Create a PDF Destination and add Web, PDF or Bookmark Link

PDF Studio 2018 introduced support for PDF Destinations. A Destination is a named end point (similar to an anchor in HTML) stored within the pages of the PDF document. Destinations allow you to set navigation locations that can be used either within the same PDF or across multiple PDFs. Using a destination is often recommended because, unlike a Bookmark or Hyperlink to a specific page, destinations are not affected by the addition or deletion of pages within the document.

How to Create a Destination

To create a destination with the PDF follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Destinations pane by clicking on the  button on the left side of the PDF Studio window
  2. Set the Zoom and page location to the way you want it on the screen
  3. Click on the  Create Destination button
  4. Give the destination a name and Click OK to apply the changes
  • Note: Using a name that does not have any spaces makes it easier to link to afterwards

Once a destination has been created it needs to be linked to so that when the user clicks on the bookmark or link the PDF file will be opened to the Destination location that was created.

How to Link to a Destination in a PDF

There are 3 ways to link to a Destination set within a PDF file.

Bookmark to Destination

  1. Create a bookmark by doing one of the following:
    • Go to the Pages Tab > Bookmarks, or use the shortcut key Ctrl + B (Command + B on Mac)
    • Click the add bookmark button  at the top of the bookmark panel
      • Note: If the bookmark panel is not visible (this happens when a document doesn’t have any bookmarks defined), click on the icon on the left side of the PDF Studio window
    • Right click on an existing bookmark and go to Add in the right click menu and select Before or After
  2. Right click (Mac: Ctrl + Click) on the bookmark you wish to link to a destination and choose Properties in the mouse menu.
  3. Click on the Edit button below the Bookmark Actions section
  4. Choose either Go to a page in this document or Go to a page in another document
  5. Select the Destination option and then choose the named destination from the drop down
  6. Click OK to apply the changes

Now when the Bookmark is clicked it will navigate to the specified destination.

PDF Link to Destination

  1. Select the Link tool by clicking the  in the Pages Tab on the toolbar or using the shortcut key Ctrl + Alt + K (Command + Alt + K on Mac)
  2. Click and drag to select the area that you wish to make a link (Note: Hold the Shift key while drawing to create a perfect square.)
    • You can also select the desired text area and right-click on the selected text (CTRL + Click on Mac), choose “Create Link” in the context menu.
  3. After the link annotation is added, the Link Properties dialog is displayed.
  4. In the link options choose either Go to a page in this document or Go to a page in another document
  5. Select the Destination option and then choose the named destination from the drop down
  6. Once complete, click OK to create the link

Now when the link is clicked it will navigate to the specified destination.

Webpage Link to Destination

If the PDF file is stored on a web server Destinations can also be used in an HTML URL to point to a specified destination by adding #[destination name] to the end of the links URL.

Note: This requires the browser or PDF viewer plugin (currently supported by most major applications) to support the destination property in the URL. If it does not it will just open to the first page of the document.

For example, the following Web URL will open a destination named “index” in a PDF file named sample.pdf:

https://www.example.com/sample.pdf#index

Or, you can use this HTML tag in a web page to open the destination named “index” in a PDF file named sample.pdf:

<a href=”https://www.example.com/sample.pdf#index”>link text</a>