How do you handle hyperlinks in PDF documents?

[sdcinvan]

Hello all,

I have finally reached the end of a production cycle and I have a brand-shiny-new user guide.

While proofing, I noticed that I really dislike the links in default blue underlined.

Ideally, I would like to show hyperlinks with the default font color and a 1 pixel underline in a fainter grey shade. Unfortunately, css 3 doesn't support such an attribute. Another idea is to make the hyperlink invisible but then add subscript text like [htm] or [pdf], etc.

Hyperlinks in PDF - better type.jpg

I think I prefer the lightly underlined hyperlink example as the least jarring in a document.

Is there a better way to show hyperlinks? What are your thoughts?

[Nita Beck]

I style my hyperlinks when rendered in PDFs not to use the standard (I agree, jarring) blue, and frequently not underlined either. Just style the a class (or a subclass) as you wish, in whatever medium you're using for your PDF output. Not sure about the superscripting...

[sdcinvan]

I style my hyperlinks when rendered in PDFs not to use the standard (I agree, jarring) blue, and frequently not underlined either. Just style the a class (or a subclass) as you wish, in whatever medium you're using for your PDF output. Not sure about the superscripting...

Hello Nita.

But what style do you use for the PDF medium?

This is the style I decided to use on Friday (a slightly lighter grey with underline).

Hyperlinks_PDF_style01.png

I think that if I entirely ignore convention, the reader might not understand that there is a hyperlink available.

I looked at over 20 documents made by other companies and noted that every document used the standard blue underline. Even Apple! Although, in newer documentation, Apple dropped the underline but still employed blue text but they also used the same shade of blue for titles; somewhat confusing IMHO. In summary, the most common way to show links was with non-underlined blue text.

So... this is my new style (less jarring blue with no underline):

Hyperlinks_PDF_style02.png

Still, I am open to other ideas.

[kwag_myers]

I have strayed from the traditional color from time to time only to match the color scheme of the document or corporate guidelines. A darker blue goes a long way to soften the look, as long as it's not too dark. You want the user to know there's a link, right?

Having superscript at the end looks more like a reference to a footnote that isn't there. Plus, where does the link begin? I find it very frustrating to navigate a web site where the controls have been hidden until the user hovers over a hot spot. Like when I want to log out. Yeah, I hate that.</rant>

[sdcinvan]

I have strayed from the traditional color from time to time only to match the color scheme of the document or corporate guidelines. A darker blue goes a long way to soften the look, as long as it's not too dark. You want the user to know there's a link, right?

Having superscript at the end looks more like a reference to a footnote that isn't there. Plus, where does the link begin? I find it very frustrating to navigate a web site where the controls have been hidden until the user hovers over a hot spot. Like when I want to log out. Yeah, I hate that.</rant>

Completely agree. The point is you want the reader to understand that there is a link, otherwise what is the point of it? The superscript idea was nothing more than thinking out loud...a bad idea which I never tested.

I have shown a few colleagues and they all agree that the more subtle blue (in my later example) is preferable over the bright blue/underline attributes.

[ChoccieMuffin]

I use cross-references instead of hyperlinks. That way you get a page number, and the link updates to match the title of the document. I also make the cross-reference really obvious and explicit rather than just hoping that the link fits somewhere in the sentence I've written. For example:

"You will find contact details in the Support chapter of this guide. For details see Technical Support on page 15."
or
"For contact details, see Technical Support on page 15."

You can format the cross-reference however you like it, in the different mediums, so that in the online help it looks like this:

"For contact details, see Technical Support."

[sdcinvan]

I use cross-references instead of hyperlinks. That way you get a page number, and the link updates to match the title of the document. I also make the cross-reference really obvious and explicit rather than just hoping that the link fits somewhere in the sentence I've written. For example:

"You will find contact details in the Support chapter of this guide. For details see Technical Support on page 15."
or
"For contact details, see Technical Support on page 15."

You can format the cross-reference however you like it, in the different mediums, so that in the online help it looks like this:

"For contact details, see Technical Support."

That is a great idea. Do you mind sharing your "trick"?

The only reason why I use hyperlinks (instead of cross-references) is because they are faster/easier to set. I find the setting cross-references too time consuming*.

* That is because I have never had success automating them from the UI... Every cross-reference I set must be hand coded. [clearly, I am doing something wrong]

[MattyQ]

Is there a better way to show hyperlinks? What are your thoughts?

I'm not sure it's better, but in my PDFs I use underlined links to indicate URLs that will navigate out of the PDF, and links without text-decoration to indicate cross-references within the document. We have a blurb at the beginning the explains the visual difference. The color is just based on a design palette we use (a specific red, in this case).

[sdcinvan]

Is there a better way to show hyperlinks? What are your thoughts?

I'm not sure it's better, but in my PDFs I use underlined links to indicate URLs that will navigate out of the PDF, and links without text-decoration to indicate cross-references within the document. We have a blurb at the beginning the explains the visual difference. The color is just based on a design palette we use (a specific red, in this case).

"Better" is certainly a relative term. For some reason, some writers seem to either just love square blue boxes around their links or they are technology impaired and incapable of changing that horrendous (IMHO) Word default attribute for links.

Still, I think we all agree that it might be counter intuitive to deviate much past the expected norms. For that reason, I am considering bringing back the underline (but keep the muted blue font color). Who actually reads the, "ICONS AND TYPOGRAPHICAL CONVENTIONS" page anyway?