4 ways to hyperlink a PDF. External links.

Let’s imagine the following scenario: you’ve got a PDF filled with lots of useful information. Everything is in the right place and there are many concepts explained, but still, you do feel that you should add some more clarifications so that your readers will see the bigger picture. You don’t want to cram it with supplementary information because you’ve already inserted enough, so what’s the best thing to do in this case? Easy peasy: you enrich your PDF with external links where your readers can go and get more data on a specific topic.

Keep on reading today’s article to discover different ways of how you can hyperlink your PDF and properly learn how to do it. Let’s get started.

How to hyperlink a PDF in Flipsnack

Upload your PDF in Flipsnack and add the links within our Design Studio. No need to install anything on your computer or learn how a new complicated software works as Flipsnack is the best PDF converter on the market. It’s really easy to turn your static PDF into an interactive flipbook – best PDF alternative ever conceived, filled with lots of external links. Let me present you 3 simple and smart ways in which you can hyperlink a PDF with Flipsnack:

1. Hyperlink layer
2. Direct link on the element
3. Auto-detect links

Let’s take each method one by one and get into more details.

1. Hyperlink layer

Once you have uploaded the PDF on our platform, go to our Design Studio and select Link -> Hyperlink to create a new hyperlink layer. Place it over the element which you want to become clickable, insert the link in the URL section, choose to open the link in the new tab, and also feel free to modify the color and opacity of the layer as you prefer.

2. Direct link on the element

This is the easiest and fastest way to add links to your PDF in Flipsnack. All you need to do is to click on the Draw link hotspot sticky icon on the top left corner in our Design Studio (or L on the keyboard). Then, draw the area where you want to add the link, insert the desired link in the URL section, and choose to open the link in the new tab if you want to. You can also change the color and the opacity of the layer. 

Keep in mind that any element introduced in the PDF with the Flipsnack’s Design Studio can become clickable, so feel free to select whatever element you wish.

3. Auto-detect links

Do you have many links in your PDF and you would like them to be clickable in the digital version, too? No problem. Upload the PDF in Flipsnack, go to the Customize tab, and check the Auto-detect links feature that you can find in the Other section, at the bottom of the page. In this way, the links will become clickable automatically. But don’t believe me, upload your PDF and try it yourself!

To make things even more easy for you, here’s a step by step tutorial on how to hyperlink a PDF in Flipsnack. Hopefully you’ll find it useful:

How to turn PDF into link in Google Docs

1. I suggest you gather all your information in a Google Docs file. All you need is a Google account that you can easily make and it’s also free.
2. Select the word or phrase you want to be hyperlinked.
3. Go to the Insert button that’s situated at the top of the document and then click on the Link button.
4. Write the destination of your URL, then hit Apply.
5. Turn your document to PDF. (Click File, then Download and select PDF Document)

How to add hyperlinks to your PDF in Word

1. Just like with Google Docs, you have to first select the word, phrase, or image you want to be hyperlinked.
2. Then, go to the Insert tab, and in the Links group, click on the Link button.
3. Select Existing File or Web Page and then type the web address in the Address box. 
4. Export your document as PDF. (Go to File, then Save as, and select Adobe PDF)

How to create links for your PDF in InDesign

1. Open the document that you want to add a hyperlink to.
2. Select the text, image, or area that you want to hyperlink.
3. Choose Window, then Interactive, then click on Hyperlinks to open the Hyperlinks panel.
4. Click on the top right button from the newly opened popup and select New Hyperlink. It will open a New Hyperlink dialog box. Make sure that the URL is selected in the Link to drop-down list and write the URL in the URL text field. Choose an appearance for the clickable text, then click OK.
5. Make sure that the Hyperlinks checkbox is selected in the Export PDF dialog box when you create the PDF file.

How to link to your PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

1. Choose Tools, click on Edit PDF, then on Link, and finally, select Add/Edit Web or Document Link.
2. Select the area that you want to hyperlink.
3. Then, in the Create Link dialog box, choose the options you want for the link appearance and click on the Open a Web Page button for the link action.
4. Hit Next and enter the link.
5. Click Ok and you’re done!

However, since a photo speaks a thousand words, here is a flippable PDF example made in Flipsnack that contains lots of hyperlinks. This way, you’ll get to see the bigger picture and precisely what it means to hyperlink a PDF. 

How to hyperlink a PDF – Conclusions

Hopefully, all these ways of hyperlinking a PDF will truly help you enrich your document better from now on and add supplementary information in an organized and elegant way. Just pay attention to the steps required for each case and then start adding links to your own PDF. It’s super easy!

And while you’re here, maybe it’s useful for you to also learn how to add internal links in your PDFs, how to easily share PDF files online and of course how to track PDFs that you share with the world. You’ll see that it’s really simple to link to other pages from within your document. But don’t believe me, try it for yourself!