Update PDF Links in Java

Existing links can be edited by finding the link annotation on a page and updating either its appearance or its action.

Update linked text color

Use this example when the text area covered by a link annotation should be recolored.

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Find link annotations and build a text search rectangle from each annotation area.
3. Recolor the matched text fragments and save the document.

public static void linkAnnotationUpdateTextColor(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        for (Annotation annotation : document.getPages().get_Item(1).getAnnotations()) {
            if (annotation.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.Link) {
                TextFragmentAbsorber absorber = new TextFragmentAbsorber();
                Rectangle rect = annotation.getRect();
                rect.setLLX(rect.getLLX() - 2);
                rect.setLLY(rect.getLLY() - 2);
                rect.setURX(rect.getURX() + 2);
                rect.setURY(rect.getURY() + 2);
                absorber.setTextSearchOptions(new TextSearchOptions(rect));
                absorber.visit(document.getPages().get_Item(1));
                for (TextFragment textFragment : absorber.getTextFragments()) {
                    textFragment.getTextState().setForegroundColor(Color.getRed());
                }
            }
        }

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Update link border color

Use this example when the visible color of existing link annotations should be changed.

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Iterate through the page annotations and filter for LinkAnnotation objects.
3. Update the link annotation color and save the document.

public static void linkAnnotationUpdateBorder(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        for (Annotation annotation : document.getPages().get_Item(1).getAnnotations()) {
            if (annotation.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.Link && annotation instanceof LinkAnnotation) {
                LinkAnnotation linkAnnotation = (LinkAnnotation) annotation;
                linkAnnotation.setColor(Color.getRed());
            }
        }

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Update a web link destination

Use this example when an existing web link should point to a new URI.

1. Open the source PDF Document.
2. Find link annotations whose action is a GoToURIAction.
3. Replace the URI and save the updated document.

public static void linkAnnotationUpdateWebDestination(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        for (Annotation annotation : document.getPages().get_Item(1).getAnnotations()) {
            if (annotation.getAnnotationType() == AnnotationType.Link && annotation instanceof LinkAnnotation) {
                LinkAnnotation linkAnnotation = (LinkAnnotation) annotation;
                if (linkAnnotation.getAction() instanceof GoToURIAction) {
                    GoToURIAction action = (GoToURIAction) linkAnnotation.getAction();
                    action.setURI("https://www.aspose.com");
                }
            }
        }
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}