Links lost from Word to PDF

[chapmanj]

It seemed like my conversion of word docx files used to convert to pdf and would retain the hyperlinks that had been created. But lately it hasnt been automatic. What am I missing? How do I ensure that the carefully placed hyperlinks in my word document make it over into my Adobe PDF files.

Using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC ver. 2017

[gkaiseril]

You need to make sure you have set the "PDF Maker" preference correctly. Select the "ACROBAT" ribbon tab and on the far left click on the "Preferences" button. A pop-up window will open and provide various tabs that will allow you to set the conversion options. On the "Settings" tab make sure the "Add links" option is selected.  You may want to also check the "Create Bookmarks" option and then use the "Bookmark" tab to select what Word bookmarks or structures you want to use to create the bookmarks. After you have finished making your selections, click "OK" and then use "Create PDF" Button to create the PDF.

Do not print to the Adobe PDF printer.

If you do not have the "ACROBAT"  ribbon item or it is not active then you need to enable the PDF Maker add-in to MS Office.

[chapmanj]

In my Word for Mac 2016 I have an Acrobat tab on the right end of my Word ribbon. (why hadn't I noticed that before?) I have two icons- Create PDF and Preferences. Preferences only shows me one option--indicating that "You can create high quality, rich and accessible PDFs using Adobe Create PDF Cloud service" and then has a box to click for "Prompt for using Adobe Create PDF Cloud service" and then click OK. I've done it both with the box clicked and without it and the resulting PDF still doesn't bring over my links.

[Test Screen Name]

If you weren't using the Acrobat ribbon before, you weren't using Acrobat, I'm thinking.

[svhk]

This problem probably relates to mine, which is that Word fields are converted into gibberish.

Specifically: Word field { FILENAME /* MERGEFORMAT } becomes 'ba182097-921f-4815-af12-91d25b59f547'

(Word 15.37 on Mac, using 'Create PDF' tool; both programs up to date)

As for the Preferences tab, this is what it gives:

Any suggestion would be welcome. Thank you.

[acrobaticus]

This is the only option I can see too. And Acrobat Pro uploads any PDF automatically into the cloud!!!!!

[Guest]

export your word doc to pages add bookmarks and links or TOC and it works great

[Test Screen Name]

I'm thinking that IS the name and that it is the name because Actobat is working on a temporary copy. Just speculation.

[svhk]

I've speculated in the same direction. This is likely to be the code Word and Acrobat DC use for the exchange.

[Test Screen Name]

Doesn't for me. What do you do that makes it upload to the cloud? What version do you have?

[acrobaticus]

Latest Acrobat Pro for Mac. Creative cloud. When I choose create PDF from File, the document is uploaded to the cloud, then a PDF is downloaded and displayed. If I unplug my Mac, the conversion doesn't work, there is an error.

If I go to Help>sign out, then I cannot use any Creative Cloud App anymore.

So I can't use the paid Acrobat Pro to generate PDFs without uploading them to their Cloud? What about confidential documents?!

[acrobaticus]

What version are you using?

[Dov Isaacs]

The Cloud conversion option is available on the MacOS version of Acrobat Pro simply because Office for Mac doesn't provide sufficient information to Acrobat to propagate links, tagging, etc. as it does under Windows.

The Cloud conversion, while it has some drawbacks, uses the Windows version of Office for the conversion and thus, has the potential for higher quality PDF with more features than the PDFMaker feature for Office for Mac can provide.

          - Dov

[acrobaticus]

Finally, an official answer, thank you Dov. Please, how to I turn this off or make it optional? I see on other users Macs who don't have a Creative Cloud license, but use Acrobat Pro through a site license that the file is not uploaded. Data protection legislation is not only an issue in the UK but also in in the EU.

And speaking of cloud conversion: the fonts are wrong once it is converted (makes sense, since I have my special paid font only locally), so where is the benefit of cloud conversion.

Please follow up on this issue, I really need your help here. Thank you

[Test Screen Name]

I cant check my version right now. What type of file are you trying to convert, do you have the relevant app installed, and did you used to be able to convert locally? 

[acrobaticus]

A Microsoft Word document to PDF. It's a common case. Yes, MS Word is installed. Yes, it worked in Acrobat Pro offline before, I think this worked for the last 15 years I've been using Acrobat Pro.

[Test Screen Name]

Thanks for clarifying that Dov. You say it's an option - but how is it turned off, and is the user warned? In the UK we are just seeing a new swathe of data protection legislation, which means many of us are the wrong side of the law if we let this happen. Companies may detect "leakage" of files too, with serious disciplinary results.

[sbuckshum]

After hours of fiddling to no avail... Turns out we don't even need the Acrobat ribbon.

Use the built-in Word Save As PDF, and choose the "electronic distribution" option. Voila! Active links.

[acrobaticus]

No, then the images are compressed into oblivion. It's JPEG with the lowest settings possible. There is no control in MS Word on how this compression is handled.

[Debora23654095h5uv]

THANK YOU!!! 

I just spent an hour trying to figure out why using Acrobat to convert the Word Doc to PDF replaces my font (poppins becomes arial). I normally just use the save as option but that was getting rid of my links. So either convert and have to redo every font (NONE of the support online worked to fix - not embedding fonts, updating distiller, etc.) OR save as and have to recreate the links.

Now I can just save as - which preserves the fonts, and keeps the links!!!

[therealfrankfarm]

I am trying to convert a document created in Microsoft Word for Mac version 16.11.1 (180319) to PDF such that I have (a) the fonts I have chosen and (b) the hyperlinks I added in Word. I have spent the past hour failing at this seemingly simple task.

I can get a version of the document that has the fonts but not the hyperlinks. I can get a version of the document that has the hyperlinks but not the fonts. Frustratingly, I can’t get both in the same PDF.

The fonts I’m using in Word are Granjon and Helvetica Neue. In the document with hyperlinks, Granjon appears to have been substituted with Garamond, which is pretty close for a guess, but Helv Neue appears to have been substituted with Sylfaen, which is not correct at all. In Word, the Preferences button on the Adobe ribbon tab has only one checkbox—Prompt for using the Adobe Create PDF cloud service—and no other settings.

The only workaround I can think of is to generate both PDF versions, then use the edit links tool in Acrobat Pro to manually, tediously copy the links from the document that has them and paste them to the document that doesn’t, resizing each link frame’s width and height when needed. I’m hoping there is a better way. 😞

[try67]

How are you converting the Word file to PDF, exactly? What command are you

using?

[therealfrankfarm]

Hi, Gilad, thanks. Here are all the methods I tried:

1. in word > acrobat ribbon > create pdf > no
2. in word > acrobat ribbon > create pdf > yes
3. in word > file > print > save as pdf
4. in word > saved as pdf for electronic dist
5. in word > saved as pdf for printing
6. in word > file > print > open in preview
7. in word > file > save as adobe pdf > high quality print
8. in acrobat pro dc > file > create pdf from file
9. via the Apple Pages roundtrip method described at Re: Losing links when saving Word 2011 Mac to Acrobat Pro X 10.1.3 (Phillip M Jones, response #2)
10. uploaded to google docs then downloaded as pdf
11. in word > saved as doc then saved as pdf for electronic dist
12. in word > saved as rtf > opened in textedit > saved as pdf
13. in word > Document Cloud button > upload > save to OneDrive
14. in word > Document Cloud button > upload > download
15. Word to PDF - Convert your DOC to PDF for Free Online
16. opened in Apple Pages > file > print > save as Adobe PDF in smallest file size
17. opened in Apple Pages > exported as pdf

In #10 I tried the method suggested at Re: Losing links when saving Word 2011 Mac to Acrobat Pro X 10.1.3 (Sue the teacher, response #12) and this mostly resolved my problem—it has the correct fonts and the hyperlinks—except a WMF image is missing and a few other images are askew.

Wrong fonts, has hyperlinks, has WMF image = 2, 4,

Correct fonts, no hyperlinks, has WMF image = 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16

Correct fonts, has hyperlinks, missing WMF image = 10

Correct fonts, has hyperlinks, missing all images = 12

Ended in error: Could not save to OneDrive = 13

Correct fonts, has hyperlinks, has WMF image, missing one other image, some text lines wrap incorrectly = 17

I also found in Acrobat Pro DC: Tools > Create & Edit > Edit PDF > Link button dropdown in Edit PDF toolbar > Auto-Create Web Links from URLs, but this resolved the problem for only some of my urls that began with http:// or https:// and ignored those that didn’t.

I have Acrobat Pro DC for Mac, continuous release, version 2018.011.20038

Architecture: x86_64

Build: 18.11.20038.267465

AGM: 4.30.74

CoolType: 5.14.5

JP2K: 1.2.2.39492

Other possible workarounds I encountered but haven't tried yet:

• Open the Word document on a Windows computer with a recent (or same) version of Office and the same fonts, inspect it for line-break or other changes, then save as PDF.
• open in online version of Microsoft Word, save as PDF
• open in Microsoft OneDrive, download as PDF?
• reinstalling Acrobat Pro XI, 10, or 9
• open in OpenOffice or LibreOffice, save as PDF
• Acrobat -- Create Links from Partial URLs ($40)

Further reading:

• Losing links when saving Word 2011 Mac to Acrobat Pro X 10.1.3
• How to retain hyperlinks when converting Word docx to pdf
• hyperlinks in Word for Mac to PDF
• Word 2016 for mac not manage hyperlink when .doc is converted into .pdf
• Google search for pdf to word converters online

[annielyds97757308]

As of July 2019, the problem is still the same. No such luck of it being addressed.

[rodiauto]

I have to make a pdf of the product´s description of my website, i write it and print  ,then i choose print in pdf. The links are missing.

If i save the word documment, and then use acrobat to convert all goes fine.