Adding an internal link

You create all links with the Link tool, which is found on the Advanced Editing toolbar. To select the tool, click its button on the toolbar or press L.
To add an internal link to your eBook, follow these steps:

1. Open the eBook file and navigate to the page in which you want to add a link.
2. Select the Link tool and use its cross-hair pointer to draw a rectangle in the area of the page you want users to click to activate the link, and then release the mouse button. The Create Link dialog box opens, as shown in Figure. When you select the Link tool, any links currently in the document temporarily appear even if they are hidden. The Link Properties toolbar also opens, as shown in Figure. See the next section for details on the options provided in this toolbar.
3. In the Link Actions area of the Create Link dialog box, select the Open a Page in This Document radio button, enter the page number for your link’s destination page in the Page text box, and select a Zoom setting from the Zoom drop-down list. The zoom settings determine how the destination page is displayed in the PDF reader after clicking a link and are the same as those provided in Acrobat 6 — Fit Page, Actual Size, Fit Width, Fit Visible, and Inherit Zoom, which uses the same view setting for the destination page as the page containing the link.
4. Select the Open a File radio button to have the link open an external file. Click the Browse button to locate and select the file. If the file is not a PDF document, those who click this link must have the associated program installed on their computers to view the file.
5. Select the Open a Web Page radio button and type a URL address in the Address text box. See the “Adding an external link” section, later in this chapter, for more on this option.
6. Select the Custom link radio button to create a link with JavaScript actions attached to it, such as playing a sound file or movie clip. These actions are specified in the Link Properties dialog box. See the next section for more about the Link Properties dialog box.
7. Click OK to close the Create Link dialog box and test your new link.

You can also use the Hand tool to test the link. Note that when you hover the Hand tool pointer over a link, it changes to a pointing finger.

Managing PDF Links

Hyperlinks add interactivity to an eBook by providing a means of navigating to desired information quickly and easily. Using links, an eBook reader can jump to a different place in the current page, call up other pages in the eBook, and even retrieve other documents on a network or download pages from the World Wide Web. When you create a link in Acrobat 6, you define an area in the document for the link, choose whether it appears visible or invisible to the user, and specify what occurs when the user clicks the link. Acrobat 6 lets you create internal links that navigate to destinations in the current document —a table of contents link, for example — as well as external links that retrieve other documents on a network or Web pages from the Internet. One of the main goals in using an eBook authoring program that can export its documents to PDF is that the majority of links you might need in your eBook can be set up in the authoring program and automatically converted to PDF during the export process. There are times, however, when you’ll want to edit those export-generated links or add new links to your eBook. The following sections take you through the process.

Adding a library thumbnail graphic to your PDF eBook

After you’ve created your Library cover thumbnail, you need to attach it to your eBook in order for it to appear in My Bookshelf in either Adobe Reader or Acrobat 6. Here’s how:

1. Open the eBook file and select the cover page graphic in the Pages palette (it should be the first page in the document) and then reduce the magnification so that the work area surrounding the page is visible. A magnification of 75% usually works well for this with a screen resolution of 800 x 600.
2. Select the Attach File tool located on the Advanced Commenting toolbar. You can also hold down the Shift key while pressing the S key to cycle through the tools found on this menu. The cursor changes to a paperclip icon.
3. Click in the workspace surrounding your cover page (not on the cover page itself), and in the Select File to Attach dialog box (Windows) or the Open dialog box (Mac) that appears, locate and select your Library thumbnail graphic, and then click the Select button. The File Attachment Properties dialog box appears.
4. Accept the default settings for your attachment and click OK.

A paperclip icon appears in the workspace next to the cover page, as shown in Figure. Make sure that the paperclip is in the workspace and not on the cover graphic page. After you’ve attached your Library thumbnail graphic, you can open My Bookshelf in Adobe Reader or Acrobat 6 by choosing File➪My Bookshelf to view the thumbnail, as shown in Figure.