Fixing File Link Errors in PDF Document Sets

Introduction

This tutorial shows how to find and fix linking errors in the set of interlinked PDF documents. It is utlizing the "File Link Errors" tool provided by the AutoBookmark™ plug-in for the Adobe® Acrobat®. Both links and bookmarks are checked for the following errors:

Missing destination files: link or bookmark is referring to a missing file.
Destination file is not specified for an action that is required to have one ("Open a file", "Go to a page in another document").
Missing named destination: link or bookmark is referring to a named destination that is not present in the document.
Invalid page reference: link or bookmark is referring to a page number that does not exists.

The plug-in is only able to automatically assist in fixing the first two types of errors. The invalid page references and named destinations need to be manually corrected, because the software cannot really make any assumptions in these cases.

Here is a screenshot of the "File Link Errors" tool showing various link errors detected for a set of PDF files:

Prerequisites

You need a copy of the Adobe® Acrobat® along with the AutoBookmark™ plug-in installed on your computer in order to use this tutorial. You can download trial versions of both the Adobe® Acrobat® and the AutoBookmark™ plug-in.

Step 1 - Open the "File Link Errors" Tool

Start the Adobe® Acrobat® application and select "Plug-Ins > Links > Find and Fix Link Errors > Find and Fix Link Errors In Group of Files..." to open the "File Link Errors" tool.

Step 2 - Select Input Files

Press the "Browse..." button in the "Select Input Files" dialog.

Select an input folder that contains PDF files to be processed. All PDF files from this folder and subfolders will be checked for errors. Click "OK".

Step 3 - Check Files for Link Errors

Now all files and subfolders from the selected folder are displayed. Click "Next >" to proceed.

Click "OK" in the dialog to start checking document for link errors.

Step 4 - Examine the Errors

A detailed list of errors is displayed in the "File Link Errors" window. Examine the errors. Use the "+"/"-" icon to expand/collapse the error details.

Optionally, press the "Save Errors As Text..." button to save the error report into a text file.

Specify an output folder and a file name for the report file. Click "Save".

The report contains detailed description of the link errors. This file can be opened by any text editor (such as the Notepad or Microsoft Word). Here is an example of link error report:

Step 5 - Fixing an Error

Double-click on any error in the list to fix it. Only file link errors can be fixed using this interface.

Step 6 - Select a Processing Method

The "Fix File Link Error" dialog appear on the screen. It contains a number of errors of this type, an error description, a list of affected files, a name and path to the missing file and optionally a location of the suggest file.

The plug-in automatically suggests a best method to fix a particular error based on information that was gathered while checking documents for errors.

There are 4 options available:

Move one of the existing files into a missing file location. This method is automatically suggested if there is a file with the same name as a missing file somewhere in the input document set and no other files are referring to it. Moving this file to another folder will not break any other links.
Adjust links to point to another location or file. This method is automatically suggested if there is a file with the same name as a missing file somewhere in the input document set and other file(s) are referring to it. Moving this file to another folder may break file links in other documents.
Select a file and copy it into a missing file location. This method is automatically suggested if there is no file in the current document set that matches a missing file's name. User is prompted to select a file that will be copied into a missing file location. If a selected file has a different file name, it will be automatically renamed to match a missing file.
Delete "actions" from all links and bookmarks that point to a missing file. This option removes actions from all links and bookmarks that point to this specific missing file. Link and bookmarks are not going to be deleted, but they will be stripped from an associated action. This option is never suggested automatically .

Click "OK" once done.

Step 7 - Repeat for Another Link

Once an error has been resolved, it's icon label will be changed from "red" to "green". Select another error to fix (repeat steps 5-6) if necessary.

Note that only file link errors can be fixed using the "Fix File Link Error" dialog. The warning dialog would appear if an error cannot be automatically fixed. Make manual changes to PDF document to fix such problems.

The warning dialog would appear if an error cannot be automatically fixed

Step 8 - Check for Errors (Optionally)

Press the "Check For Errors" button at any time to run an error check again.

Confirm to start processing:

Step 9 - Save an Error Report (Optionally)

If the link errors that couldn`t be fixed automatically are left in the view, save them into a text file by pressing the "Save Errors As Text..." button.

The report file can be used as a reference while fixing link errors manually:

Step 10 - Close The Dialog

Press the "Finish" button to close the "File Link Errors" tool once all links errors have been resolved.

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