Designing Interactive PDFs in InDesign

Even with the rise of fixed-layout ebooks and Adobe Publish Online, inter­ac­tive PDFs are still the most com­mon for­mat for dis­trib­ut­ing pre­ci­sion designed pub­li­ca­tions to desk­tops and lap­tops. With pixel-perfect designs, rich typog­ra­phy, and intri­cate page lay­outs, with the capac­i­ty to add spo­ken words and music, videos and ani­ma­tion, hyper­links and but­tons, vari­able dis­play con­tent, quizzes, and so much more, Interactive PDF is an incred­i­bly pow­er­ful, reader-engaging, learning-enhancing for­mat ripe for every­thing from dig­i­tal mag­a­zines and newslet­ters, visu­al books and tech­ni­cal man­u­als, brochures and cat­a­logs, and elearn­ing mod­ules and instruc­tion­al mate­ri­als for inter­nal and pub­lic consumption. 

In this course Pariah Burke will teach you all about build­ing and design­ing Interactive PDFs–from scratch and by con­vert­ing print and oth­er for­mat documents–using InDesign and Adobe Acrobat. By the end of the course you’ll have an inter­ac­tive PDF ready for pub­li­ca­tion with­in your orga­ni­za­tion or out to the world. More impor­tant­ly, you’ll have the con­fi­dence to keep build­ing attention-grabbing, engag­ing, inter­ac­tive PDFs long after the last video has played out.

Course Contents

Understanding Interactive PDF

  1. Using InDesign’s Interactive for PDF Workspace
  2. Understanding What is PDF to a Would-Be PDF Publisher
  3. Understanding Interactive PDF
  4. Exporting to Interactive PDF
  5. Setting Export Options
  6. Choosing Image Conversion Options
  7. Exporting a Book to Interactive PDF
  8. Embedding Fonts
  9. Examining Font Embedding Permissions
  10. Subsetting Embedded Fonts

Planning an Interactive PDF

  1. Choosing a Starting Point
  2. Anticipating Devices
  3. Recognizing Screen Resolutions
  4. Extrapolating Aspect Ratios

Working with Interactive Objects in Interactive PDF

  1. Copying the Print Edition
  2. Creating an Alternate Layout
  3. Working with Synchronized Text
  4. Understanding Liquid Layout
  5. Getting Started with Liquid Layout
  6. Using the Scale Liquid Page Rule
  7. Using the Re-Center Liquid Page Rule
  8. Controlling Layout Adaptation with Liquid Guides
  9. Setting Per Object Liquid Layout Options
  10. Making Text Columns Liquid Adaptive

Working with Hyperlinks in Interactive PDF

  1. Creating and Deleting Hyperlinks
  2. Building Hyperlinks to Send Email
  3. Using Special Hyperlinks
  4. Automatically Converting URLs to Hyperlinks
  5. Verifying and Renaming Hyperlinks
  6. Hyperlinking to Other Pages in the PDF
  7. Hyperlinking to Specific Text Locations
  8. Creating Automatic Jumplines and Carryovers

Working with Interactive Objects in Interactive PDF

  1. Understsanding Buttons and Interactive Objects
  2. Learning Button Basics
  3. Making Images that Change on Mouseover
  4. Building Multiple Object Appearances
  5. Adding (and Removing) Objects to Existing Appearances
  6. Editing Appearances
  7. Creating a Show Object Button
  8. Creating a Hide Object Button
  9. Making a Show/Hide Toggle

Building Interactive Imagery, Galleries, and Slideshows in Interactive PDF

  1. Arranging an Image Gallery
  2. Creating Thumbnail Buttons to Control an Image Gallery
  3. Designing a Slideshow
  4. Building Slidehow Navigation Buttons
  5. Organizing Overlapping Buttons
  6. Determining Slideshow View Order
  7. Setting Slideshow Button Actions
  8. Finalizing the Slideshow
  9. Designing a Lightbox Zoomed Image Display
  10. Building the Lightbox Functions
  11. Creating a Fullscreen Hide Button
  12. Overcoming the Buttons Out of Order Problem

Adding Document Effects to Interactive PDF

  1. Building Popups
  2. Creating Screen-Only, Non-Printing Objects
  3. Creating Invisible Objects That Appear Only When Printed
  4. Making an Alert Dialog on PDF Open
  5. Making an Alert Appear During or After Printing
  6. Adding a Text Watermark
  7. Adding an Image Watermark
  8. Adding Backgrounds to Interactive PDFs
  9. Setting Initial Zoom and Screenfitting Options
  10. Choosing the Best Layout
  11. Using Fullscreen Mode
  12. Applying Page Transition Effects
  13. Hding Parts of Acrobat or Reader Itself

Building Navigation Systems within Interactive PDF

  1. Choosing to Build Your Own Navigation System
  2. Understanding Navigation Systems
  3. Creating Next and Previous Page Buttons
  4. Adding a Home Button
  5. Building a Table of Contents Button
  6. Adding a Fullscreen Toggle
  7. Preparing Advanced Buttons for Acrobat
  8. Assigning Advanced Actions to Buttons in Acrobat
  9. Duplicating a Button to All Pages
  10. Using Go To View Buttons
  11. Building a Go Back Button
  12. Creating a Table of Contents
  13. Using Only the Bookmarks Sidebar TOC
  14. Making the Bookmarks Sidebar Appear Automatically
  15. Creating a Visual, Button-Based TOC

Incorporating Video and Audio in Interactive PDF

  1. Understanding Video for Interactive PDF
  2. Preparing Video for Interactive PDF
  3. Adding Video
  4. Choosing a Video Placeholder Poster
  5. Creating a Poster in Photoshop
  6. Displaying Player Controls on Videos
  7. Setting Video Options in InDesign
  8. Setting More Video Options in Acrobat
  9. Creating Navigation Points and Video Bookmarks
  10. Making Your Own Video Controller Buttons
  11. Preparing Audio for Interactive PDF 
  12. Adding Auto-Playing Background Music and Sounds
  13. Altering Audio Player Appearance in Acrobat
  14. Adding On-Demand Playable Audio

Applying the Finishing Touches to Interactive PDF

  1. Securing the PDF with Passwords
  2. Activating Printing Restrictions
  3. Setting Content Access Restrictions
  4. Securing the PDF in Acrobat
  5. Supplying Metadata
  6. Attaching Files into the Interactive PDF
  7. Planning for Accessibility
  8. Adding Alt Text to Images
  9. Adding Alt Text to Videos
  10. Woking with Acrobat’s Accessibility Features
  11. Running an Accessability Check