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Internal hyperlinks stop working when combining two pdf files

Forum Index > PDF Creation > Internal hyperlinks stop working when combining two pdf files
2010-11-12 17:49:54
souicat
Registered: Nov 12 2010
Posts: 3
Answered

I am new to the forum so please forgive me if this dilemna has already been addressed somewhere else in the forum (I couldn't find it).
 
Software utilized: Acrobat9, FrameMaker9, MS Word 2007, Windows XP Pro
 
The goal is to combine two pdf files both created via Acrobat 9:
- pdf A: a pdf created from a FrameMaker 9 book of files
- pdf B: a second pdf from a Microsoft Word 2007 file with several internal hyperlinks (hyperlinks to other places within the same document). This file was saved into Word from an .php file with internal links. The internal links work properly in pdf B AFTER conversion so long as this pdf file remains uncombined with pdf A. By the way, the first two pages of this file are all hyperlinks to various portions of the rest of the file, which is a long table. Manual editing/linking of hyperlinks is greatly discouraged because of time and worry of making a manual error.
 
** Failed Method 1 ** Tried to combine these two files by opening pdf A and using Acrobat's Document > Insert Pages > From File to insert the entire content of pdf B directly to the back of pdf A. The result is that hyperlinks are retained but are distorted so they do not jump to the right location; they are linked to completely wrong areas of the document when clicked. Some links are even to pdf A portion of the pdf, when all the links should remain in the pdf B portion of the file.
 
** Failed Method 2 ** Also tried to combine the pdf files using Acrobat's Combine > Merge files into a single PDF. The result is that that all of the hyperlinks seem to be disabled. Floating over these hyperlinks, the cursor changes to a finger correctly showing they are (supposed to be) hyperlinks, but these hyperlinks totally doen't work or attempt any jump when clicked.
 
***** PITA secondary issue *****
The whole reason why I am separately creating and then combining two pdf files is that I am primarily using FrameMaker 9 to create the source files and I was unable to find a way to pull in an .php file into Frame without losing the internal hyperlinks within. Therefore, I had to create pdf A from the Frame document and pdf B from the .php document (after I successfully saved it and modified it as a .docx file). If anyone knows how to bring in .php file content with internal links intact into FrameMaker (or have an altogether different method) PLEASE DO SHARE. Then I can bypass the need to combine two pdfs.
 
Please help, oh wise ones! Thanks in advance.
 
Judy :-)

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 9.3, Windows
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2010-11-14 17:24:34
#1
rbogie
Registered: Apr 28 2008
Posts: 432
try this: 1) create a multi-page pdf with blank pages equal in number to the number of pages of pdf.B (let's name it 'blank.pdf'); 2: insert blank.pdf in pdf.A (after the last page of pdf.A); verfy that hyperlinks in pdf.A continue to function (there should not be a problem); 3: replace all the aforementioned blank pages in pdf.A with pdf.B.
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2010-11-15 18:20:28
#2
souicat
Registered: Nov 12 2010
Posts: 3
Thank you so much for responding!

I tried what you wrote (created the blank document using page breaks in MS Word 2007) but it did not work (specifically, the hyperlinks in the original pdf B). However, my Acrobat and Reader has been freezing constantly all day which is a brand new issue as of today. If Acrobat and/or Reader does work, it works VERY slowly. I am not sure if your suggestion not working is partly a result of whatever is causing this ridiculous slowness... any other suggestions in the meanwhile? I see in http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/403/kb403613.php that I may need to reinstall and need to ask IT for help.
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2010-11-23 17:01:34
#3
souicat
Registered: Nov 12 2010
Posts: 3
Accepted Answer
Thank you, Reid, for helping me work out a solution offline. A modified version of the steps above is provided below. Software info: Acrobat 9, .php to Word 2007 (pdf B origin), FrameMaker 9 (pdf A origin) and Windows XP Pro operating system.

CREATE PDF B
1) By first preparing the source file which is to become pdf B by opening the .php file and saving it as a .docx file. Format this document as necessary in Word, or copy contents of this document into a separately formatted .docx file that will become pdf b.
2) Insert blank pages equal to the number and placement of pages in pdf A in front of the content in .docx file.
3) Rename the .docx file to the final document name before converting it to pdf (i.e., if the final document name is to be abc.pdf then create this pdf from the properly renamed originating file, i.e., abc.docx)
4) In Word, save document (i.e., abc.docx) as a .pdf retaining the "final" name (i.e., abc.pdf)

INSERT PDF A into B
1) Insert pdf A in front of pdf B and save. Hyperlinks in the pdf B portion should be retained.
2) Delete all dummy pages in between the combined pdf A and pdf B files. Hyperlinks in pdf B portion should still be retained.
3) Make Acrobat modifications as needed to final document.

DONE.
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