Hello, my name is Erin. I'm a professional copy editor
who shares writing tips for the real world on my blog at
ErinWrightWriting.com.
This tutorial explains how to create external links
in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
External links can be anything from
websites and social media profiles
to other PDFs stored on web accessible servers.
At the end of this tutorial I'll also show how to delete external links in PDFs,
just in case you change your mind.
Please note that Adobe's free PDF software Acrobat Reader
doesn't have a tool for creating links
If you need to create links but don't have access to Acrobat,
create the document with the links in Microsoft Word
and then convert the word file to a PDF.
To begin, select the Tools tab,
and then select the Edit PDF icon in the Tools pane.
Now, select the link down arrow in the Edit PDF toolbar,
followed by Add or Edit Web or Document Link from the drop-down menu.
Note that the Auto Create Web Links from URLs option
will automatically turn URLs written in your PDF into links.
However, I strongly suggest avoiding that option
because it cannot be undone.
After you've made your selection in the drop-down menu,
your selection cursor, which is the arrow,
will turn into a cross-hair style cursor.
With that cross-hair style cursor,
left click and hold as you drag a rectangle
around the text you want to turn into an external link.
Then, select Invisible Rectangle or Visible Rectangle
from the Link Type drop-down menu in the Create Link dialog box.
The invisible rectangle will be appropriate for most PDFs.
If you choose a visible rectangle, you can also select the line style, thickness, and color
from the Create Link dialog box.
Next, select Open a Web Page in the Link Actions section.
And then select the Next button.
Now, enter the external link in the Edit URL dialog box.
Followed by the OK button.
Finally, select the X to close the Edit PDF toolbar.
You can ensure that the link has been added
by hovering your cursor over the text.
A tooltip should appear showing the URL.
To delete a link in a PDF,
begin by selecting the selection tool, which is the arrow cursor,
to deselect any other tools currently in use.
Then, right-click on the text connected to the link.
Select Delete Link from the pop-up menu.
The options offered by this pop-up menu can be temperamental.
If you don't see Delete Link,
close the Edit PDF toolbar and then try again.
Adobe Acrobat won't tell you that the link has been deleted.
However, you can ensure that the link is gone by
hovering your cursor over the text.
If your cursor changes to a pointing finger,
the link hasn't been deleted.
The transcript for this tutorial appears on
ErinWrightWriting.com,
which is linked below along with my Adobe Acrobat playlist.
Feel free to leave me a comment
if you have a question about Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat
that you'd like me to address in the future.
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Thank you so much for watching!