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Instantly Extract Hyperlinks From PDF Files & Export Them

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Written By Mohit Jha
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh  
Published On December 6th, 2023
Reading Time 5 Minutes Reading

Are you finding solutions on how to preserve or retain links from PDF files or export hyperlinks from PDF file to text file for future use?

A Portable Document Format or PDF is a premier file format for sharing information / report or any official / legal documents. Sometimes, these PDF files contain some hyperlink text or URLs. Now, you want to extract all the URLs from PDF files to preserve them or retain them for future reference.

Table of Contents:

In this blog, I am going to describe the working of an remarkable tool designed by SysTools to extract hyperlinks from PDF and save them in a PDF/ DOC/ DOCX file. Also, we will see how we can use Python language to extract URLs from PDF.

Extract Hyperlinks From PDF Files Using Python PyPDF2 Lib.

Step-1: Install PyPDF2 on your local system by typing pip install PyPDF2 in the command shell.

Step-2: Import PyPDF2.

Step-3: Open the PDF in Binary mode and it recognizes links in the file.

Step-4: Define a function to extract the hyperlink for a particular PDF page.

Step-5: Iterate for all the pages and extract the text using extractText() function.

Step-6: To extract the hyperlinks from PDF, a Pattern Matching Concept in Python is used. Now you have to import re to find the pattern using regular expressions.

Step-7: Finding the pattern that matches with http:// or https:// using findall(regex, string).

Step-8: If any URL/ link found, return the URL by printing it on the screen.

Here is the Python Code to Extract Links From PDF File

# Importing packages
import PyPDF2
import re

# Open your File in the Command
file = open(“newfile.pdf”, ‘rb’)
readPDF = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(file)
def find_url(string):

#Find all the String that matches with the pattern
regex = r”(https?://\S+)”
url = re.findall(regex,string)
for url in url:
return url

# Iterating for all the pages of File
for page_no in range(readPDF.numPages):
page=readPDF.getPage(page_no)

#Extract the text from the page
text = page.extractText()

# Print all URL
print(find_url(text))

# Close the file
file.close()

Well, the above method can be too much programmatic for some users, so to ease your task you can follow the automatic solution.

How to Automatically Extract and Export Hyperlinks From PDF Files

Since it’s an automated tool with a well-defined interface, that does not require you to have expertise or technical knowledge to run the software.

Step-1: Download the SysTools PDF Extractor on your system.

For Windows

Free Download Now Purchase Now

Step-2: Click on “Add File(s)/ Add Folder” to browse for PDF documents from your system. You can change the saving location of PDFs as well using “Change”. Click on “Next”.

add-files

Step-3: Here, you have to choose the “Hyperlinks” option to extract links from PDF.

select-pdf-element

Step-4: To export hyperlinks from PDF, the tool gives you 3 file formats (PDF, DOC, DOCX) in which you can save all your extracted URLs. Select any of them.

hyperlinks-features

Step-5: Moreover, you can do the page settings to specify the PDF pages from which you want to extract hyperlinks.

page-settings-hyperlinks

Step-6: At last, click on the “Extract” button.

extract-hyperlinks

Other Prominent Features of This Automated PDF Utility

Other than Hyperlinks, the software is capable of extracting different kinds of objects from PDF files. You can extract these following PDF objects:

The tool does not need owner / permission to be able to process the PDF files. Also, do note that there will be no change in the original formatting of your PDF files.

Conclusion

In this article, two methods have been explained to extact links from PDF using Python programming and automated PDF link extractor tool by SysTools. Both these methods have their advantages. Using python is free but can be technical for a non-technical user. Automated tool is recommended to the professionals or who are working with a pool of PDF files. You can try the free version of the tool that will extract limited URLs from PDF.

People Also Ask

FAQ: How can I extract hyperlinks from a PDF document?

Answer: To extract hyperlinks from a PDF, you can use Adobe Acrobat Pro. Open the PDF in Acrobat, go to the “Tools” section, and use the “Edit PDF” feature. This will allow you to see and copy hyperlinks. Alternatively, there are software that can automate this process for multiple links.

FAQ: Is it possible to extract links from a PDF using free software?

Answer: Yes, it’s possible to do so using free online software. However, the capabilities of free tools might be limited compared to paid software.

FAQ: Can I extract Urls from a PDF in bulk?

Answer: Yes, you can extract in bulk. Specialized software can handle multiple hyperlinks and PDF files at once. It saves time and effort when dealing with large documents or multiple files.

  author

By Mohit Jha

Mohit is a Microsoft Certified expert known for his cloud migration, cyber security, and digital forensics expertise. He specializes in Microsoft 365, Exchange Server, and Azure AD migration, ensuring seamless transitions for organizations worldwide. His multifaceted role as a meticulous tech writer, diligent researcher, and astute editor underscores his commitment to delivering cutting-edge digital forensics and cloud migration strategies.