FSI Pages Converter features exporting of link shapes in custom PDF files.
Given several catalogs in different languages, which are identical in their layout, only one document needs to contain the hyperlinks. You can export the link shapes and import them when converting the PDF of the same catalog in a different language, using CSV data to retrieve the product descriptions for the articles in the different language. While this sounds very complex, it’s quite easy to accomplish.
First, launch FSI Pages Converter, choose the PDF which holds the link information and convert the files as usual, but enable the “External Map” section in the “Links” preferences tab. Set it to “Export” and choose a location to save the hyperlink data:
Go to the “External Data” section of FSI Pages Converter and choose the CSV file which holds the item’s descriptions of the catalog and set FSI Pages Converter to merge the CSV contents with the PDF links. (See the Formatting CSV tutorial and the Linking External Data tutorial on how to do this.)
When the conversion has finished, you will find the .pcl file in the folder you specified. Now change the PDF being converted to another catalog, eg. the same catalog in another language. The second PDF must be identical in layout, as FSI Pages Converter will add the link shapes at the exact same position on each page, but it’s possible to convert only certain pages from the second PDF. In the “Links” preferences tab tick the “External Map” selector over to “Import”:
The .pcl file holds the link information which gets merged with the new catalog being converted. Using the “External Data” tab in preferences, you can now change the CSV file to another one, holding item descriptions in a different language, or use a single CSV file which holds all descriptions in all languages needed.
When you start converting the next PDF with the new CSV data, the FSI Pages Converter will use the link shapes exported from the first PDF file with the next PDF file and link it with the new CSV data.
This way only one PDF document needs to contain the link shapes, even if you plan to publish several catalogs in different languages.
Anway, the different CSV data files must contain the identical “Link Field” information, which has to be set in the “Links” preferences tab.
You can use the sample PDF and CSV files that can be found in your FSI Pages Converter installation directory.