BA8 - InDesign & making an interactive pdf

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED!

So for my final project i am making an interactive Design Document. It wont a full Design Document but instead shorter and easy to read.  I have been familiarizing myself with InDesign and i have been able to make an interactive PDF with turning pages, zooming images and some other effects.  I have been asked how to make turning pages and how to make the PDF interactive by other people on my course.  Here, i will be showing how i managed to achieve an interactive PDF document! This works for animations, buttons, turning pages and other SWF required files!

The method of doing this is to export the InDesign document as a SWF file and then import it back into the document and saving it as an Interactive PDF.  An SWF file is a type of flash/moving image file, so exporting it on its own has the animation contents of the InDesign document.  By putting it back in, the file can be saved as an Interactive PDF and still have all the animations you want!

First, take a look at this video here on the two kinds of turning page animations if that's what you want because this depends on how you save the SWF file.  Of course if you don't want a turning page animation then you don't have to include it! But what ever turning pages animation you use will affect how you save the file ever so slightly.  You can go ahead and research what kinds of page transaction(s) you want to use and how best to apply them.

Ok so here is my InDesign document so far.  It currently contains 14 pages with various animations using the Ipad format. Turning Pages will work on any format though.

Now go to File > Export and this exporting box will pop up.

Save it as something you'll remember and as a SWF file.

So in order of how they appear, i want to export all the pages. If you only have a select few pages you want to export then do so.  But since i want all the animations on all the pages to work i have selected all pages.

Make sure the Generate HTML File button is checked. When saved, the Document will open as an HTML file and you can test out the animations!

Keeping the scale to 75% so that when the file exports, it will appear as an HTML file so you can see it play out, it will be sure to fit on my computer screen.  You can however, easily save it as 100%.

If you watched the video i mentioned at the start then you'll know what Page Transaction to select and to check or uncheck the Options box.  The reason for my choice is because i want the viewer to be able to both click and/or drag the pages across.  Play around with what works best for you.

Now this should pop up in your internet browser! Go ahead and play about with all the animations to check they work.  If they need correcting, go back to InDesign and alter what you need to and then  go ahead and repeat the steps to generate the SWF file.

Now going back into Indesign and either create a new project OR add an extra page to the bottom of your existing document.  Then go to File > Place and select the SWF file you just saved, and place it onto the new empty/blank page.

When saving the SWF file, if you chose to view it under 100% then you will need to make the file fit the page.

Then (with the SFW file selected) go to Media and select Play On Page Load and choose either Poster: From Current Frame or None.  It doesn't matter so much what Poster to choose, but selecting Play on Page Load is very important.  You can access the Media tab by going to Window and selecting it from the drop-down menu.  This will make the Flash icon disappear by duplicating the background image or by not appearing at all, and make the animations automatically play and work when you open up the PDF file.  

Now, again, go to File > Export.

Save it as an Interactive PDF Document NOT a regular PDF Document.

This Export Box will appear.

We want to save all the pages and include all the Media.  You can adjust some of the options here like the View, Presentation and Layout accordingly to what you want for your work. 

I get this Warning Box for the Go To Page Button and if you've included one and you get this box, don't worry.  Everything seems to work for me fine and this always pops up!

Now the file will save and you will need to open it in Adobe Reader X for it to function.  If you haven't got it downloaded you can download it here.

You can now go ahead and use your new Interactive PDF! View Full Screen for the best way to view your new Interactive PDF.

Videos do not work when exported and re-imported as SWF files. I don't know why this is, but if you want to add videos with an interactive page curl, then i suggest creating your document without the videos, exporting it as a SWF file. Then when you import it back into the document, add the videos on new separate empty/blank pages without the use of a page curl. You may have to split up the document when you want to export it as a SWF file depending on where you want the videos to be. So for example, pages 1-5 and 7-10 will be exported as a SWF file. you would then place the SWF for pages 1-5 down on a blank page, on the next blank page place your video that covers the whole page and set a page transition that isn't an interactive page turn, then on the next blank page place the SWF for pages 7-10. You would then export the whole thing as an Interactive PDF.  This is the only way i know how to include videos for SWF files.  If anyone wants a tutorial for this then let me know!

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If you find only the first page works with your animations, make sure all the pages have the A-Master applied.  This links all the pages together making the SWF file we imported apply to all the pages in the document.

If you edit your InDesign document and want to export and apply the SWF file, delete the current SWF that's placed as it might interfere with the newly saved Interactive PDF.

I really hope this tutorial helps anyone making an interactive document! Feel free to comment any questions or if something about this tutorial doesn't work or make sense.

Here are some useful links with help, tips and tutorials for InDesign. If you want to find out how to do something or get stuck, one of these may have your answer.


Simple showing and hiding objects.

creating double function buttons.

advanced tutorial for creating a roll down menu.

simple roll over interactions.

how to create interactive buttons.