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Making a Link
We use the aptly-named Link tool to make links in Acrobat X; this tool is located in the Contents panel of the Tools pane (Figure 3). Let’s use this tool to create a link surrounding the green text “anyone” on the first page of the ad. There are five steps to the process:
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Figure 3 You create links using the Links tool in the Tools pane.
- Start by clicking on the Link tool; the mouse cursor will turn to a crosshairs. Drag a rectangle around the word “anyone,” as in Figure 4; this will be the “hot” area of the link.
- Set the controls in the Link Properties dialog box to the following settings (this matches what you see in Figure 5):
- Link Type: Invisible Rectangle. The link will not by itself be visible on the page. As an alternative, Acrobat can place a remarkably ugly black rectangle around the link. Don’t. Have I said it’s ugly?
- Highlight Style: Invert. This is what the link should do, visually, when you click on it. “Invert” is most appropriate for links placed over text. Of the other possibilities (Figure 6), only “Inset” is routinely useful, particularly for links that are placed over pushbutton artwork (instead of text).
- Link Action: Go to a page view. Here’s where we specify what the link actual does. “Go to a page view” is Acrobat’s way of saying, “Go to some other place in this document.” All of the other Action radio buttons are useful, but for now we’ll concentrate on moving to another spot in the document.
- Click the Next button. Acrobat does something unusual: It puts a small, floating window in front of the document window (Figure 7). Because this is a floating window, the document behind it is still active; in particular, all of the navigation controls (the Next Page button, the keyboard arrow keys, the zoom buttons, etc.) are still “live.”
- Using those still-live navigation controls, move to the page that is the link’s destination; in our case, just go to the second page of the document (the Disclaimer page), as in Figure 8. When you’ve done so, click the “Set Link” button.
- Click the Hand tool in the Acrobat toolbar to leave Make-a-Link mode.
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Figure 4 Drag a rectangle around the world “anyone” on the PDF page; this defines our link’s location.
Note that the selection rectangle looks unlike those in almost every other piece of software you’ve ever seen. Get used to it.
When you release the mouse button, Acrobat will present you with the Create Link dialog box (Figure 5). Here is where we specify the appearance and behavior of our new link.
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Figure 5 The Create Link dialog box lets you specify the appearance and behavior of your link.
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Figure 6 The Highlight Style of the link determines the visual feedback the link provides when it’s clicked. “Invert” is the best choice for most links.
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Figure 7 Create Go to View is a floating window; the document window behind it is still active. You use the document’s navigation controls to set the new link’s destination.
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Figure 8 In our case, we’ll move to the second page of the PDF document, making this the link’s destination.
Acrobat will return you to the page on which the link is placed (in our case, the first page). The newly-created link will appear as a rectangle with little handles, visible in Figure 7. This “bounding rectangle” will be visible as long as the Link tool is selected. You can adjust the position and size of the link as you would expect: drag the rectangle to reposition it; drag the handles to change the size. You can make smaller changes using your keyboard: The arrow keys nudge the position of the rectangle; if you hold down Option/Alt, the arrow keys will nudge the size of the rectangle.
So far, so easy, right? Great; now you do one. As an exercise for the student, repeat steps 1 through 5 to add a link on the Disclaimers page, set over the word “here” (Figure 9); the link should return the reader to the file’s first page.
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Figure 9 As practice, add a new link to the Disclaimers page that takes the reader back to the PDF file’s first page.