Hyperlink FROM Excel TO PDFXEdit?

[PHK]

I know that I can create a hyperlink for a cell in an Excel worksheet to a PDF file using PDFXEdit.exe,

but

is there a way to take that few steps further and go to a specified pages

and even further to a specified location on the PDF page? This last step might entail using Defined Locations, or Bookmarks, or other.

Thanking you in advance for your consideration of this question and possible suggestions.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

That would be beyond our purview. Microsoft has specifically worked with Adobe to allow them to insert special "adobe PDF" objects into Office files which directly link to Adobe's own software (much to many other PDF handlers chagrin). While we have tried to find ways to intercept that call when clicking on those specific objects, I am not sure if we ever succeeded. The act of inserting those objects on the other hand, is a Microsoft Office feature through and through, not something we can offer or modify as a plugin.

So in essence, the only ways to do this, would be using standard Microsoft functions. In Excel, one method of that would be the "Insert > link" tool, which allows you to select an external file, including alternate formats, like PDF files. The document will then be opened using your default PDF software locally.

Kind regards,

[rakunavi]

Hello PHK,

As announced in this post, the following custom URIs are now supported. You cannot specify bookmarks, but you can set page numbers, named destinations, etc.

• pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/sample.pdf#page=10
  pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/sample.pdf#nameddest=page_10

Best regards,
rakunavi

[PHK]

Hello PHK,

As announced in this post, the following custom URIs are now supported. You cannot specify bookmarks, but you can set page numbers, named destinations, etc.

• pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/sample.pdf#page=10
  pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/sample.pdf#nameddest=page_10

Best regards,
rakunavi

Thanks very much for that, rakunavi. That is what I was looking for. However, whilst I can get the ....pdf#page=... hyperlink to work, I cannot get the ...pdf#nameddest=... hyperlink to work where the named destination is a text string, not a page number. At least, it is a step in the right direction.

I am trying to create a two-factor grid where the rows are one factor and the columns are another and the cells where the two factors intersect contain the appropriate hyperlinks to open the target pdf file to the right destination. I would like it to be in Excel but I know that I can create the matrix, save it as a pdf page, and then create links on the page to the appropriate destinations. My preference for an Excel file is because it can be more dynamic, easily adding and removing data withour relinking everything.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

My apologies, I thought you were looking for an option using controls inside of Excel directly. I should have thought of this alternative. Regarding your trouble with named destinations. If there are any spaces in the text, I believe you need to encompass it in "quotation marks", but otherwise it should work. I will do some further testing...

[Edit] "Adding Quotes" did not work, it seems there is no way to handle destinations with a Space character in their name at this time.. I will consult with the dev team on this for the future. For now, you will want to ensure any named destinations this feature is working on, do not have space characters. Replacing them with underscores, periods, and such, all seem to work.

Kind regards,

[rakunavi]

Hello Daniel and PHK,

If the named destination contains a space character, replace it with %20 and it should work.
For example, to set a custom URI for a named destination of "page 10", it would look like this

• pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/sample.pdf#nameddest=page%2010

Best regards,
rakunavi

[PHK]

...
[Edit] "Adding Quotes" did not work, it seems there is no way to handle destinations with a Space character in their name at this time.. I will consult with the dev team on this for the future. For now, you will want to ensure any named destinations this feature is working on, do not have space characters. Replacing them with underscores, periods, and such, all seem to work.
...

If the named destination contains a space character, replace it with %20 and it should work.
For example, to set a custom URI for a named destination of "page 10", it would look like this

pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/sample.pdf#nameddest=page%2010

Yes, rakunavi, replacing the spaces in the named destination part of the command string for the Excel hyperlink with "%20" does the trick! Many thanks for that.

And no problem, Daniel, with the misunderstanding. We got there in the end. The problem with adding "underscores, periods, and such" is that the Named Destinations are coming directly from Bookmarks and the Bookmarks are coming directly from selected content text strings so the question is: at what stage do you enter those characters and is that easier than adding the "%20"s in the Excel hyperlink address? Are there other ways? Such as the page x,y?

[rakunavi]

Hello PHK,

In terms of URI encoding, it is best to replace it at the time of specifying the hyperlink address in Excel. If replacing to %20 is too much trouble, you can eliminate the need for replacing by not using space characters when setting the name of the named destination.

Parameters other than page and named destination are described in the following RFC, which is presented within Ivan's post also shown above.

• https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8118.html#section-3

It is almost identical to the way they are specified in the command line options of the PDF-XChange Editor.

• Product Manuals » PDF-XChange Editor V10 » Appendix » Command Line Options
  https://help.pdf-xchange.com/pdfxe10/in ... ns_ed.html

For example, if the zoom parameter were to be specified so that the left-top coordinate would be (96,96) at a zoom factor of 500%, it would look something like this

• pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Document/sample.pdf#page=10&zoom=500,96,96

Best regards,
rakunavi

[PHK]

...
In terms of URI encoding, it is best to replace it at the time of specifying the hyperlink address in Excel. If replacing to %20 is too much trouble, you can eliminate the need for replacing by not using space characters when setting the name of the named destination.

Yes, thinking about that overnight I came to more-or-less the same conclusions. And perhaps the easiest for me in my particular case is to go through the Named Destinations in PDFXEdit and edit the titles down to non-problematic names before establishing the hyperlinks in Excel.

Parameters other than page and named destination are described in the following RFC, which is presented within Ivan's post also shown above.

• https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8118.html#section-3

It is almost identical to the way they are specified in the command line options of the PDF-XChange Editor.

• Product Manuals » PDF-XChange Editor V10 » Appendix » Command Line Options
  https://help.pdf-xchange.com/pdfxe10/in ... ns_ed.html

For example, if the zoom parameter were to be specified so that the left-top coordinate would be (96,96) at a zoom factor of 500%, it would look something like this

• pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Document/sample.pdf#page=10&zoom=500,96,96

...

Yes, I had taken a look at the Manual Appendix but I was not clear how to apply the instructions in the Excel context. It is all coming into focus for me now.

Thanks all. This thread is a great example of why this Forum is the place to come for Answers!

[rakunavi]

Hello PHK, I'm glad I could be of some help.

Finally, I would like to add some additional information about the units used to set coordinates, etc., as it might be helpful to someone else.

Each coordinate is calculated as "(inch) x (display scale) x 96".

• pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Document/sample.pdf#page=10&zoom=500,96,96

In the example above, if the display scale is set to 100% (=1.0) in the Windows settings, the page will be zoomed in at 500%, 1 inch from the left and 1 inch from the top.

Best regards,
rakunavi

[PHK]

Thanks. That is a useful addition to the information base. It might even be a better way of specifying hyperlinks destinations than using Named Destinations, for instance.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello,

I am glad to see the ball rolling on this process. Just one small addition on my end. PHK, You mentioned earlier:

The problem with adding "underscores, periods, and such" is that the Named Destinations are coming directly from Bookmarks and the Bookmarks are coming directly from selected content text strings so the question is: at what stage do you enter those characters

In this case, the best time would be right before you convert the bookmarks to Named destinations. We offer a "find and replace bookmark text" function on the bookmarks tab, which you could use to quickly convert space characters into underscores or otherwise.

image.png

Although as Rakunavi mentions, using %20 at the excel stage certainly works nicely, the underscore method may make the hyperlink a bit more legible for others.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

...
In this case, the best time would be right before you convert the bookmarks to Named destinations. We offer a "find and replace bookmark text" function on the bookmarks tab, which you could use to quickly convert space characters into underscores or otherwise.
...

I am well aware of F&R in Bookmarks and use it 'all the time.' But I may not want to use it to alter my Bookmarks from an aesthetic point of view, for instance if the PDF file is distributed to others who have no interest in hyperlinks. I don't think there is a F&R for Named Destinations, is there? That would be more tolerable.

I suppose I could do a F&R to replace the blanks, create the Named Dests from the BMs, and then go back and F&R to replace the underscores with blanks.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

Unfortunately there is no F&R option for named destination text. I was mostly offering it as an alternative to the existing solutions you and Rakunavi have already found. Your idea to do it once with bookmarks, create the destinations, then revert the process with another F&R for the bookmarks sounds like it could be a quick and easy way to do this for one-off cases with files that are not seeing active editing at least.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

Hello PHK, I'm glad I could be of some help.

Finally, I would like to add some additional information about the units used to set coordinates, etc., as it might be helpful to someone else.

Each coordinate is calculated as "(inch) x (display scale) x 96".

• pxce:file:///C:/Users/user/Document/sample.pdf#page=10&zoom=500,96,96

In the example above, if the display scale is set to 100% (=1.0) in the Windows settings, the page will be zoomed in at 500%, 1 inch from the left and 1 inch from the top.

Best regards,
rakunavi

I understand your using inches as the default measurement unit in your discussion of above but what if the user prefers to use another of the measurement preference options such as milimeters, pica, or even points?

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

The inches are used internally in the office documents - hence why Rakunavi gave the calculations using that unit of measurement.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

Hello PHK,

The inches are used internally in the office documents - hence why Rakunavi gave the calculations using that unit of measurement.

Kind regards,
Stefan

That's fine but what if I want to use points?

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

I might have been looking at the wrong scales when I did my previous reply!
Most screens have about 96 dots per inch - so the default rendering resolution we use in the Editor is also 96:

image.png

My own screen however is with smaller pixels - so I have about 112 per inch, so my setting is this:

image(3).png

To ensure that when I am at 100% - the A4 page on screen exactly matches an A4 sheet of paper placed in front of the sceen.

And the formula for me would be:
"(inch) x (display scale) x 112". (my discplay scaling is 100% or 1

So this command:
pxce:file:///C:/Users/Stefan_PC/Desktop/0211159.pdf#page=10&zoom=500,112,112
will open my file at 500% zoom with the top left corner being exactly 1 inch from the top and left:

image(1).png

image(2).png

Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

Hello PHK,

I might have been looking at the wrong scales when I did my previous reply!
Most screens have about 96 dots per inch - so the default rendering resolution we use in the Editor is also 96:
image.png

My own screen however is with smaller pixels - so I have about 112 per inch, so my setting is this:
image(3).png

To ensure that when I am at 100% - the A4 page on screen exactly matches an A4 sheet of paper placed in front of the sceen.

And the formula for me would be:
"(inch) x (display scale) x 112". (my discplay scaling is 100% or 1

So this command:
pxce:file:///C:/Users/Stefan_PC/Desktop/0211159.pdf#page=10&zoom=500,112,112
will open my file at 500% zoom with the top left corner being exactly 1 inch from the top and left:
image(1).png
image(2).png


Kind regards,
Stefan

Very interesting! "Points" interacts with the specifics of the user's screen. I did not understand that and therefore could not reconcile rakunavi's advice. Points on my monitor are 144 to the inch.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

If you have also set the rendering points per inch inside the editor to 144 - then things should match for you as well!

Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

May I assume that "Pica" are a fixed dimension of 24 to the inch and not subject to the variabilities of monitor specifications?

[PHK]

Hello PHK,

If you have also set the rendering points per inch inside the editor to 144 - then things should match for you as well!

Kind regards,
Stefan

How does a user "set the rendering points" in PDFXEdit?

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

I found this definition online:
The contemporary computer PostScript pica is exactly 1⁄6 of an inch or 1⁄72 of a foot, i.e. 4.23 mm or 0.16 in.

So it seems to again be a unit derived from the inch!

And the rendering resolution you can specify under preferences as per my earlier screenshots.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

May I assume that "Pica" are a fixed dimension of 24 to the inch and not subject to the variabilities of monitor specifications?

Sorry, 6 to the inch.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

[PHK]

I am coming the conclusion that (for me, at least) the best measurement unit would be Pica as it is fixed (not monitor dependent), nice and linear, and fine enough for relatively precise positioning.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

It is still linked to the inch, and PDF pages have 'physical' dimensions, that you can then scale on screen if needed - but the absolute position of objects on the pages is still measured in Inches/Picas or mm if you switch the units you use accordingly.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

If I use Pica, do I still have to use rakunavi's mathematical mumbo-jumbo but with a different adjustment factor, 144/6=24 for my monitor?

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

The values you would have to provide for the command line still have to be in inches.

If your screen is 144 dpi, and you have set that value in your Editor's preferences - then your formula would have to be
(inches offset you desire) x (screen scaling factor if different than 1) x 144, and then enter the values instead of X and here:
pxce:file:///C:/<path to file>/0211159.pdf#page=10&zoom=500,X,Y

Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

OK, thanks, got it.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

[rakunavi]

Hello Stefan and PHK,

If your screen is 144 dpi, and you have set that value in your Editor's preferences - then your formula would have to be
(inches offset you desire) x (screen scaling factor if different than 1) x 144

Here is the formula for each of the coordinates I showed above.

• "(inch) x (Windows display scale) x 96"

If custom values other than Automatic are set in the Preferences dialog of the PDF-XChange Editor, the following formula should be as follows. In other words, it would seem that the windows display scaling factor should not be further multiplied into this formula.

• "(inch) x (PDFXCE Resolution value)"

• figure.png

The Automatic value of "Use Resolution" in PDF-XChange Editor satisfies the equation "(PDFXCE Resolution value) = (Windows display scale) x 96", so the result is the same according to both formulas.

Best regards,
rakunavi

[PHK]

Thank you, rakunavi.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]