: http://www.geocities.com/daderolph/MicrosoftWordDocument1.pdf. So, I see that both pdf995 and PrimoPDF work for me.

 

@usafveteran

YES, I am confirming that your 2 tests worked for me. Thank you. I also created some simple MS Word 2003 documents and Saved-As-Pdf using PrimoPDF and Pdf995, as you did, just to ensure that I could do it properly. Happy to say that those tests worked as well.

To clarify the statements of my earlier conclusions (and any accompanying miscommunication / misinterpretation), I was trying to convey that, for saving web-pages from Firefox, both PrimoPDF and Pdf995 did not result in usable hyperlinks in my tests (again, perhaps I did something wrong?). I had not tested them using any other applications and was not trying to suggest that they would not work in Word or PowerPoint, for example. I certainly don't want to give the impression of offending any MajorGeeks (or MinorGeeks for that matter).

I appreciate the help!

Cheers.

 

RL126, I just recognized a point I overlooked before. You say you Saved-As-Pdf. How are you doing that?

When I say I converted a Word document to a PDF document, I mean I "printed" to PDF. In other words, pdf995 and PrimoPDF appear in my system as printers; that is, if I open Control Panel and then open Printers and Faxes, pdf995 and PrimoPDF are shown there as printers. So, when I convert a Word document to a PDF document, I select the Print command in Word, from the File menu, then select pdf995 or PrimoPDF as the printer. Have you tried this technique?

Edit: By the way, I don't know how you can Saved-As-Pdf. When I you the Save As command in Word, I have many options for saving, but PDF is not one of them. The conversion must be done via a Print command.

 

I know Open Office "saves" to PDF and FoxIt reads the hyperlink fine. Just successfully tested it myself.

 

However, since RL126 has Microsoft Office, I doubt he wants to install another office suite. Programs such as pdf995, PrimoPDF, and other PDF converters are much smaller programs to download than OpenOffice, which is about 128MB.

And, with a PDF converter properly installed as a "printer", he can print anything to a PDF document.

 

@usafveteran
PrimoPDF and Pdf995 are installed as printers on my machine. You are correct in that for MS Word I should have stated "Print", and then selected the corresponding printer (PrimoPDF or Pdf995) to "print to", instead of saying "Save As PDF". My BAD! I think I got a little confused with my programs because Firefox has a "Save Page As PDF" option in the menu. I believe this added option (Save Page As PDF) is a result of installing the PDF Download add-on. BTW, an icon also gets added to the Firefox toolbar.


@PapaDuke
Thanks for the info on OpenOffice. Easy as it may be to learn OpenOffice, I have enough trouble trying to keep straight the programs I already have, so I'd prefer not to have to learn another one right now.

 

UPDATE:
I've been using PDF Download (Firefox add-on) for a few days now. For the most part, it works reasonably well. My only complaint (if I can call it that) is that there have been a few times when I wanted to convert a webpage to a pdf file but couldn't because their server was too busy. Other than that, I haven't come across any other issues.

 

Perhaps the PDF Download (Firefox add-on) has some advantage over using pdf995 or PrimoPDF to convert web pages to PDF but I really don't see any aspect of this that moves me toward installing PDF Download (Firefox add-on). If I want to convert a web page to a PDF document, I just use pdf995 or PrimoPDF, same as with Word files or whatever.

 

I actually run both. I haven't converted a web page to a pdf. I use the FF addon because of the choices I get. When I click on a pdf link, I get a popup box that allows me to view the pdf, download the pdf or view the item as html. I like the choice of being able to decide if I want to view it or just download it.

I use primopdf to convert word docs to pdfs. My husband works on a newsletter that gets taken to a commercial printer. The printer prefers everything in pdf. When he is done editing, I convert the docs to pdfs then burn them to a CD. The printer gets the CD and prints the newsletter.