Link Annotation

• Jun 03, 2026
• 5 minutes to read

A LinkAnnotation defines a clickable region on a PDF page. When a user activates the link, the annotation executes the action assigned to its Action property. The Action property accepts the following AnnotationAction descendants:

Action class	Description
UriAction	Opens a URL in a browser.
GoToAction	Navigates to a destination in the current PDF document.
RemoteGoToAction	Navigates to a destination in another PDF file.
JavaScriptAction	Runs JavaScript code.
NamedAction	Executes a named viewer action (for instance, print or find).

Create a Link Annotation

Create a LinkAnnotation object, specify its bounds and action, and add it to the page annotation collection.

The following code snippet adds a text fragment to the page and wraps it in a link that opens a URL:

C#

FileStream fs = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf");
var options = new LoadOptions();
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument(fs, options);
Page page = document.Pages[0];

RectangleF textRect = new RectangleF(50,530,180,50);
page.Fragments.Add(new TextFragment {
    Text = "The DevExpress PDF Viewer",
    Location = new PointF(60, 550),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Regular),
    ForegroundFill = new SolidFill(PdfColor.Red)
});

LinkAnnotation linkAnnotation = new(textRect) {
    Action = new UriAction { Uri = "https://www.devexpress.com" },
    HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Invert
};

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation);

document.Save(new FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write));

VB.NET

Dim fs As FileStream = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf")
Dim options As New LoadOptions()
Dim document As New PdfDocument(fs, options)
Dim page As Page = document.Pages(0)

Dim textRect As New RectangleF(50, 530, 180, 50)
page.Fragments.Add(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "The DevExpress PDF Viewer",
    .Location = New PointF(60, 550),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Regular),
    .ForegroundFill = New SolidFill(PdfColor.Red)
})

Dim linkAnnotation As New LinkAnnotation(textRect) With {
    .Action = New UriAction With { .Uri = "https://www.devexpress.com" },
    .HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Invert
}

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation)

document.Save(New FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))

Attach a Link Annotation to Existing Text

To attach a link annotation to existing text, call the PdfDocument.FindText method, retrieve the bounding rectangle, and pass it to the LinkAnnotation constructor.

C#

FileStream fs = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf");
var options = new LoadOptions();
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument(fs, options);
Page page = document.Pages[0];

var searchResults = document.FindText("PDF Viewer", 0, 0).ToArray();

RectangleF textRect = searchResults[0].Groups[0].Matches[0].MatchFragment.Rectangle.BoundingBox;

LinkAnnotation linkAnnotation = new(textRect) {
    Action = new UriAction { Uri = "https://www.devexpress.com" },
    HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Invert
};

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation);

document.Save(new FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write));

VB.NET

Dim fs As FileStream = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf")
Dim options As New LoadOptions()
Dim document As New PdfDocument(fs, options)
Dim page As Page = document.Pages(0)

Dim searchResults = document.FindText("PDF Viewer", 0, 0).ToArray()

Dim textRect As RectangleF = searchResults(0).Groups(0).Matches(0).MatchFragment.Rectangle.BoundingBox

Dim linkAnnotation As New LinkAnnotation(textRect) With {
    .Action = New UriAction With { .Uri = "https://www.devexpress.com" },
    .HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Invert
}

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation)

document.Save(New FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))

Create a Link to the Specific Page

Assign a GoToAction to the Action property. Use a FitDestination instance to specify the target page in the same document.

C#

FileStream fs = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf");
var options = new LoadOptions();
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument(fs, options);
Page page = document.Pages[0];

RectangleF textRect = new RectangleF(500, 30, 100, 50);
page.Fragments.Add(new TextFragment {
    Text = "Open 3rd Page",
    Location = new PointF(510, 50),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Regular),
    ForegroundFill = new SolidFill(PdfColor.Blue)
});

LinkAnnotation linkAnnotation = new(textRect) {
    Action = new GoToAction { Destination = new FitDestination {PageIndex = 2 } },
    HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Push
};

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation);

document.Save(new FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write));

VB.NET

Dim fs As FileStream = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf")
Dim options As New LoadOptions()
Dim document As New PdfDocument(fs, options)
Dim page As Page = document.Pages(0)

Dim textRect As New RectangleF(500, 30, 100, 50)
page.Fragments.Add(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "Open 3rd Page",
    .Location = New PointF(510, 50),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Regular),
    .ForegroundFill = New SolidFill(PdfColor.Blue)
})

Dim linkAnnotation As New LinkAnnotation(textRect) With {
    .Action = New GoToAction With {
        .Destination = New FitDestination With { .PageIndex = 2 }
    },
    .HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Push
}

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation)

document.Save(New FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))

Create a Link to Another PDF Document

Assign a RemoteGoToAction to the Action property to navigate to a page in a different PDF file. Set FileSpecification.FileName to the target file and OpenInNewWindow to true to display the file in a new window.

C#

FileStream fs = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf");
var options = new LoadOptions();
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument(fs, options);
Page page = document.Pages[0];

RectangleF textRect = new RectangleF(500, 30, 100, 50);
document.Pages[0].Fragments.Add(new TextFragment {
    Text = "Open Invoice",
    Location = new PointF(510, 50),
    Font = new TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Regular),
    ForegroundFill = new SolidFill(PdfColor.Blue)
});

LinkAnnotation linkAnnotation = new(textRect) {
    Action = new RemoteGoToAction { Destination = new FitDestination { PageIndex = 1 }, FileSpecification = new FileSpecification { FileName = "Invoice.pdf" }, OpenInNewWindow = true },
    HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Push
};

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation);

document.Save(new FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write));

VB.NET

Dim fs As FileStream = File.OpenRead("Demo.pdf")
Dim options As New LoadOptions()
Dim document As New PdfDocument(fs, options)
Dim page As Page = document.Pages(0)

Dim textRect As New RectangleF(500, 30, 100, 50)
document.Pages(0).Fragments.Add(New TextFragment With {
    .Text = "Open Invoice",
    .Location = New PointF(510, 50),
    .Font = New TextFont("Arial", TextFontStyle.Regular),
    .ForegroundFill = New SolidFill(PdfColor.Blue)
})

Dim linkAnnotation As New LinkAnnotation(textRect) With {
    .Action = New RemoteGoToAction With {
        .Destination = New FitDestination With { .PageIndex = 1 },
        .FileSpecification = New FileSpecification With { .FileName = "Invoice.pdf" },
        .OpenInNewWindow = True
    },
    .HighlightingMode = AnnotationHighlightingMode.Push
}

page.Annotations.Add(linkAnnotation)

document.Save(New FileStream("Demo2.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))