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PDF Software (Read 2668 times)

Paul B

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PDF Software
February 05, 2020, 08:17:51 pm
Can anyone recommend any (Win based) freeware that allows the user to compile PDF documents without breaking links within the document?

I have a Word doc that I'll PDF with the headings as bookmarks. I then need to compile a load of Appendices (ranging in paper size) and re-save the PDF.

The submission I'm making is pretty specific that it all needs to be in one linked PDF.

Over the years I've used everything from Acrobat (I don't currently have access) to PDFsam (this would break the links). It's looks as if I might just be best to buy either a PDF X-change editor license or pay for a month of Acrobat but thought I'd ask first.

Alex-the-Alex

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#1 Re: PDF Software
February 05, 2020, 09:02:44 pm
Could be worth trying foxit? It's pretty powerful and the online converter is useful too. Though I haven't tried it for links.

yetix

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#2 Re: PDF Software
February 05, 2020, 09:37:22 pm
Pdf creator used to be free and do that when I used it in a former workplace. Worth a look at

Paul B

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#3 Re: PDF Software
February 05, 2020, 09:39:42 pm
Could be worth trying foxit? It's pretty powerful and the online converter is useful too. Though I haven't tried it for links.

FOXIT doesn't do it without upgrading to whatever they've called the paid for version. It seems to be their version of Reader these days.

Pdf creator used to be free and do that when I used it in a former workplace. Worth a look at

Thanks, I'll have a look.

sdm

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#4 Re: PDF Software
February 05, 2020, 10:13:12 pm
If you haven't used it before, you could do the 30 day trial of Bluebeam Revu.

It's overkill for what you want but it should do everything you need (I assume the trial version doesn't watermark your files). Using Bluebeam will probably leave you scratching your head as to how Adobe are still in business.

Steve R

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#5 Re: PDF Software
February 05, 2020, 10:29:29 pm
LibreOffice seems to work?  File>Export as pdf.... check relevant boxes are ticked in links tab

Paul B

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#6 Re: PDF Software
February 06, 2020, 12:21:54 pm
LibreOffice seems to work?  File>Export as pdf.... check relevant boxes are ticked in links tab

Thanks but how do you then insert the separate PDFs (generated in this instance from AutoCad outputs) into the correct position in the document?

Generating a PDF document with the headings as links (from Word) isn't an issue. It's maintaining those links when inserting things into the document.

It's overkill for what you want but it should do everything you need (I assume the trial version doesn't watermark your files). Using Bluebeam will probably leave you scratching your head as to how Adobe are still in business.

 ;D

The ridiculous thing is that I'm aware that many (most) of the people reviewing the information at the other end won't do so digitally, they demand printed copies.

SA Chris

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#7 Re: PDF Software
February 06, 2020, 01:29:37 pm
Can you insert pages in Word as dividers / heading pages in between the pdfs you are inserting in the Appendix, and insert links in Word to those? Then after you have inserted the supporting pdfs there is no need to link to them too. I do this with proposal docs at work. I use PDF Viewer Plus in Paperport for this, but don't think it's free. 

SamT

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#8 Re: PDF Software
February 06, 2020, 01:36:54 pm

We use Bluebeam at work, which is very powerful, but not free unfortunately.

Paul B

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#9 Re: PDF Software
February 06, 2020, 01:39:09 pm
Can you insert pages in Word as dividers / heading pages in between the pdfs you are inserting in the Appendix, and insert links in Word to those? Then after you have inserted the supporting pdfs there is no need to link to them too. I do this with proposal docs at work. I use PDF Viewer Plus in Paperport for this, but don't think it's free.

That's exactly what I'm doing, so:

Contents
Report Body
Heading 1 (linked in text)
Figure 1.1 etc. (linked in text)
Heading 2 (linked in text)
Figure 2.1 etc. (linked in text)
Appendix A (linked in text)
{Insert A3 documents here}
Appendix B
{insert A4 documents here}
etc.

But my usual workaround would be to ram the documents in there with one piece of software then print to pdf via another piece of software. This breaks the links. If I save the document (preserving the links) I get demo stamps.

It's not as simple as replacing the bookmarks either as it requires things like figures and tables to be linked backward/forward from the body in the text.

Paying or a demo that doesn't add stamps in the trial period is looking increasingly likely.

 

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