Things are changing! If you’re struggling to add hyperlinks to your digital planner in Affinity 2.0, we’ve got you covered. In this comprehensive guide, learn how to make a digital planner with hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher 2.0, along with some fantastic shortcuts for creating hyperlinks in longer digital planners, journals, or books.
Embrace the Power of Affinity Publisher for Digital Planner Success
Affinity Publisher is an incredible and powerful tool, but it can feel a bit overwhelming at first. I remember spending hours watching videos, thinking I’d never figure it out.
This post is here to help you with amazing shortcuts, so you don’t feel the same way. Affinity Publisher is a powerhouse, and everyone should get to experience it.
I’m a massive fan of its ability to import dates and images into my digital planner, and I want to share this knowledge with everyone!
Insider Tips for Streamlining Your Hyperlink Creation process
Since the foundation of creating a digital planner lies in crafting those pesky links, let’s dive deep into creating and managing hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher 2.0.
Affinity Publisher offers several ways to add links. In this post, we’ll discuss three methods to add hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher 2.0. Don’t worry, you don’t need all three, but it’s helpful to be aware of the options:
- From the Object Menu
- From the Hyperlink Menu
- Keystroke Command
I find that using two of the 3 ways to add links actually decreases the time it takes me to make a planner. Using the Keystroke command to create the hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher and then managing the links from the hyperlink menu will save you many planner creation hours.
I created a short Affinity Publisher tutorial below:
How to Add Hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher 2.0 – From the Object Menu
The first thing to know about creating hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher is that you can link to an object, such as a shape, or to text. However, linking to a grouped object doesn’t always work when exporting to PDF for digital planners.
A grouped object occurs when you group the tab and the text on the tab. This works sometimes, but not always. So, test diligently when using grouping to make your design easier to navigate (just a little tip! 😀)
To add a hyperlink from the object using the mouse, right-click (ctrl + click on Mac), click Interactive, and then click Insert Hyperlink. See the screenshot below for a little help on this lengthy process.

This process will bring up the screen where you create the hyperlink in Affinity Publisher.

Notice how the tab along the left is highlighted? This is what you’re linking to. But what happens once you export this file if you click on the text? Well, possibly nothing. For each tab, you may want to do the following…
- You can hyperlink to both the text and the tab. This always works in your digital planner creation
- Or a shortcut I’ve found that works 90% of the time is to group the items and then link to the group from the layer. If you don’t know how to do this, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it now. Master the linking process first!
How to Add Hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher 2.0 – From the Hyperlink Menu
This method is my favorite for adding hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher to my digital planner creations, as it allows me to manage my hyperlinks with actual names, making it so much easier to fix issues when things go wonky.
Trust me, I said “when,” not “if,” because it seems my ADHD brain always encounters problems with links. It might just be that I get distracted or scattered when creating them. 😉
Accessing the Hyperlink Menu in Affinity Publisher 2.0
To add hyperlinks from the Hyperlink Menu, we first need to access that menu.
In Publisher 2.0 they’ve changed this just a bit. So let’s walk through it!
- In the top Navigation click Window
- Scroll down to References
- Hover over the > to expand the menu
- If there isn’t a checkmark next to Hyperlinks click Hyperlinks.
Note: if there is a checkmark next to Hyperlinks you already have it open. This means you’ll need to find it in the left or right studio.
In the image below I have the hyperlinks window open in the right studio at the top.

Creating | Naming | Editing Hyperlinks from the Hyperlink Menu
Now that you have the window open, you can easily create hyperlinks, rename them, and edit them, so fixing future issues becomes much simpler! Once you have several digital planner templates you will want the flexibility of seeing your hyperlinks this way.

In the video walk-through, I show you how to use these. The most challenging part is renaming the links.
- Edit: Double-click fast
- Highlight: A single click
- Rename: It’s click-pause-click to edit the name.
It might just be the most annoying thing ever. But we forgive them because the tool is wonderful.
How to Add Hyperlinks in Affinity Publisher with Keystrokes
This is the most simple way to add the hyperlink, but it does not include the naming power of the hyperlink menu.
The Keystroke Shortcut combination to add a hyperlink to your planner is simply:
CMD + K
Within Affinity Publisher 2.0 Preferences Menu you have the ability to add additional keyboard shortcuts.

Maximize Efficiency with These Affinity Publisher Hyperlink Techniques
We usually use the CMD + K feature along with the Hyperlink Menu, giving us the most bang for our hyperlinking buck.
By combining methods we are able to troubleshoot any broken hyperlinks early in the planner creation process.
Let us know in the comments which one you prefer to use.
FAQ
- Can Affinity Publisher create PDF files?
Yes, Affinity Publisher can create PDF files. To create a PDF that maintains hyperlinks it’s important to export the file as a digital PDF. This is PDF (digital – high quality), you can also choose PDF(digital – small size) but you may lose some of the pixels in your images. I believe exporting as high quality and compressing the file gives a better quality end product.
- How to make a digital planner with hyperlinks?
This post shows you how to create hyperlinks using a planner as an example. Because creating links can be done in a few ways, so you deserve the information you need to choose the best way for you. We have another post on how to create digital planners you can review as well, and we have a course that teaches you the shortcuts to create a dated planner, including shortcuts to create a digital planner.
- How to make digital planner templates?
We have a post to teach you how to create planner templates too. Templates for printable and digital planners are basically the same thing.
- How to keep hyperlinks in the PDF?
The hyperlinks will stay in the PDF if the PDF export is PDF(digital – high quality) or PDF(digital – small size)
- Can you make interactive pdfs in Affinity Publisher
Yes, adding hyperlinks makes the PDF interactive. But it can’t make fillable PDFs with it.
- Can Affinity Publisher create form-fillable PDFs?
No, Affinity Publisher can’t create form-fillable PDFs. Adobe Acrobat Pro as well as some free online tools can do that for you. Adobe Acrobat Pro does cost money, but it is the easiest to use and takes the least amount of time to create fillable PDFs.
- Can Affinity Publisher do data merge?
Yes! This is one of our favorite features and it is the reason we use this amazing tool. We cover data merge for digital planners in our course Affinity Publisher: Shortcuts to Creating a Dated Planners. The data merge is amazing for anyone with dyslexia wanting to create amazing dated planners!
- Can Affinity Publisher create ebooks?
Yes, you can use Affinity Publisher to create ebooks and ebook templates.
- What formats can Affinity Publisher export?
- PNG
- JPEG
- GIF
- TIFF
- PSD
- SVG
- EPS
- EXR
- HDR
- TGA
- WEBP
- JPEG XL
- Is Affinity Publisher free?
No, there is a one-time fee. And at the time of this post, it is included in the Affinity Suite that includes Publisher, Designer, and Photo for 169.99. They do have a 30-day free trial of all 3 applications.
- Is Affinity Publisher a one-time purchase?
Yes, Affinity Publisher is a one-time purchase.
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