Dealing with hyperlinks when converting InfoPath files to PDF format

Posted at: 18:58 on 18 August 2010 by Muhimbi

infopath_logo We get a lot of questions from customers about what happens to hyperlinks in InfoPath documents when the documents are converted to PDF format using the Muhimbi PDF Converter for SharePoint.

We ran the possible combinations through some tests with the following results:

  1. InfoPath TextBox elements with the type set to 'text' become hyperlinks when a URL is entered in it (or at least the PDF Reader navigates to that URL when clicked).
     
  2. InfoPath TextBox elements with the type set to 'URL' become hyperlinks when a URL is entered in it (or at least the PDF Reader navigates to that URL when clicked).
     
  3. Entering a URL in an InfoPath Rich Text Box and pressing the Enter key automatically generates a blue hyperlink. When a document containing this link is converted to PDF format then the link can be clicked in the converted document as well. 
     
  4. Entering text in an InfoPath Rich Text Box, selecting it and using the Insert Hyperlink command creates a clickable link in the InfoPath Document. However, after converting this document to PDF format this link is not clickable. 
     
  5. InfoPath Hyperlink Fields are correctly converted and remain hyperlinks in the PDF document.

 

I hope this clarifies the situation.

.




Labels: , , , ,

6 Comments:

  • I see this post and do it but when convert to pdf the hyperlinks not active when convert to pdf.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 24 September, 2010 06:07  

  • Make sure you have the latest SP2 version of InfoPath installed. Feel free to send a screenshot of your Help / About Microsoft Office InfoPath to support@muhimbi.com

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 24 September, 2010 06:25  

  • "InfoPath Hyperlink Fields are correctly converted and remain hyperlinks in the PDF document".
    What if the Link exceeds the length of the Hyperlink Field box?
    When clicking on this link, only the visible part of the hyperlink is opened apparently...

    By Anonymous Ward, At 31 October, 2013 09:40  

  • Hi Ward,

    As this post shows, InfoPath is highly inconsistent when it comes to hyperlinks. Much also depends on the version of InfoPath you are using to create the PDF and the version of IE installed on the system.

    The best way to get this improved is to launch a support case with Microsoft. Hopefully the more people complain, the more chance you have of getting it fixed.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 31 October, 2013 09:45  

  • Is it possible to convert a hyperlink when the display text is not the same as the actual path? I have tried a number of things and cannot get it to convert to a hyperlink in the PDF.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 31 July, 2014 08:49  

  • I am not sure what you mean. Please contact support@muhimbi.com to discuss.

    By Blogger Muhimbi, At 31 July, 2014 09:17  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

Subscribe to News feed

Headlines
Archives