Defining properties of hyperlinks and highlights

You can customize hyperlinks and highlights by changing the outline style and adding colors. You do this by changing settings in the Hyperlink Properties and Highlight Area Properties dialog boxes. After you draw a hyperlink or highlight, the appropriate dialog box appears. At any other time, you can open the dialog box you want by double-clicking the hyperlink or highlight whose attributes you want to change.

For hyperlinks, the properties you can set depend on the type of hyperlink. For rectangular hyperlinks, you can define the border (outline) style and color, add a fill color to make it look like a highlight, and add description text. For oval and polygonal hyperlinks, you have fewer border style options and cannot add a fill color.

The highlight area above shows the Shadow Out style.

The following sections describe each of the settings in both the Hyperlink Properties and Highlight Area Properties dialog boxes. The Hyperlink Properties dialog box is shown below the lists.

Border style definitions

Option	Function
Don’t Display	Hides the border so it does not appear. If Always Visible is checked, the border still appears in the preview mode.
XOR	A one-pixel line. This is the fastest setting.
Plain border	A one-pixel line of the color you choose.
Shadow In	The hyperlink appears sunken.
Shadow Out	The hyperlink appears raised.
Shadow Etched In	The border appears sunken.
Shadow Etched Out	The border appears raised.
Shadow Width	Specifies the width of the shadow when the border style is Shadow In, Shadow Out, Shadow Etched In, or Shadow Etched Out.
Color	Appears when the border style is Plain Border and enables the Choose Color button, which you can click to open the color palette and pick the color of the hyperlink or highlight border. NOTE The Shadow In, Shadow Out, Shadow Etched In, and Shadow Etched Out settings are available only for highlight areas and rectangular hyperlinks.
Always visible	When this option is selected, the hyperlink or highlight border is visible all the time. When the option is cleared, the border is visible only when you move the mouse over it.
Highlight Area	When selected, activates the Choose Color button.
Choose Color	Click to open the color palette and choose the fill color for the hyperlink or highlight.

Description section

In the Description section of the dialog box, type the text you want to appear when someone viewing your document places the mouse pointer over the hyperlink or highlighted area. For example, you can describe the destination of the link, so users can determine whether the information will be helpful at without having to redirect the browser to another URL.

Link section (Hyperlink Properties only)

Specifies the hyperlink’s destination. You can link to another page of the same document or specify a URL. You can also define certain browser settings.

Option	Function
Link to	Specifies whether the hyperlink should point to another page of the same document or to a URL.
Page Number and Page Name	Specifies the page number or name when you create a link to another page of the same document. If you think you will modify the document structure in the future, for example, by inserting or removing pages, create the link to a page name. Page numbers are reassigned if you insert a new page or remove an existing page, so hyperlinks that point to page numbers no longer point to the correct page.
URL	Specifies the complete address (including the http:// prefix) when you create a link to a URL.
Target	Specifies where the page should be displayed when you create a link to a URL (the same frame or window, a new window, or other destination).