Adding Links to PDF Attachments

A single PDF file may have attachments of other PDFs (or Word, Excel, and other types of files) embedded in it. Tonight's tip shows how to add in links to these attachments from the main PDF.

In Adobe Acrobat, clicking on the paper clip icon on the left side menu will open a pane listing attachments. Click on Add to insert multiple attachments.

Click on the Tools tab in the right side menu, and click down on the Content Editing section. Then click on Add or Edit Link. Draw a box around the citation in the main PDF that you want to add a link to.

In the dialog box that appears, choose the Link Action - 'Go to a page view', and then click 'Next'

The next step is to set the link. To do this click open the attachment from the pane on the left, and then press the Set Link button.

The final step ensures that the link will open in a separate Adobe application window and not close the main file. Right click on the link box, choose Properties, click on the Actions tab, select where it says 'Go to a page in another document' and then click Edit. In the resulting dialog box, change the Open to setting to 'New Window' and click 'OK'.

A PDF created in Adobe Acrobat with such links will function in Adobe Reader allowing a user to open and close attached files by clicking on the hyperlinks.