Link to pdf destination vs. pdf page

Dec 28, 2016

Susan Jorstad
By Susan Jorstad

I have an 85-page pdf and want to link readers only to specific destinations I have created. They will need to link to different parts the document many times throughout several modules, and I want the exactly relevant paragraph to appear at the top of users' page when it opens.

 

I've tried using the instructions at this site to open a pdf file to a set destination: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/link-html-pdf-page-acrobat.html

I downloaded the pdf to my C drive and added a destination, but is also available at a government URL. Once I publish the module, I can get the link to open to a specific page, but not to a specific DESTINATION; often the relevant paragraphs are further down the page under a subheading, so I don't want to link right to the page because users will then have to scroll down and search for the 1-2 paragraphs I actually wanted them to read.

The method I am using is to create a button with "Jump to file" as the action. It opens to the (correct) page 17 when I add "#page=17" to the end of the name of the file name, but  I cannot get it to link to my set destination paragraph, for which the destination is named "Engaging a Reporter"

6 Replies
Susan Jorstad
over 7 years ago12/28/16 at 8:36 pm (UTC)

Thanks so much for the reply, and the reminder to test from an http location.

The method you linked to above links to a page number, and I've already successfully accomplished that as I said above : "It opens to the (correct) page 17 when I add '#page=17' to the end of the name of the file name,"

Linking to a page number is just not specific enough: I need to link to a particular paragraph. I WISH I could simply link to a page. I wouldn't have had to post for help :-)

I'm trying to link to a "destination" (ie. an exact paragraph)  as in the attached screen shot

Susan Jorstad
over 7 years ago12/29/16 at 7:00 pm (UTC)

I figured it out.

Storyline does not allow capital letters in naming your pdf destination.  If you use caps, Storyline will change your pdf destination name to all small letters when you click away and come back, breaking the link. 

There is a document with screenshots attached, but here are the basic steps. It's not hard once you've done it a time or two.

Steps for linking to any paragraph or line in a pdf:

Step 1: Make sure the pdf document you are linking to is saved locally.

Step 2: Open the pdf using Acrobat Pro

Step 3: Using Acrobat Pro, Create a destination (https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/links-attachments-pdfs.html). Be sure to use all small letters and no capital letters in the naming your destination, because it won’t work in storyline. SAVE your file again after creating the destination! 

Step 4: In Storyline, create a button. The Trigger Wizard will have you fill in four fields: Action, File, When, and Object. Select the action “Jump to URL/File”

Step 5: For the "File" field, browse to the file you want to link to. This should be the file in which you have saved your destination. Link to your destination by adding “#nameddest=” (sans quotation marks) and the name of your destination to the end of the pdf file name

For example, for a destination named “engaging” I would write #nameddest=engaging

Step 6: Publish your project

Step 7: Open the file with the published content. Copy the pdf with all of the destinations to this location: NameOfFile - Storyline output\story_content\external_files

Step 8: Launch your project and it should work.

Note:  If you use URLs containing local hard drive addresses (c:\folder\), you cannot link to page numbers or set destinations.

 

 

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