I've finished my ebook in Atlantis. It exports to EPUB perfectly. When I attempt to print the PDF (as mentioned here: http://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/en/help/pdf.htm) the URLs are not embedded in the resulting PDF.
My research says that this method printing will always eradicate URLs as paper doesn't allow for URLs either.
What are my options? It's CRITICAL that my ebook have URLs. There's no compromising on that one.
Brandon
Preserving Hyperlinks In PDF Printing
Hi Brandon,
Unfortunately, as far as we are aware, none of the free offline PDF “virtual printers” will preserve the hyperlinks from the source documents.
However, you might want to try your luck at the following addresses. These free online converters normally preserve the hyperlinks from the source documents:
Online PDF-Converter
PDF Converter
Neevia Document Converter
Zamzar
Failing that, you’ll need to buy a dedicated software like Adobe Acrobat.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert
Unfortunately, as far as we are aware, none of the free offline PDF “virtual printers” will preserve the hyperlinks from the source documents.
However, you might want to try your luck at the following addresses. These free online converters normally preserve the hyperlinks from the source documents:
Online PDF-Converter
PDF Converter
Neevia Document Converter
Zamzar
Failing that, you’ll need to buy a dedicated software like Adobe Acrobat.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert
PDF and links
Gee, I wish I had seen this earlier. Maybe the original poster is still around and is checking the board.
Yeah, you probably have to buy a commercial PDF producer. But you do not have to buy Adobe. That is like buying a Rolls-Royce just to drive to the grocery store and the post office. You can get good PDF software for a lot less money.
Various programs are available. I use PDF-XChange. Check this link.
I use the Pro version, which is $79, but it looks as if the Standard version for $44 includes the same "PDF link" capabilities.
I ran a test just now. I created a one-sentence file in Atlantis. I used "Insert > Hyperlink" to create an embedded link to my website. It displays as the word "website" (you do not see the URL).
When I created the PDF, it had the typical blue link ("website"), but it did not work. I had to use my PDF producer (PDF-XChange) to make the link work. To do that I only had to use its "Tools > Link Tools > Advanced" feature. I drew a little rectangle around the word "website" and typed in the appropriate URL. This made the link active.
By the way, if I had just wanted to give the direct URL (instead of embedding it within the word "website"), I could just have printed to PDF with PDF-XChange and would not have had to draw the little rectangle and so forth. The URL is automatically active when you use PDF-XChange in that way.
I am sure that other fairly inexpensve PDF producers do the same thing.
I hope that all of this was clear.
Yeah, you probably have to buy a commercial PDF producer. But you do not have to buy Adobe. That is like buying a Rolls-Royce just to drive to the grocery store and the post office. You can get good PDF software for a lot less money.
Various programs are available. I use PDF-XChange. Check this link.
I use the Pro version, which is $79, but it looks as if the Standard version for $44 includes the same "PDF link" capabilities.
I ran a test just now. I created a one-sentence file in Atlantis. I used "Insert > Hyperlink" to create an embedded link to my website. It displays as the word "website" (you do not see the URL).
When I created the PDF, it had the typical blue link ("website"), but it did not work. I had to use my PDF producer (PDF-XChange) to make the link work. To do that I only had to use its "Tools > Link Tools > Advanced" feature. I drew a little rectangle around the word "website" and typed in the appropriate URL. This made the link active.
By the way, if I had just wanted to give the direct URL (instead of embedding it within the word "website"), I could just have printed to PDF with PDF-XChange and would not have had to draw the little rectangle and so forth. The URL is automatically active when you use PDF-XChange in that way.
I am sure that other fairly inexpensve PDF producers do the same thing.
I hope that all of this was clear.
Hyperlinks
I was not able to get the links to footnotes to work in PDF-XChange, either.
But at least people have free online and inexpensive desktop options to insert URL links.
Roland
But at least people have free online and inexpensive desktop options to insert URL links.
Roland
PDF LINKS FOR FOOTNOTES
I spent some time today working with the PDF link issue. Here is what I have discovered. If I have misconstrued anything, I apologize. I have a lot of experience with using links in HTML on the Internet, but I have never used links much in ordinary documents. I can tolerate correction if I am wrong about something.
WHAT NOT TO DO IN ATLANTIS
This is just about Atlantis, not about PDF yet.
First, when I talk about footnotes here, I am really talking about endnotes, which are more commonly used. But I am sure that everything applies to footnotes also.
Do not try to link directly from a footnote number to the footnote content (the endnote at the end of the document). You can make a bookmark in the footnote/endnote content, and you can even make the footnote number a hyperlink. It looks as if it will work, but when you save the file, close the file, and reopen it, the footnote number has ceased to be a superscript, and it does not work anymore.
At least that is the way I remember the course of the experiments. I will tell you that it is laborious and time-consuming to try various alternatives, and then you get a little confused, unless you have meticulously documented every step.
So forget that.
WHAT DOES WORK
You can hyperlink a critical word (even the word right before the footnote number) to a bookmark in the content of the footnote.
However, I discovered that you cannot do this for a word immediately before a footnote number. To create a link with the last word before the footnote number you have to put a space between the word and the following footnote number. If you do not have the space, things are all messed up when you reopen the file, and the link does not work, either.
I used a nonbreaking space (ctrl+shift+space). I did not try using a regular space, since I was afraid that a regular space would break in a line wrap somewhere.
CONVERSION TO PDF
The method that I described survived printing to PDF, but of course it was nonfunctional. Still, I had a blue hyperlink in appearance, if not in function.
So, using my commercial but inexpensive PDF producer, I created a hyperlink from the critical word to the page where the footnote content appears. I also created a bookmark for the footnote, and this bookmark will display in a navigation pane in a typical PDF viewer.
It may be possible to link directly to the bookmark from the hyperlink, but I did not see how. I seem to remember that with a previous PDF creator I was able to do that. These programs pretty much do the same things, but you often have to plow through terrible documentation to find out how to do things.
Here is a graphic that shows what the finished hyperlink and the endnote look like.
It is really helpful to invest in an inexpensive PDF creator if you are going to be making sophisticated PDFs.
Sorry that the graphic looks so big.
Roland
I spent some time today working with the PDF link issue. Here is what I have discovered. If I have misconstrued anything, I apologize. I have a lot of experience with using links in HTML on the Internet, but I have never used links much in ordinary documents. I can tolerate correction if I am wrong about something.
WHAT NOT TO DO IN ATLANTIS
This is just about Atlantis, not about PDF yet.
First, when I talk about footnotes here, I am really talking about endnotes, which are more commonly used. But I am sure that everything applies to footnotes also.
Do not try to link directly from a footnote number to the footnote content (the endnote at the end of the document). You can make a bookmark in the footnote/endnote content, and you can even make the footnote number a hyperlink. It looks as if it will work, but when you save the file, close the file, and reopen it, the footnote number has ceased to be a superscript, and it does not work anymore.
At least that is the way I remember the course of the experiments. I will tell you that it is laborious and time-consuming to try various alternatives, and then you get a little confused, unless you have meticulously documented every step.
So forget that.
WHAT DOES WORK
You can hyperlink a critical word (even the word right before the footnote number) to a bookmark in the content of the footnote.
However, I discovered that you cannot do this for a word immediately before a footnote number. To create a link with the last word before the footnote number you have to put a space between the word and the following footnote number. If you do not have the space, things are all messed up when you reopen the file, and the link does not work, either.
I used a nonbreaking space (ctrl+shift+space). I did not try using a regular space, since I was afraid that a regular space would break in a line wrap somewhere.
CONVERSION TO PDF
The method that I described survived printing to PDF, but of course it was nonfunctional. Still, I had a blue hyperlink in appearance, if not in function.
So, using my commercial but inexpensive PDF producer, I created a hyperlink from the critical word to the page where the footnote content appears. I also created a bookmark for the footnote, and this bookmark will display in a navigation pane in a typical PDF viewer.
It may be possible to link directly to the bookmark from the hyperlink, but I did not see how. I seem to remember that with a previous PDF creator I was able to do that. These programs pretty much do the same things, but you often have to plow through terrible documentation to find out how to do things.
Here is a graphic that shows what the finished hyperlink and the endnote look like.
It is really helpful to invest in an inexpensive PDF creator if you are going to be making sophisticated PDFs.
Sorry that the graphic looks so big.
Roland
Hi everybody,
The following free third-party application can save any RTF, DOC, DOCX document created in Atlantis to the PDF format. Hyperlinks to Web URLs, TOC items, and footnotes are preserved.
7-PDF Maker
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert
The following free third-party application can save any RTF, DOC, DOCX document created in Atlantis to the PDF format. Hyperlinks to Web URLs, TOC items, and footnotes are preserved.
7-PDF Maker
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert
7-PDF Maker
I had never heard of this one. I checked it out on the web. It is apparently pretty good.
However, I saw a warning that you should be careful when you install it, because it is loaded with, and I quote, "bloatware and crapware."
Usually you have options to let you decline the junk that you do not want, but be careful.
However, I saw a warning that you should be careful when you install it, because it is loaded with, and I quote, "bloatware and crapware."
Usually you have options to let you decline the junk that you do not want, but be careful.
Thanks, Robert
Thanks for answering, Robert.
I may give it a try myself, just strictly for the feature that we have been discussing.
But before I do ... I was wondering how the size of the created PDF compares to what you get with other PDF creators.
I may give it a try myself, just strictly for the feature that we have been discussing.
But before I do ... I was wondering how the size of the created PDF compares to what you get with other PDF creators.
I uploaded the same RTF sample file to the first 3 online converters mentioned above. The resulting PDFs weighed 79601, 87892, and 88053 bytes respectively. But none of these PDFs preserved the note hyperlinks.
The PDF file output by 7-PDF Maker weighed 413319 bytes. But all the hyperlinks were preserved, including those to the footnotes.
Note that 7-PDF Maker can create PDF/A-1 variants. The PDF/A-1 variant of the same RTF sample file weighed 438445 bytes. All hyperlinks were preserved too.
The PDF file output by 7-PDF Maker weighed 413319 bytes. But all the hyperlinks were preserved, including those to the footnotes.
Note that 7-PDF Maker can create PDF/A-1 variants. The PDF/A-1 variant of the same RTF sample file weighed 438445 bytes. All hyperlinks were preserved too.
Thanks
Thanks for the info, Robert.