Create PDFs with embedded URLs from Word documents

Sep 12, '06 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: mubarak

When I submit documents, I like to do so as PDFs. I try to avoid proprietary formats, even though Microsoft Word is my preferred word processor. But any URLs in a Word document will not translate into real links in the PDF created via the built-in Mac OS X PDF printer. Yes, the links will be blue and underlined, but non-functional.

I found the workaround by accident. Amazingly simple:

  1. Open the document with Pages 2.0.
  2. Select File: Print, click the PDF drop-down and choose Save as PDF.
Bingo, that's it -- you've got a document with functional embedded links. Opening the document with TextEdit or Pages 1.0 and printing to PDF does not work -- it only creates the same kind of PDF output that Word gives. Not to mention that TextEdit's document conversion leaves a lot to be desired. Now Pages 2.0 is my preferred word processor for simple documents!

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Mac OS X Hints
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