Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

This wikiHow teaches you how to add hyperlinks to PDF documents that you have created in Adobe Illustrator. Unfortunately, the website address entered in Illustrator will not automatically convert to hyperlink when you publish a PDF file, but we can create clickable links using Adobe Acrobat or Adobe InDesign.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Creating Hyperlink Objects in Illustrator

1. 

   Open Illustrator. Double-click the yellow application icon that says "Who", click File (File) in the menu bar at the top of the screen and do one of the following:
   • Click Open ... (Open) and select a document to open an existing file.
   • Click New... (New) to create a new document.

   Note: If you add a hyperlink to Illustrator and hide it above the content that you want to use as the "button" of the hyperlink, the object won't be clickable after we export the Illustrator file to PDF. You can use Illustrator to arrange the text or image to be used into the clickable object of the hyperlink before creating the actual link in Acrobat or InDesign.

   
   

2. 

   Create hyperlink text. Skip this step if you want to place the hyperlink below the image. Unless you just want to import the hyperlink without integrating it into the text, the step of converting the text part of the PDF into a border is inevitable:
   • Click the button Selection Tool (Selection tool) with black pointer icon in upper left toolbar on left side of the window.
   • Click on the text to which you will insert the hyperlink.
   • Click an option Type (Enter) in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
   • Click an option Create Outlines (Create border) in the middle of the menu.
   • Click an option Object (Object) in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
   • Click an option Group (Groups) is near the top of the menu.

3. 

   
   
   The hyperlink's object arrangement. Click and drag the text or item to the position you want before proceeding.

4. 

   Save the document as PDF. After saving the document to PDF, you can continue to activate the link on Acrobat. To save the file:
   • Click File
   • Click Save As ... (Save as)
   • Enter a file name.
   • Choose Adobe PDF as file format.
   • Click Save (Save)
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Part 2 of 3: Adding hyperlinks on Acrobat

1. 

   
   
   Open a PDF file in Adobe Acrobat. Double-click the PDF file to open it (if Adobe Acrobat is your computer's default PDF reader). If the default PDF reader is another software:
   • Windows - Right click on the PDF file, select Open with and click Adobe Acrobat.
   • Mac Click the PDF file, click File, choose Open With and click Adobe Acrobat.

2. 

   Click Tools (Tools). This menu is in the upper left of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
   • On Windows, you may need to click a card View (View) at the top of the Acrobat window and select Tools.

3. 

   Choose Edit PDF (Edit PDF). This option is in the "Create & Edit" section near the top of the page. An editing toolbar and additional options will open at the top of the window.

4. 

   Choose Link (Link). This option is next to the link icon in the editing toolbar at the top of the page. A drop-down menu will appear.

5. 

   Click Add / Edit Web or Document Link (Add / edit web link or document). This option is at the top of the drop-down menu. The mouse pointer will then be a cross symbol.

6. 

   Create links. Click and drag the cursor up and down over the text or object that you want to use as a hyperlink, and then release the mouse button. A window will appear.
   • For example, if you want to add a link to the word "Click here", you need to drag the cursor from the upper left of the letter "N" in the word "Click" to the lower right of the "y" of the word "here" .

7. 

   Choose the pattern of the link. Select the "Link Type" drop-down box and choose whether the clickable rectangle you just selected will be visible or hidden. If you choose display links, you might consider:
   • Line Style (Line Style): Select the style of the border you want to display on the frame; solid, dashed, or underlined line.
   • Color (Color): Select a color for the border.
   • Highlight Style (Highlight Style): Choose how you want the link to behave when someone clicks it (only for specific PDF viewers).

8. 

   Choose the action of the link. This depends on the type of link you want to add:
   • Go to a Page View (Go to page view): Link to another page in PDF. Please click next (Next), go to the page of your choice and click Set Link (Set link).
   • Open a File (Open file): Select a file on your computer, click Select (Select), fill in the required options if prompted, and click OK.
   • Open a Web Page (Open website): Enter the website address you want to link to (the full address must include "https: //") then click Enter.

9. 

   Save the PDF file. Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or ⌘ Command+S (Mac) to save changes to PDF files. The linked content will start acting as a hyperlink, meaning you can click it to open the link. advertisement

Part 3 of 3: Adding hyperlinks on InDesign

1. 

   Open the PDF file in InDesign. Right click on the PDF file, click Open with (Open with) and select InDesign on the pop-up menu.
   • On the Mac, you can select PDF by clicking on the file, clicking File and choose Open With > InDesign.

2. 

   Click window (Window). This tab is at the top of the InDesign (Windows) or desktop (Mac) window. A drop-down menu will appear.

3. 

   Choose Interactive (Interactive). This option is in the middle of the drop-down menu. When you click that, another menu will pop up.

4. 

   Click Hyperlinks (Hyperlink). This option is near the bottom of the pop-up menu. A small window will pop up.

5. 

   Select the hyperlink text. Click and drag the mouse over the text that you want to use as the hyperlink's clickable content.

6. 

   Click the "New" button located in the middle of the row of options in the lower-right corner of the small pop-up menu. A large window will pop up.

7. 

   Click the "Link To" drop-down box at the top of the window. A drop-down menu will appear.

8. 

   Choose your link type. Click one of the following options from the "Link To" drop-down box.
   • URL - Create link to website.
   • File - Create a link to the file on your computer.
   • Page (Page) - Creates a link to a page in a PDF file.

9. 

   Create link. Depending on the type of link you just selected, do one of the following:
   • URL - In the text box "URL", you must enter the complete address (including the "https: //" part) of the website to be linked.
   • File Click the folder option to the right of the "Path" text box, then select the file and click Open (Open) or Choose (Choose).
   • Page - Select the number of pages you want to link.

10. 

    Click the button OK in the top right corner of the window. The hyperlink will be saved.

11. 

    Publish PDF files interactively. This is to ensure that the hyperlink in the PDF file is clickable:
    • Click File
    • Click Export ... (Export)
    • Enter a file name.
    • Choose Adobe PDF (Interactive) from the menu "Save as type" (Windows) or "Format" (Mac).
    • Click Save.
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Advice

• InDesign is useful if you want more interaction with the hyperlink used, but both Acrobat and InDesign are equally effective at adding links.

Warning

• Unfortunately any type of hyperlink added to Adobe Illustrator becomes an unavailable link when the file is exported to PDF format.