Opening PDFs from PowerPoint

[Richard Evans]

I have a PPT 2003 presentation in which I have hyperlinks to a half
dozen PDFs. I'm having a couple of problems.

1. Upon clicking the hyperlink, the PDF opens in a small window that
has to be resized. This is disruptive to the flow of the presentation.
If I open the same PDF from outside PPT, it opens maximized. Is there
a way to have a PDF open maximized from a PPT hyperlink?

I tried File > Document Properties > Open Fullscreen, but that opens
it to fit the screen (too small to read) and with no toolbars.

2. Any changes I make in a PDF opened from PPT (highlighting,
comments, property settings, etc) are lost when I close the PDF. There
is no "Do you want to save changes?" message.

Any help on either of these?

Dick Evans

 

[AES/newspost]

I have a PPT 2003 presentation in which I have hyperlinks to a half
dozen PDFs. I'm having a couple of problems.

2. Any changes I make in a PDF opened from PPT (highlighting,
comments, property settings, etc) are lost when I close the PDF. There
is no "Do you want to save changes?" message.

To make any permanent changes in a PDF document (which can include
setting the PDF to open in "full screen" mode) you have to have Adobe
Acrobat (which is nice to have, despite price) and not just Acrobat
Reader or a browser plugin.

 

[Richard Evans]

To make any permanent changes in a PDF document (which can include
setting the PDF to open in "full screen" mode) you have to have Adobe
Acrobat (which is nice to have, despite price) and not just Acrobat
Reader or a browser plugin.

I have that: Acrobat 6.0 Pro. The problem is that I want to add
comments and such during a live presentation and I want the comments
to remain after the file is closed, which 6.0 Pro does quite well.
Unless the PDF was opened via a hyperlink from PPT, in which case it
simply discards all changes with even asking.

And I don't want it to open in "full screen" mode. I want it to open
in a maximized Acrobat window, complete with toolbars. "Full screen"
simply shows the entire page, fit to the screen, with no toolbars. The
text is too small to read and I don't have access to the toolbars to
insert the comments.

Dick

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

1. Upon clicking the hyperlink, the PDF opens in a small window that

has to be resized. This is disruptive to the flow of the presentation.
If I open the same PDF from outside PPT, it opens maximized. Is there
a way to have a PDF open maximized from a PPT hyperlink?

I tried File > Document Properties > Open Fullscreen, but that opens
it to fit the screen (too small to read) and with no toolbars.

2. Any changes I make in a PDF opened from PPT (highlighting,
comments, property settings, etc) are lost when I close the PDF. There
is no "Do you want to save changes?" message.

How is the link set up? That is, what steps did you use to create it?
Are you viewing the show within PowerPoint, the viewer or an HTML version of
the show?

What versions of PowerPoint and Acrobat?

And are the PDFs opening in Reader or Acrobat (or in an instance of either
hosted w/in a browser)?

If in Reader, there's one answer: Reader doesn't save PDFs; you need the full
Acrobat for that.

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

With PPT2003 and Acrobat 5, I've noticed that a hyperlink to PDF opens in the
web client, not Acrobat itself.

Try launching it via a Run Program Action Setting. It then prompts to save the
file if there are changes and Acrobat seems to remember the last-used app size.

I have that: Acrobat 6.0 Pro. The problem is that I want to add
comments and such during a live presentation and I want the comments
to remain after the file is closed, which 6.0 Pro does quite well.
Unless the PDF was opened via a hyperlink from PPT, in which case it
simply discards all changes with even asking.

And I don't want it to open in "full screen" mode. I want it to open
in a maximized Acrobat window, complete with toolbars. "Full screen"
simply shows the entire page, fit to the screen, with no toolbars. The
text is too small to read and I don't have access to the toolbars to
insert the comments.

Dick

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================

 

[Richard Evans]

How is the link set up? That is, what steps did you use to create it?
Are you viewing the show within PowerPoint, the viewer or an HTML version of
the show?

I highlighted text, right-clicked and selected "create hyperlink". I
then browsed to the file I wanted to link to.

What versions of PowerPoint and Acrobat?

PPT 2003 and Acrobat 6.0 Pro.

And are the PDFs opening in Reader or Acrobat

In Acrobat.

(or in an instance of either
hosted w/in a browser)?

I have no idea what that means.

If in Reader, there's one answer: Reader doesn't save PDFs; you need the full
Acrobat for that.

I have 6.0 Pro. The full version.

Dick

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

How is the link set up? That is, what steps did you use to create it?

I highlighted text, right-clicked and selected "create hyperlink". I
then browsed to the file I wanted to link to.

Did you see my other reply? I think you'll get what you want if you use a Run
Program action setting rather than a hyperlink. Rightclick, choose Action
Settings, click Run Program and then Browse. By default, the file selection dialog
box will show you only EXE/BAT/COM and similar files, so change the Files of Type
selection to All Files and browse to your PDF.

Or if you already know the full path to the PDF, type it into the textbox in the
Action Settings dialog box.

In Acrobat.


I have no idea what that means.

When you install Acrobat or Reader, it also installs a kind of "helper" app that
allows your browser to display PDFs (by launching a copy of Reader or Acrobat
behind the scenes, you might say)

The behavior of a PDF shown this way vs. just opened in Reader/Acrobat can be a bit
different, and in fact I'm fairly sure that's what you're seeing. Apparently PPT
launches links to PDFs the same way.

Some visual cues: if you launch Acrobat normally or via a Run File action setting
in PPT, you'll see the splash screen (unless you've turned it off in preferences).
Not so when launching from a link.
If you launch from a link, you'll see the name of the PDF then [Embedded File]
after it in the title bar. Not so with a normal invocation or via Run File from
PPT.

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================

 

[Richard Evans]

I think you'll get what you want if you use a Run
Program action setting rather than a hyperlink.

That worked, insofar as it opened the PDF in a maximized window, but
it gave me a nag screen about potential viruses and did I really want
to open the file. That's not going to work in a live presentation.

Any idea how to turn the nag off?

Dick

 

[Sonia]

The tool at http://officeone.mvps.org/download/hyperlink_warning.html will work
in that instance. But if you have plans to move your presentation or distribute
it to others, the fix is not transportable and would have to be run on the other
systems as well.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

That worked, insofar as it opened the PDF in a maximized window, but
it gave me a nag screen about potential viruses and did I really want
to open the file. That's not going to work in a live presentation.

Any idea how to turn the nag off?

Try here:

"Some files can contain viruses ..." message when clicking a hyperlink
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00406.htm

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================