How to add a link to PDF

This article will tell you how to add a link to PDF with Foxit PDF Editor.

Add a link

The Link command enables you to add a link with the shape of rectangle on the PDFs.  

To add a rectangle link, please do the following:

• Choose Edit > Link.
• Position the cursor on the place you want to add the link, hold and drag your mouse button to draw a rectangle. (Tip: In a tagged PDF, you can create a link directly from selected text by right-clicking the selected text and choosing Create Link… from the context menu, with the link tag automatically created at the same time.)

Tip: To draw a square link, press the Shift key when you hold and drag your mouse button.

• Pops up the Create Link dialog box. Specify the appearance and destination of the link.

Appearance

A.      Thickness – the thickness of the four sides of the rectangle. The higher of the value, the thicker of the sides. You can choose the thickness from 0-12, while the default is 1.

B.      Border Style – the style of the rectangle’s border. There are three types of the border styles:

Solid: the border is solid, but not hollowed out.

Dashed: the border is drawn as a dashed line.

Underline: the sides are visible except the underline.

Three types of border style

C.      Highlight – the effect when you click the rectangle link. There are four types of the highlighting effects:

None: doesn’t change the appearance of the link.

Invert: changes the link’s color to its opposite.

Outline: changes the link’s outline color to its opposite.

Inset: creates the appearance of an embossed rectangle.

Four types of highlight

D.      Color – the border color of the rectangle. Click the color button to choose any colors you like, or you may choose Other Color to add a customized color. The default color is red.

Destination

The destination refers to any point or location, for example, a web page, a named file or position the link goes to. There are four options for you to choose:

A. Go to a page view – designate the link to a specific page view. Not only can you designate the link to a page in the current PDF, but you can also set the link to the page in another PDF. Also, you may change the current zoom setting and then set the position.

To go to a page view, choose this option, click the Next button and do one of the following:

²  Set the position in current document – scroll the current document, go to a new position where you want to set and click Set this position.

²  Set the position in a local PDF document – click the Open button on the Quick Access toolbar of the application window > select the PDF you want to set position to > scroll this document and go to a position where you want to set > click Set this position.

²  Set the position in a PDF file attachment – open the PDF file that contains PDF file attachments > click the Attachments icon in the Navigation pane to open the Attachments panel > open the file attachment by double click > scroll through the file attachment and go to a position where you want to set > click Set this position.

Note: 

1. The new PDF document should be opened in a new tab in the existing window but not a new window. While setting the position, you can press Ctrl + mouse scroll to change the page magnification. Before setting the position, you can click Cancel to cancel your operation, if necessary.

2. The linked local PDF documents are saved in your local disks. You need to send the parent PDF document and the linked documents to users to ensure that the linked documents can be opened. However, the linked PDF file attachments are always saved with the PDF document.  

²  Change the view magnification — scroll in the current document or another document > go to a new position where you want to set > change the magnification of the position > click Set this position.

²  Click Cancel to cancel out of your operation.

B. Go to a named position – designate the link to a named position that has been set by the creator of the current document.

To go to a named position, choose this option and click the Next button > select a named position for the pop-up list > click OK.

Note: An empty pop-up list indicates that no position has been named by the document’s creator.

C. Open/execute a file – designate the link to open another file. To do this, please follow the steps below:

²  Choose Open/execute a file > click the Next button > select the destination file and click Select.

D. Open a web page – designate the link to open a web page. Do the following:

²  Choose Open a web page > click the Next button > enter the URL of the destination web page or click the drop-down button to select a web site you have opened before.

E. Others (use action property page) – add an action to the link. Please refer to the instructions on “The Actions tab for the button properties” for more details.

Move or resize a link

You can move and resize the link after you create it.

• Select the Link command or the Select Annotation command, and then move the cursor over the link until the cursor turns into an arrow.  
• Then do one of the following:

A.      To move the link, drag it to the desired area.

B.      To resize the link, drag any corner point to adjust.

Delete a link

• Select one of the link commands or the Select Annotation command, and then move the cursor over the link until the cursor turns into an arrow.
• Select the link you want to delete.
• Press the Delete key.