Create Destinations from Links

Overview

Create Destinations from Links scans link annotations on the selected pages and creates named destinations that point to the same locations. Unlike Convert Links to Named Destinations (which also rewrites the links), this entry point focuses on creating the named destinations without modifying the original link annotations.

Both features share the same underlying dialog; the difference is the menu entry point and the title shown in the dialog window.

How to use

  1. Open the PDF that contains link annotations.
  2. Go to Plug-Ins > Links > Create Destinations from Links.
  3. Select the page scope: current page or a page range.
  4. Enter a destination name pattern using the available placeholders.
  5. Review the live preview list of generated destination names.
  6. Click OK to create the named destinations.

Page scope

OptionDescription
Current page only Processes links on the currently viewed page.
Page range Processes links across a range of pages. Enter a start page and either specify an end page or choose To document end.

Destination name pattern

The pattern controls how each named destination is named. The default is Dest_Page_{source_page}_Annot_{annot_index}.

PlaceholderReplaced with
{source_page} The 1-based page number containing the link annotation.
{dest_page} The 1-based page number the link points to.
{annot_index} The 0-based index of the link annotation on its source page.
{link_text} The first line of text found within the link bounds.

If the pattern resolves to an empty string, a fallback name is generated automatically.

Preview and conflict handling

A live preview shows the first generated destination names. Entries are annotated with [duplicate] or [exists: ...] markers when naming conflicts are detected. The conflict handling policy (overwrite, skip, or rename) determines how existing destinations are treated.

Tip

Use descriptive patterns that include {link_text} to avoid name collisions when multiple links point to the same page.

Note

This dialog shares its implementation with Convert Links to Named Destinations. All options and behaviour described there apply here as well.

See also