Q: Hyperlinks in PDF files exported from Numbers 3.1

Yellowbox,

I wish I could say that this was the solution. It sure isn't for me.  I made a table very similar to yours and went through the same steps to print.  The link I had on my second page worked but no links on the first page worked. There was nothing special about the one versus the others excpet the page it was on.

On a separate but related subject: My links do not appear in blue like they used to.  I have an older converted Numbers '09 document that turns them blue with an underline but my newer documents only put the underline, no blue. All the Numbers 3 templates I tried do this same thing.  I don't use links very often so maybe it has been this way the whole time but yours are blue so I am wondering what is going on.

Hi Ian,

Your success with this is intriguing. Given that a lot of matches are won down under, I figure it may be a question of adjusing the racquet grip here. The question is, how?

Could it have something to do with the fact that you often start documents with your own custom template and there is something about it that is different from what we are doing? Or perhaps something in your settings?

I've tried everything I could think of, including this:

Though active, the links refuse to turn to blue as in your screenshots. Nor do they remain active after printing to pdf.  Puzzling.

SG

HI All,

Putting two and two together to see if we get four.

Badunit wrote:

I have an older converted Numbers '09 document that turns them blue with an underline

SG wrote:

Could it have something to do with the fact that you often start documents with your own custom template

Ahaa!

My custom template was created in Numbers 2.3.

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Ian.

Ian,

Well, how about that!

I created a new document in Numbers 2.3, saved it, opened it with Numbers 3.1 and chose File > Save as Template ....

Then I created a document in Numbers 3.1 based on that template, typed in a url in a cell and then another url further down in a very long table. The links showed up true and blue and, more important, active when printed to pdf from Numbers 3.1.

It seems the way to win this match is to first learn the strokes with the old wooden racquet!

SG

Hi SG,

Amazing what 2.3 features are honoured in 3.1 (e.g.margin settings).

When I side-graded to 3.0 my custom template magically appeared in 3.0 Template Chooser.

And have you noticed that Open Recent lists the same docs in both versions?

Ian.

Ian,

I had noticed the Open Recent list, but not custom templates (since I haven't used them much yet).

If you're still maintaining the "workarounds" thread this print-to-pdf-based-on-N2-created-custom-template might be a candidate for those needing active links in pdfs...

Thanks for the tip!

SG

Hi Jakob,

The key is to start in Numbers 2.3 with a blank template. That will open a new Numbers 2.3 document.

No need to add anything. Save in Numbers 2.3 and Close.

Open in Numbers 3.1 and Save As Template.

You now have a Numbers 2 document converted to a Numbers 3 Template. Apparently, it carries properties from Numbers 2 that are not available in a new document created in Numbers 3.

Numbers 3 > New From Template Chooser > your Numbers 2 converted template:

and insert your hyperlinks:

If this is making you dizzy,

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/tommy_roe/dizzy.html

Regards,

Ian.

Hi Yellowbox,

I realize my complaint isn't as pressing as some of these others, but that little prompt that comes up in 3.1 when I click on a hyperlink:

It used to be I'd just click on a link and it would take me right to the page. Now, when going through my spreadsheet which requires my having to click on dozens of links, I still then have to click 'open' each and every time before getting anywhere. Small problem, I know, but it can get annoying after multiple times. Any work-around for this?

Thanks, Dag

Hi Dag,

It is annoying.  I hope you give feedback to Apple via Numbers > Provide Numbers Feedback in your menu.

Meanwhile, there is a workaround via an Automator Service that will be in your menu and to which you can assign a keyboard shortcut.

After installation it will look something like this in your menu:

And you assign the keyboard shortcut in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts like this:

After the one-time installation, whenever you want to follow a link you click once on the cell with the link (on my machine clicking near the right edge of the cell allows me to select it without triggering the annoying dialog) and hit the keyboard shortcut combination you have assigned: shift-command-O works on my machine.

The workflow file is here.  To install it double-click  (you may have to click 'Download Anyway' in System Preferences > Privacy & Security).

It contains the following script in case you want to study it out first before installing:

--opens a file whose address is in the currently selected cell in Numbers 3

tell application "Numbers" to tell the front document to tell active sheet to tell (first table whose class of selection range is range)

          set theURL to value of the first cell of the selection range

          if text 1 thru 5 of theURL is not "http:" then set theURL to "http://" & theURL

          tell application "System Events" to do shell script "open " & quoted form of theURL

end tell

--end of script

Note that the script assumes any links are http:// if unspecified.  If you have https:// you could either prefix that to the link in the cell or you could change the default in the script to "https://".

If you want to open a bunch of selected links at once it is easy to modify the script to do that so you don't have to open them one at a time.

To remove the service, or edit it or rename it, in Finder hold down the option and in the menu Go > Library > Services.

SG

SG,

That was my first time replying in a forum, thanks for the speedy and thorough explanation. I will give feedback to Apple, also a first, and will follow your provided instructions for a workaround. Again, SG - and Yellowbox and all the other learned and helpful souls out there - thank you.

I'm goin' in,

Dag

SGIII wrote:

 

It is annoying.  I hope you give feedback to Apple via Numbers > Provide Numbers Feedback in your menu.

… and for the original issue in this thread, too.

Having also found that the links in the PDF export don't work, I came across this thread. The workaround(s) via Numbers 2.3 do the trick but are painfully time-intensive. I sent feedback a few minutes ago.

The workaround(s) via Numbers 2.3 do the trick but are painfully time-intensive. 

It took me less than a minute to create a document in Number 2.3, save it, open it in Numbers 3, and save as a Numbers 3 template. That's a one-time thing. Thereafter, when I need links in pdf's to be active, I create a new Numbers 3 document based on that template already existing in Numbers 3. So annoying yes. But time-consuming? Not so bad, I think.

SG

Oh, indeed. That workaround is neat and works. Apple needs to fix this though. :-)