Do interactive PDF's work

Hi,
i have been looking into interactive PDF's and all i seem to find is poor examples which do not really work well. I am looking into ways to show content for a client, and wanted to see what was out there.
Does anyone have any good experiences with them, or are they just something that never really took off.
thanks for any of your help
James

James h wrote:
I have had a look at the Tudors one, and i agree what they are trying to do it impressive, but it is really laggy and slow, buttons have to be clicked several time to do anything.
Not sure why that's happening - it's perfectly fine on my computer - and I haven't got the best computer in the world.
3gb RAM - 2.2ghz processor (no hyperthreading)
It may have to do with your version of Acrobat Pro or if you're using Acrobat Reader it might be slower depending on your version.
I don't know if this blog post answers any of your queries?
http://www.alexhogrefe.com/blog/2012/11/24/indesign-why-use-it.html
But for your Interactive PDF presentations - I'd suggest also including a link to download the latest version of the Adobe Reader.
It might take some experiment with InDesign and Interactive PDF and it may not do exactly what you want.
But you won't know that until start the project.
And then fire questions that way.

Similar Messages

Interactive PDF stopped working after upgrade to Safari 7.1 (i.e. all Mavericks users), Suggestions?

We have a set of interactive PDF forms that our users access via the web. We have to use the PDF forms online because they are configured to pre-fill basic information that is acquired from our database/information system, which our users can only access via a web-based interface (i.e. no client). Furthermore, when we save/submit any of these forms, the resulting FDF needs to also be tied to whatever record the user is working on (again, via the web-based interface).
It appears that the Adobe plugin for Macintosh only works for Safari, and 90% of our users are on Macs... so for the last few years we have recommended Safari as the only browser that will work for any Mac user one who uses these forms.
However the Adobe plugin doesn't appear to be working very well with the latest update of Safari (7.1). We can open the forms online, and all the pre-filled data is present, and initially we are able to interact with our form and we can even save/submit. However at some point we simply lose the ability to interact with any of the fields (i.e. after a few minutes of initial use, or if we attempt to edit after re-opening a saved form). Strangely enough - we can still cut and copy text, and the save button still works - but that is about it... no typing or clicking radio buttons etc..
And as Mac users are probably aware, the Safari 7.1 upgrade is tied to the Mavericks OS upgrade - and you can't really just go back to an older version!
Questions:
1) Can Adobe be made to work on a Mac with any browser other than Safari?
2) Are there any other Mac users who use interactive PDF's in Safari 7.1? And if so, are you having (or did you have) any issues and how did you fix them?
3) I have created all our interactive forms on Adobe Pro 9.0 (which I only use to maintain these forms). Until now I have had no reason to upgrade... but could the older version of Pro be part of our problem?

We have a set of interactive PDF forms that our users access via the web. We have to use the PDF forms online because they are configured to pre-fill basic information that is acquired from our database/information system, which our users can only access via a web-based interface (i.e. no client). Furthermore, when we save/submit any of these forms, the resulting FDF needs to also be tied to whatever record the user is working on (again, via the web-based interface).
It appears that the Adobe plugin for Macintosh only works for Safari, and 90% of our users are on Macs... so for the last few years we have recommended Safari as the only browser that will work for any Mac user one who uses these forms.
However the Adobe plugin doesn't appear to be working very well with the latest update of Safari (7.1). We can open the forms online, and all the pre-filled data is present, and initially we are able to interact with our form and we can even save/submit. However at some point we simply lose the ability to interact with any of the fields (i.e. after a few minutes of initial use, or if we attempt to edit after re-opening a saved form). Strangely enough - we can still cut and copy text, and the save button still works - but that is about it... no typing or clicking radio buttons etc..
And as Mac users are probably aware, the Safari 7.1 upgrade is tied to the Mavericks OS upgrade - and you can't really just go back to an older version!
Questions:
1) Can Adobe be made to work on a Mac with any browser other than Safari?
2) Are there any other Mac users who use interactive PDF's in Safari 7.1? And if so, are you having (or did you have) any issues and how did you fix them?
3) I have created all our interactive forms on Adobe Pro 9.0 (which I only use to maintain these forms). Until now I have had no reason to upgrade... but could the older version of Pro be part of our problem?

How can I get my interactive PDF to work in Adobe Reader?

I have an interactive PDF that contains hyperlinks to other PDFs. On the desktop or on a USB drive, as long as all the files are in the same folders, the URL destination (PDF name) link works. Can the same work when all the files are in Adobe Reader on a mobile device?
Hyperlinks that lead to another section within the document works, but when I try to click on a link that should open another PDF, it doesn't work. Is this possible to do?
Thanks!

Adobe Reader Mobile only has limited features, and inter-document links are not supported. Can't say if they ever will be, as there are limits imposed by the mobile operating systems (for example you can't have two copies of the same app running).

Interactive PDF–buttons working in preview but not in PDF

I have a series of buttons that reveal hidden graphics. One of those hidden graphics is a background layer, in a separate layer, that should appear when a button is clicked. It is showing up, but in front of all other content, even though the layer is in the background. I have nothing else on the background layer. Also, the preview in InDesign shows this working properly, it's the exported Interactive PDF that is having problems. Any suggstions?

Show/hide buttons can let you show and hide graphics which have been themselves turned into buttons. But in InDesign, they cannot control the visibility of layers. I think that's because of the way buttons are handled in the PDF file. I think the buttons themselves are seen as a separate layer above the "content" of the PDF.
You can change layer visiblity with buttons but not in InDesign. You have to do it in Acrobat.
Create your layers in InDesign. Export as a PDF but in the Export Adobe PDF dialog box, you must select Acrobat 6 compatibility and check Create Acrobat Layers. This takes InDesign layers and makes them PDF layers which you can work with in Acrobat.
You can either create the buttons in InDesign or in Acrobat, but controlling layer visibility isn't an available action in InDesign. So you'll need to change their action WITHIN ACROBAT.
In Acrobat, you can choose View > Navigation Panels > Layers. You can turn the eyes on and off to control visibility like in InDesign. Then set the layer visibility the way you want the first button to set and set the action for the first button to be Set Layer Visibility. When you click Add. It sets the visibility to the current state. Repeat the process for the second button.
In InDesign CS5, to export buttons you'll need to choose File > Export > Adobe PDF (Interactive). Check Acrobat Layers.

Interactive PDF Not Working On Other Computers

Hi,
I created an interactive pdf from an Indesign file on my personal computer. I put the file on another computer but it doesn't work? What could be the problem?
Thank you,
Kristie

I'm trying to view the PDF on a MacIntosh. I created the PDF file on a PC
(Windows Vista) and used Indesign 5.5. I went to File, Export and selected
Interactive PDF as the file type. I accepted the other defaults. Also, I created
three bookmarks in the Indesign document. The first two work but the third one
doesn't and It's always the last bookmark I click on that fails to work. The
bookmarks work fine in the Indesign document.

Simple Interactive PDF not working

Once again I'm stumped. I'm attampting to create a simple slide show which animates from one image to the next with just a previous and next button. The project seems to work fine when using the preview mode within InDesign CS6 (8.0.1), but when I export the document it will not work.
When I open the interactive PDF in Acrobat and attempt to click on the next and previous buttons, an icon appears of a Hand with a black down arrow on the hand?
Any thoughts as to what I might be doing wrong?
Thanks.
— John

Simple slideshow? How?
My guess is you're using MSOs which are unsupported in PDF.
Bob

Retaining Two-Page Scrolling when Exporting to Interactive PDF Not Working

I'm currently trying to export from InDesign a continuous facing page PDF.
My document has four pages and is set up as pages, not spreads.
Left page is even, right is odd. Looks fine in InDesign.
I need to do Interactive due to hyperlinks, etc.
I choose Export and choose Interactive PDF
My settings are All, Pages, Fit Visible, Two-Up Continuous Facing
When it finishes and opens in Acrobat it's starting as a right, cover page. Even if I go to Two Page Scrolling/Viewing in Acrobat it shows my left-hand page starting on the right.
Is there something in Acrobat that isn't set up correctly? I'm using Adobe Cloud so latest version of all software. Thank you in advance! It's driving me crazy as it's always worked in the past.

Try turning on this setting in Acrobat:
View > Page Display > Show Cover Page in Two Page View

Interactive PDF not working. Please help.

Hi,
Can anyone help me please?
I've created a website prototype with just two pages (home and lower page). For the relevant navigation I have created two links and and rollover states to demonstrate interactivity. I've set this up using slices and swap image behaviours. In preview mode, everything works as it should, but when I export to PDF and view, only the links work, not the hover state changes.
Can anyone help me solve this issue as, for me, this is a major reason why I was trialing Fireworks in the first place as my chosen tool for web design. It means the difference between me continuing with Fireworks or reverting to Photoshop for protype creation.
Thanks again for any advice you can offer
Greg

Sorry, I just wanted to be sure anyone else reading the thread didn't latch onto my suggestion in the wrong manner.
Hotspots do not support rollovers, even in Fireworks. Only slices support rollovers. Regardless of the web object used, it must indeed be a true rectangle (not a polygon that looks like a rectangle). Acorbat doesn't support polygon or elliptical web objects. I think they're completely ignored in the export process.
What you probably saw was Acrobat's capability to show a hot area. This is not to be confused with a swapped image from within the Fireworks document.
HTH

Create an interactive pdf that works in Apple Preview (and Acrobat Reader)

Hi,
I've created a very large interactive document for a client in InDesign CS6, which has buttons that help the user go to various locations in the doc and back, and have only rollover states on all the buttons. The interactivity works fine in Acrobat Pro, but my client wants it to work in Apple Preview. How do I make it work in Preview? If I can also get it to work in Acrobat Reader that would be a bonus too.
Any help would be very appreciated.
Thanks!
Gary

Thanks Peter and UWE,
Upon further testing, it appears that most of the interactivity seems to be working in Preview now, but some buttons do not show up correctly, whereas most of the others do.
The ones that aren't showing up correctly are primarily on the main Home page. They are all rectangle buttons, with a photographic background in the button and the name of the link to the section on top of the button, like "introduction", "Product", etc. The button itself works in Preview, but the photograph placed in the button doesn't appear, all you see is the name of the the button without the image in the background.
Any clues on how to fix this this?
Thanks

Interactive pdf not working

I have InDesign CC 2014 and I'm a novice at this. I read a lot and created a file that just turns the page. I saved it as a SWF file and had it create an html. The "use in document" was checked for the page curl. When I opened the html or pdf file neither does the page curl. The html file tells me to add Flash to my computer. I have it there. I tried to open the file on three different machines, two with Windows 8 and one with Windows 7.
Could anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

I created the file in InDesign, exported it as a swf with the html option checked. It automatically opened in Internet Explorer and it works there. When I closed the html file and tried to open it again, I got a message that I needed to get Flash. And the link takes me to the Flash download screen. I didn't download it. It's already on the machine. I checked the Active-x to make sure it was active and that made the html file work.
Thanks for your help.

Send Surveys as (interactive) pdfs only works in SAP namespace?

Hello,
does anybody have experience with the API CL_UWS_FORM_PDF_API? it seems that you can send Surveys in pdf format but only in SAP namespace.
In method GET_NEW_FORM_NAME the system always generates a pdf form, hardcoded named like 'QPDF...', which does not work in customer systems.
Is there any customising possible?
Is this a bug?
Thanks,
Michael

HI,
Inside the Method the string QPDF_ is concatenate to the form name.
that is the reason why the form name is alwyas started with QPDF_.
For this i will suggest two solutions.
Solution 1: If you are using a custom program,
                  Create a new custom global class and inherit the class CL_UWS_FORM_PDF_API .
                  and redefine the method GET_NEW_FORM_NAME with your logic.
Solution2: Use the Enhancement frame work.
                1. GoTo SE24 and specify the Class CL_UWS_FORM_PDF_API.
                 2. Goto Class in System menu click on Enhance and specify a Enhancement Implementation
                 3. Then Place the Cursor in the Method GET_NEW_FORM_NAME and goto Edit System Menu
                      Select Enhancement Operations and Add Overwrite Method.
                 4. It will add exit under Overwrite Exit Column.Click on it and Specify your logic.
                 5. Activate it and will solve your Problem.
Thanks.
UmaS.

Email button created in InDesign won't work on Interactive PDF. Anyone know a fix?

Hello there, I am trying to make a e-mail button work after its .swf file is imported into a new iD document and exported as a interactive PDF. I have tried various things and work around but I can not seem to be able top make it wrong. I ask iD twiter for help and after a conversation with them I was told to try here.
OS: Windows 7, iD Version 9.2.1 x64
This is my process (Will include images and document files)
1. Create simple solid color box object. Add a text title to the box and otline the text.
2. Group the objects and make it into a button. Add a roll over appearance.
3. Add "go to URL" action. One sample button URL is: mailto:test@email(dot)com, Second sample URL is: mailto://test@email(dot)com (the forum editor kept making links to this fake emails)
4. Export iD document to .swf (Settings where default)
NOTE* Here the .swf open in chrome and the email buttons work fine as a .swf alone
5. Import the SWF into a new iD file. Export this second iD file to an Interactive PDF (Seetings where default)
After doing this I click on the email buttons inside the interactive PDF but they dont start my email app (Outlook 2013) However every time I click either button a new empty Google Chrome window opens.
Here is a dropbox link to the files themselves, the type is outlines so no need to worry for missing fonts. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fp76buzt98td8fy/4DD6tqImd9
I hope someone can help me getting this fixed. Http:// Link buttons work fine on interactive PDF's following this process. For soem reason the email ones are the only ones that wont work. I have to use this process because I am working with an interactive PDF that has an animated roll over menue that does not work with ePub so the only way for my project to work the way I want it too is by exporting .swf of the finished file, importing on a new iD file and re-exporting to a interactive PDF.
It was really hard finding anyhting related to this issue im having. Here is the only similar issue I could find and it is from 2008! http://forums.adobe.com/thread/324167 I do hope I am the one doing something wrong here and not that Adobe has not fixed this .swf email links issue.
Thanks for the help!
-Sebastian

Alright thanks! Ok this is what happens in my end:
- The interactive PDF you sent me works fine. The iD file opens fine as well and is exactly the same process so that checks.
-I exported your iD file to .swf, created a new iD document and imported the exported .swf file from the file you created. I exported this new document to interactive PDF. I open it and again I click the links and only google chrome windows open
This is the link it probably works fine on your end
https://www.dropbox.com/s/on5tun0v0eunjhu/buttons%20email%20text%20swf%20imported%20to%20i nteractive%20pdf.pdf
I think there is something going on in my end. "Google Chrome" or "Flash" might be intersecting email links or something becuase I cannot get these .swf + interactive pdf combo to open the email client not even after I used your iD file, exported .swf, imported it and export again to interactive pdf.
Again the interactive pdf you sent works fine and when I export my file to interactive pdf it works on my end as well, its only after i export to swf and then I use the file inside iD and export to interactive pdf that it does causes me trouble. I will see what I can do to fix this. At least it was working for you so if its only in my end then its not that bad but it will bugg me forever haha!
Thanks again for your help!! Sorry to take your time Salah!
-Sebastian

URGENT indesign fails to export interactive pdf of 700 pages

Hi everyone!
This is my first time asking directly for help in the adobe forum, but god nows how many times i found good advice here before, searching for answers to rather simple AND complex questions.
My problem is:
I have a book made out of 17 files, summing a total of 706 pages.
This entire thing is supposed to be interactive - kind of a "consult on the go users manual" for in-house use at a company.
when i export the book in its total to an interactive .pdf (smallest version, 72 dpi) at about 405 pages it just stops, says that "an error ocurred exporting the .pdf file" and shuts down exporting (not the program though). (It also does not specify the error nor give an error report. it just stops and deletes the half-created pdf-file)
BUT if i export every file on its own as an individual interactive .pdf it works just fine and no problems appear.
my question now is: maybe indesign just not capable of exporting such a large interactive file? (with "only appearance" checked, it works just fine)
the larges file we did in the studio was about 350 pages long - and if i export the book in "2 sessions" (two documents of 350 pages) it takes quite a long time (about half an hour after getting past the last page) but in the end it works.
i thought about combining the various individual (working) pdf documents - but the links/buttons/etc. get all messed up.
has this happened to anybody?
does anybody know how to solve that problem - and if not, if there even is a way? at my understanding right now, it is just not possibe to export an interactive pdf of more than 400 pages from indesign.
supposedly i have to turn that document in tomorrow midday (european time) so it can be saved onto usb-pendrives for distribution... but right now i'm VERY lost.
i'd appreciate some advice, and even if it is a straight "it's not possible, too large of a document" would be nice just to get things in my head a little clearer and confront the client with what's REALLY posssible and what is simply not doeable.
THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!
Stephanie
p.s.: despite all the problems (mainly caused by outrageous client/marketing demands) nobody will ever get me hating on inDesign - just gotta looooove that program!

i ended up changing the system after talking to an adobe engineer as she told me that given the high page number and the awfully heigh number of buttons // links per page (from 10 up to 35) it seemed to be a problem for the program to process all that info. not because of the computers "strengths" but simply because of the complexity of the document.
now i ended up conserving only a few links and resolved the rest with "markers" (is it called like that in english? -> the ones that appear in the sidebar of the .pdf in acrobat and let you jump directly to the page to which they referr)
Thank you for all your support and quick answers (i didn't think it would be that inmediate!).
Definitely going to pay more attention to this forum and give a look around to see if i can help somebody too.
See you!
Steph
p.s.: i thought of that option, but at about 6-12 cross-document buttons per page in a document of 700... i didn't want to get into that mess. if the document weren't as complex it would have been the solution!

IE pdf viewer kills interactivity in interactive pdf?

I have an interactive pdf that works fine in Acrobat reader, but when I
access it via an html link (in the IE pdf viewer) the interactivity
doesn't work at all. Is there any way to tell IE to keep it interactive?

Hi Bernd,
The interactivity is mostly just a bunch of links that allow navigation within the pdf. Also, the page orientation where 2 pages display side-by-side (horizontally) is lost and the pages render singly in sequential order (vertically) when viewed in IE. I was guessing that this was becuase the IE viewer imposes security restrictions.
Thanks,
Trey Carroll

PC user not able to print interactive PDF

Hi,
We have an interactive pdf that was created in Indesign CS6 on a Mac. OS X10.8.5. It prints fine on all our printers. But our PC users either get an error message that they need to choose a printer, printer not found, or it prints mostly blank pages.
This is what one PC user told me... "If I indicate to print page 1 only. It prints with no problem. If I indicate, pages 1 through 5 or 2 through 5, I get a prompt that says unable to start print job, is printer available...and then a blank page comes out. My printer is a HP Photosmart 8250."
Something about the interactive PDF not working on a non-postscript printer?
What's up, please help.....
Thanks in advance.
Sudi H Scott

Thanks Dov. But because there are 40,000 people viewing these documents, we have no control over what kind of printer or version of Reader they are using. So it is our responsibility to make sure that the documents can print for everyone. We found that the buttons that were provided in CS InDesign 5.5 did not work when used in CS 6. I tried looking for days through other forums and Adobe help sections. So this bug needs to be reported to Adobe and worked out by them. We are moving towards interactive books - some that are 200 pages.
We deleted all buttons on the master pages and used only the line of copy as hyperlinks, and so far that seems to have worked... we printed the entire book on as many old chunck-a-chunck printers we could find and the problem was solved. If you check the link to these documents by mid week next week, the new files should be posted. We provide the final files to our client and they post it on their website for their employees to view and print out as needed.
Thanks agian everyone for your assitance in trying to figure this issue out. It was a mind blower.

Do interactive PDF's work

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for