If you’re new around here, I have been creating a series of short tutorials to help with some of my frequently asked questions on using Adobe InDesign.
This week, you’ll learn how to add a clickable text link that opens a website in Adobe InDesign.
Watch the tutorial below for this InDesign how-to. Or keep scrolling for the notes from the video tutorial, if you prefer to read along. And if you’re a fan of YouTube, click here to subscribe to my channel for more design tutorials and tips!
One great thing about designing PDFs in Adobe InDesign, is that you can add direct links to websites that are clickable right from the finished PDF.
To do this, you'll first highlight the text that you’re wanting to turn into a clickable link.
With that text highlighted, go to Type > Hyperlinks & Cross-References.
Select what type of link it’ll be, in this case select URL link to a website.
You can create a separate character style for the link as it appears in your text, select which style to use in the Character Style field.
The PDF Appearance field adds a box around the link, with different settings for changing how the box looks. I don’t recommend using this, it doesn’t look very clean, and a character style looks much cleaner while still setting it apart to show it’s a clickable link. So I always select invisible rectangle here.
Click Ok, then go back to your file and export it as an Interactive PDF, this will ensure that the link is clickable in the final PDF.
In the export window, make sure that Enable Hyperlinks is checked on, then click Ok.
Now when we open this PDF, and click on the link, it opens the website automatically in an internet browser!
Want to learn more about InDesign? Check this out 👇
Free Beginner InDesign Workshop
If you want more Adobe InDesign training, watch my free workshop where I breakdown the most popular design apps + programs and show you when it’s best to use each one (pssst – you can do way more with InDesign than you probably realize), PLUS I walk through exactly how to design a PDF worksheet and promo graphic from start to finish using Adobe InDesign. Drop in your name + email here and I’ll send it to you right away!
