Interactive PDF buttons and default outlines

I'm trying to make a straight forward ebook in Indesign cs5.5 for a touch screen, consisting of a series of images. The only functionality it needs to have for now is browsing up and down.
I made two big rectangular buttons with opacity set to 0%, 1/3 of the from the right of the screen = next, 1/3 from the left of the screen = previous page.
All works, but now there's this ugly default dashed line that pops up every time you tap one of the buttons. I can't find anything on this topic, but surely there must be a way to hide this? It's silly to have this dotted line popping by up by default when you can have full control over rollover states.
Any suggestions?

Here a screenshot from my screen when opening it in a browser or Acrobat X on a Windows machine.
When I open it in Safari in OSX10.4, Adobe Reader 5, I see the same rectangle lit up in transparant grey.
For now I made a flash presentation, which only shows button states exactly as designed, as it should! But I still love to know a solution for pdf, as I'd like to use the flexibility of it in coming projects.

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Is there a plug-in for Indesign Interactive PDF buttons which simulates the same control as Acrobat?

I want to know if there is a third party out there making plug-ins for Indesign CS6 specifically for interactive PDF buttons and forms which allows for better control over text boxes.... ie. date formatting, 1-10 characters per text boxes, etc.

Not that I've heard of. You'll have to tweak those features in Acrobat Pro.

Future of Interactive PDF's and their ability to run on Slate/iPad type devices?

I am sure I am not the only one wondering about this question and am hopeful an Adobe Evangelist can answer these questions. I love what Adobe has done with indesign CS5 and the ability to combine video, animation and high quality layout content all in one document. What is currently missing is for the pdf reader to be "touch" aware so that people can scroll through pages like an ebook, which I would think would be fairly easy to do and would give me the complete picture I am looking for. So...a couple of questions. I am assuming that if you use the embedded flash features within a pdf document it would require the flash player? Is it possible Adobe could figure out a way to run the flash runtime inside of pdf to get around it? Unfortunately Apple has decided to be jerks about the whole thing, but the reality is that the iPad is not going away. Also, if you use Adobe's encoded video format and reference it via html from inside the .pdf, is that also not going to work on the iPad?(not sure if the video player is also driven through flash). I think it would be a good idea for Adobe to support video formats other than their own anyway for playing in a .pdf (i.e. H.264). I guess the other alternative would be to be for Adobe toembed HTML5 content into the .pdf instead of flash for the animations and that takes the work off of the designer that way. Regardless, just wanting to know what the overall direction is as I am anxious to develop rich content using Indesign + interactive .pdf's, and I don't think you can achieve the same level of formatting or multi-media with the epub/ebook format as you can with an interactive .pdf, so any insights as to what Adobe's plans are would be appreciated. I also don't want to start creating content that is going to be dead soon...
PS: I totally don't have a problem with going with a PC based slate device that runs flash, but the problem is several of my friends already have an iPad and that limits my distribution audience. As stated earlier, it is very disappointing Apple has decided to be so restrictive and proprietary about this, but I can't believe there is not some smart Adobe person in there that can't find a technical way around Apple's walls. Any insights would be appreciated.

I have also been trying to implement audio into a PDF file. I am working on a presentation that will be presented to a client on an IPAD and then they will have the opportunity to keep the IPAD and some additional reference materials that are uploaded to GoodReader (awesome app). I developed the presentation in Power Point and converted to a PDF. I was happy to see that GoodReader recognizes the hyperlinks between the slides (pages) however I would like to give the end user the option to hear narration or an audio blurp about what is going on on each page.
Thought about Keynote for the presentation but it doesn't support narration. Thought about trying to link directly to a web based audio file, that doesn't work. Thought about trying to link to an ITunes file, that doesn't work. This type of functionality is GREATLY needed. I wish that Acrobat had the option to embed an Audio file that didn't turn into flash (maybe javascript?), that would be an ideal solution.
If anybody finds a way to do this, I would really appreciate it!

Problems with Long Interactive PDFs with Extensive Interactivity via Buttons and Hyperlinks

I have inherited a project which requires the creation of large interactive pdfs with lots of buttons and hyperlinks. I am having continuing problems with buttons not working and long periods of wasted time as attempted exports fail.
Background:
The largest books range from 264 MB to 411 MB – (764 to 1024 pages). Per book, the maximum number of buttons on each page is 16, linking separate files (subsections) in the book via text anchors. The buttons are created using Master Pages which are set for each file (subsection) in the book. 50% to 60% of the pages in each file (subsection) will also be referenced as 2 hyperlinks. One is the source page hyperlink on each workflow and the second is a listing on the source page as a possible navigation path. I have created hyperlink destinations for each page which is used to generate the source and navigation hyperlinks. With 2 hyperlinks representing 50%-60% of the pages - that means the largest book contains a maximum of 1200 hyperlinks. Each file (subsection) also has it’s own separate TOC and the bookmarks that are created (optionally) during the TOC creation process.   As currenlty formatted, the book is primarily images of workflows which mean 50%-60% of the pages contain pdf images.
Several questions:
1. How do I get my buttons to work consistently? There is nothing worse than working hard and then ending up with faulty product. I have been thinking about combining all the files into 1 document per book. Then I could change the buttons to objects, add a hyperlink over each one and set them for a specific hyperlink destination. Can I do that if the buttons are on Master Pages? Can InDesign handle a document with 1024 pages?    I can't fix the problems in Acrobat later because it would mean 1024 fixes for just 1 button correction.
2. How do I stop InDesign from freezing when exporting these large pdfs? It seems to wait until the final steps to crash which sometimes means a 4-6 hour waste of time per export.
3. Are we making a mistake using pdfs as our workflow images? I'm not pleased with the quality of the images we have and wonder if we switched to another image format if this would improve the results.   Would it be worth the effort and relinking? I have been reading different information on what the preferred source image format is for InDesign. One article I found yesterday says using pdf images is a problem. Another site said the Photoshop, TIF and JPG are preferred but PDFs were also acceptable.
4. Do I need to propose scrapping InDesign as the source of the project? If so, what application can better meet my needs?

Those are the limitations you have to put up with.
Apple doesn't follow the PDF spec. It chooses which PDF features it will support.
As to the version number (v5 or v6 or the new multimedia features in v9), there is different support in different versions of Reader/Acrobat as the product has developed. You just need to post a message to downloaders that they need to view the file in Adobe Reader version X or above to get the best experience.
Other industry standards face the same problem: How can you add new feature like multimedia? You can't always be backwards compatible.

Interactive PDF button problem

I created an interactive pdf in InDesign CS5.5. I added buttons on pages to navigate throughout the pages of the pdf. The pdf worked beautifully until a someone tried to open the pdf in Acrobat 6.0; all of the type (fonts) on the buttons became jumbled, like the font was missing, however the fonts are embedded in the pdf.
I need this pdf to work correctly in all versions of Acrobat and Acrobat Reader, as many clients will view the pdf and I have no control over what version they have of the application.
I thought that I could solve this problem by simply creating outlines on the fonts. This did not fix the problem, it actually made it worse. When I made the new interactive pdf, after creating outlines on the buttons, the text on the buttons is no longer visible, it disappeared.
Does anyone know any workarounds or fixes for this issue?

You're saying that in recent versions of Acrobat, the buttons look and work correctly, right?
And it's only when you try to open it in a version of Acrobat created in 2003, nine years ago, that you have a problem?
I think you're setting unreasonable expectations. There's actually a more serious problem than that, and much more likely to happen: Many Mac users use Apple Preview to view PDFs. Interactivity largely fails when viewed in Preview.
The answer, in my opinion, is to tell your readers that they should download the FREE Adobe Reader, or use a recent version (say Reader 8 and above), and if you're they are using a different reader that they may get unexpected results for viewing interactivity. And provide a link to download the FREE Adobe Reader.

Adding a print button, a "download" PDF button and a navigation bar in a SWF created by InDesign

I can't find a way to add "PDF features" on a SWF file exported from InDesign CS5.5 such as:
- a print button
- a download PDF button
- a navigation bar (outside of the pages)
edocker provides these features but it is pretty expensive and does not allow a lot of customization.
Would anyone have an idea of how to do it ?
Thank you.

eDocker actually allows you to use all the interactive features you can create in InDesign. It kind of "wraps" your exported SWF into a user interface with all those 3 elements asked + more (zoom for instance)
Check out these links:
Sample:
http://www.edocker.com/_demo/edocker-online-demo/index.html
Workflow:
http://www.edocker.fi/index.php/en/products/edocker2-desktop-publisher/workflow/

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.

Help! InDesign interactive PDF buttons not working in Safari or on iPad

I made an infographic in Indesign for our university magazine with a QR code to link to an interactive pdf. Nothing too complicated animation wise, simply buttons that you can click on to view different parts of the graphic. However, the buttons are not working at all in Safari and on the iPhone and iPad, the buttons disapear completley. Please help.
http://bit.ly/yrTN4R?r=qr
Thanks,
Gretchen

Whether buttons work correctly in a PDF file depend entirely on what PDF reader you're using. Here are a couple of important facts:
* While corrected created interactive PDFs will display correctly in the FREE Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat, they probably won't display correctly in Apple's Preview application which is probably what you're viewing in Safari.
* None of the PDF readers currently available on an iPad (e.g., iBooks, GoodReader, etc.) correctly handle interactivity like buttons on an iPad.

Interactive PDF button to export form data to separate PDF

Hi,
I'm creating a 10 page interactive PDF. One page of the PDF is a questionnaire which i've made using form fields.
I basically want the user to answer the questions in the form fields and then click a button on the page that will save that page (with the inputted data) to a separate one page PDF that they can save on their desktop for future reference.
Is this possible? My thinking is that it would be with javascript? Does anyone have an experience or thoughts on this.
My user base will just have Acrobat reader, but I have Acrobat pro to set up the interactive PDF along with indesign CC.
Thanks for your help
Ian

Not possible in Reader. You'll need to provide them with that one-page
questionnaire as a separate file. Reader can't extract pages from a a PDF
and create a new file.

Interactive PDF button to open pdf in seperate window

I'm creating an Interactive Pdf in InDesign and I want my pdf to open another supplemental pdf (of seperate but related information) but I want to be able to return to the main pdf when I finish looking at the supplemental information. Is there a way to make the supplemental pdf open in a seperate window? or is there a way to create a back button in the supplemental information linking it back to the main pdf?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

As far as I know, there's no way to do this in InDesign.
However, when creating a link in Acrobat Pro to another PDF file, you're given the option of having it open in the same window or in another window.So you should probably create those links in Acrobat instead.

ID CS6: Interactive PDF Buttons -- Random Errors

I'm creating a 50+ page catalog of tshirt designs. There are 4 rows of designs on each page (total 28 image objects), as well as a single preview area to the right of the rows which I've setup to show a closeup of design on rollover of the corresponding image in the row. So, I've set each image in the row as a button, as well as corresponding closeup image which is set to show on roll over and hide on roll off.
My issue is that we are having what I can best describe as random glitches / errors with the buttons when exporting to interactive pdf. I say random, because the errors are not consistent; you can open the file and 1 of the closeup images will be mistakenly showing until you roll over the corresponding image, yet you can open the same file again, and that issue will not be happening again. Another issue would be that a row of images (that should always be showing) will randomly not show on a page, but if you scroll to the next page and then back, they will be there.
For these reasons, I'm fairly certain that it is not an error in our setup, but simply a glitch. Is there any sort of "save" setting that would eliminate these errors?
FYI: we are viewing the pdf on acrobat x pro and adobe reader on both windows 7 and windows 8.

Hi there,
Do you have any screen grabs of what is going wrong?
From what I can understand, the first page is your standard text resume and then on the second page you have your portfolio.
But your portfolio is not working. The rollover to expand to show a larger image may be the cause of your issue. I've had tear my hair out moments also with trying to do this.
You could try to have the button images along the top or side of your second page and then get them to load into a larger frame below or to the side of the buttons. You can do this using Multi State objects. This may get you out of the bind you're in now.
To get a Multi State object to work in an interactive pdf you need to export the MSO (Multi State object) to swf and then add that swf to your interactive pdf export that and then you should be in business.
I'm going to knock up a basic mockup of one and put a screen grab in the reply to better explain this.
I've got the buttons up on top, you click on these to move through the portfolio of images. I've got five you may have more or less.
Select all the images and add them to the media panel to make a MSO.
Select each of the buttons and in the buttons panel add an action to go to a state, do this for each of the buttons.
Export the MSO doc as a swf, create a new doc (same dimensions) add the swf and then export as an interactive pdf (make sure to set a poster image in the media panel otherwise you'll get a weird grey flash symbol in your pdf)
Open the pdf and test to make sure it's what you want.
Obviously your portfolio / resume will look a hell of a lot better than this, this is just a proof of concept.
Here is a link to the files I used as a test.
WeTransfer
Hope this all makes sense.
John.

Interactive PDF button functions go beserk after export

Mac OS 10. 6.8. - InDesign 7.5.3
I have 21 page InDesign doc that is designed as an interactive PDF. The left hand nav is a simple page navigation via bookmarks that allows the user to navigate to any page of the document. Most pages are just copy but on two pages I also have a cascading list of items that the user can click on and reveal the additional information about the topic (see http://i47.tinypic.com/whmupv.jpg ). One of these cascading lists has 11 topics. These topics are stacked on 11 layers to allow the user to seamlessly navigate all the topics and additional information seamlessly on one page. The topics are all buttons that show/hide the relevant layer of information.
However, when I export the PDF, the last 3 topics (or bottom three layers of topics) simply do not work. When you click on any button in the top eight layers, they perform as programmed. But the bottom three on any layer are hopelessly broken, turning on/off the wrong layers and buttons. I've redone all the button interactions twice now, once from the top of the series of layers down and once from the bottom of the series of layers to the top. I can't make the bottom three layers work right. I even tried changing the layer order, but those bottom three layers continue to break.
I also tried downloading the Indd 6.0.1 trial and exporting from that but I get the same broken buttons. Is there a possible fix in Acrobat that I could try? We've done interactive PDFs like this before with up to 8 topics in a list and that one worked fine, although we discovered other bugs with layers of buttons like this.
Thank you.

If you look at where the red circles are you can see the very slight increase in object scale. The 2nd image is a comparison of a spread without any use of buttons.

Interactive PDF buttons defying stack order...

I originally posted this in the InDesign forum, but it was suggested I should try here. Here's my issue:
I created an interactive PDF, comprised of buttons that show and hide each other accordingly. It was all working fine in the previous creative round, then a couple images were added. They becomae buttons and after that, the PDF has never displayed the buttons in the proper order. The Object > Interactive > Set tab order... is set correctly with the levels the buttons should appear in reversed order. I even went as far as to turn all the buttons back to objects, then into buttons again, created in the order I wanted them to appear (the bottom-most buttons created first, and the top-most buttons last, then set in the tab order panel correctly).
When I click on the first button to reveal the next layer of the content, the button jumps over the content it revealed, and similarly with the next botton. Each button stays on top of the next revealed content, and has persisted through tab orders set in InDesign, and in Acrobat. It was fine before I added the last couple images. Thoughts?
A couple follow up notes:
It just got weirder. If I toggle in or out of fullscreen mode in Acrobat, the tab order will change when the page is re-drawing.
More:
If it helps, here are my buttons in the tab order menu (the higher on the menu, the lower in appearance - the bottons that are jumping above the content are well below the content itself), and here's my output menu.
Screengrabs:
Becoming desparate for an aanswer, as this is a deadline-driven issue. Any help?

Here's the layer palette from InDesign. The buttons that are popping to the top, are well down in the order. I should also mention that the PDF worked properly 1 round of revisions prior to the current version. Something went south when I added a couple images that were supplied late by the client.

Interactive PDF - Buttons don't show on mobile/ipad

Hello!
I'm creating an ebook. I have two issues I need help with regarding buttons and interactivity.
1) How do I link an image to a later page?
For example, I'm introducing contributors--but want to offer readers the ability to fast track to their bio page (at the end of the document) and weblinks...
2) Why are my interactive buttons not showing up on mobile or ipad?
I'm trying to include social icons that link to contributors social channels. Why do these show up and work in Adobe Acrobat Pro--but not on my iphone and ipad?
Here is the link for my PDF (very much a work in progress).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nw2cjlkr6ps8tgj/MomentumGuide.pdf

What PDF reader(s) are you using to view your PDF on the iPad?
Here are a couple postings I've done on InDesignSecrets.com which may help you:
Finding the Best Tablet PDF Reader | InDesignSecrets
Navigation Button Tricks for Interactive PDF on an iPad ...

Interactive PDF Buttons Navigation Not Working As Expected

Hi all
I am a newby so this may be a very quick fix.
I am contructing an interactive PDF in InDesign CS5.5 v7.5. Essentially basic next page and previous page buttons are jumping ahead and back 2 pages at a time when the exported PDF is viewed in Acrobat v9.4.4 and or Acrobat Pro X v10. The PDF does however only jump 1 page at a time forwards and backwards when viewed in Preview v4.2. I am running this on an Intel Xeon Mac using OSX 10.5.8.
Also I have rollover colour and clicked colour applied to these buttons. These colours show up as expected in both versions of Acrobat but only the clicked colour works in Preview.
You assistance with any advice on this asap would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks for your time :-)

Then maybe you can help me.
I'm trying to make some simple text buttons that are gray when not selected, and white when selected. I've attached a picture of what this looks like when I try to do this with a DVD Studio Pro button in a "normal" (non-layered) menu (note: I did not pick this heinous color scheme).
http://i.imgur.com/cKybB.jpg
The gray bleeds through for some reason, and I can't seem to fix this with the grayscale overlay color menu.
Any hints?

Interactive PDF buttons and default outlines

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