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Standards & Accessibility (tagged PDF)

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PDF/A results in non-functional links in Table of Contents -- Normal?

Jun 28, 2012 1:16 PM

Categories: Windows, Macintosh Tags: #pdf #table_of_contents #links #conversion #accessibility #pdf/a #standards

Hey,

Got a quick Q here - I recently converted a .docx into the PDF/A 1-b (2005) standard, but for whatever reason, save the computer that did the actual conversion, the links in my Table of Contents no longer function.

If I use Preflight to remove the PDF/A tag, the links work OK. Is there something about PDF/A that removes linking functionality that I'm not aware of? These links on my document simply move to different parts of the document, nothing too fancy.

Thanks.

819 Views 4 Replies Latest reply: Test Screen Name, Jul 14, 2012 2:52 PM

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1. Alec Molloy,

Jul 9, 2012 2:29 PM in reply to Aspyred

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The PDF/A is a specialised format. It is used for archival purposes by many governments worldwide. As the standard was developed with archiving in mind, the format purposefully does not include support for hyperlinks (even ones between pages) as they can degrade over time.

Make sure you convert to PDF Interactive instead.

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2. Aspyred,

Jul 10, 2012 7:08 AM in reply to Alec Molloy

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Hey Alec,

Thanks for the response! I'm glad at least know PDF/A doesn't support links, even internal ones. My thought was that we like to archive documents that can have hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages. Without links, it seems quite onerous to navigate such a document. I guess Bookmarks would be the 'solution' there for PDF/A?

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3. Alec Molloy,

Jul 10, 2012 9:35 AM in reply to Aspyred

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Yes, if you are going to use the PDF/A format, you will need to use bookmarks as they are self-contained.

Cheers.

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4. Test Screen Name,

Jul 14, 2012 2:52 PM in reply to Alec Molloy

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Hmmm. I hadn't heard of this limitation. Indeed, http://www.pdfa.org/2011/08/pdfa-–-a-look-at-the-technical-side/ says "With regard to hyperlinks, the special ‘Link’ annotation type is permitted with or without activated ‘Appearance’. " Maybe this document is being generated with a different kind of annotation.

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