InDesign 2017: Interactive PDF button issues

[mccoole-creative]

So I've set up a simple navigation in my InDesign document as to export and interactive PDF report.

The issue I'm experiencing is the buttons are either skipping a page (i.e. next should be page 2 but it's going to page 3) and the buttons are acting on a rollover when I've clearly got them down as 'on click'.

I've tried 'on release', taking rollover appearance states (it changed colour and had a on click underline state) of buttons, testing with multiple buttons on the page and just about everything else.

Currently I've knocked off all appearances and have 'on click' with go to previous/next page action. Navigation items sit on a Master page (not on layers so no duplication or anything like that). this still results in page skip and rollover navigation. 

Some of the logic really isn't making sense Please help.

[Derek Cross]

Mike Rankin has just launched an excellent new online video course on Lynda.com Creating an Interactive PDF Brochure

which would answer all your questions and more. You can get a 10-day free trial.

(I have no connection with Lynda.com!)

[mccoole-creative]

Thanks Derek, Lynda is an excellent resource but I was kind of hoping for a quicker fix than a sign-up/video. Will take a look though an thanks for the link.

[Derek Cross]

It will be interesting if you report back how you sorted it out.

[Derek Cross]

And for anyone watching this thread, it's worth mentioning (from Mike Rankin's tutorial): "PDFs will lose almost all of their interactive features when viewed in most mobile apps, so things like video and audio, buttons, rollover effects, and forms just won't work when your PDF is viewed on a phone or a tablet."

[Doug A Roberts]

quite. i had to make a long and complex form for use on a tablet a few years ago and the only suitable PDF viewer was one called PDF Expert.

[Sandee Cohen]

As much as I respect Mike Rankin, those types of blanket comments don't really help users. Of course a rollover effect can't work on a phone or tablet. There's no way the PDF app can see a finger hovering over the screen.

But forms can work just fine. I've filled out plenty of forms and I know many schools use PDF forms that work just fine on tablets. They don't, however, always show the fancy bells and whistles graphic elements that you can create in ID for PDF export. So I've kind of given up on that.

Audio and video work perfectly. But there is a restriction that audio and video can't start on page load on a phone or tablet. They only start with a button prompt. This is because Apple, Google, and other companies agreed that it would not be fair to users to suddenly have large downloads of multimedia data happen without them actually clicking a button.

I agree that early in the life of the iPhone, the built-in PDF viewer did not support many interactive features. But it has improved. And there are many external PDF viewers, including the one from Adobe, that work just fine.

But what makes using a PDF such a problem is that there is very little control over what app the user has opened the PDF in. But given how many companies rely on PDF forms, I doubt that they will go away.

[Sandee Cohen]

I owe Mike Rankin a BIG apology!!! Mike I apologize! I've been "testing" PDF with multimedia by saving them on my computer to DropBox and then opening them through DropBox which is the "native" iPad PDF reader.

Both buttons and audio/video work just fine.

However, if someone was to open the PDF in iBooks, or PDF Reader, or if it was on a web URL, the audio/video doesn't work. And that is more of the usual way it would be distributed.

So, while both of us are right. Mike is more right.

[jmvrankin]

No apologies needed! When I saw your comment I was kinda hoping I WAS wrong, because that would be a lot cooler for all of us. Some day everything you can put in a PDF will work perfectly everywhere (which is how it ought to be), and that will be a great day

[Sandee Cohen]

Actually, what I'm looking forward to is when every device will play an FXL ePub natively without any downloads, etc.

That will be an even greater day as animations will be supported.

[Doug A Roberts]

are these issues apparent when you preview in indesign, or just the PDF, or both?

what happens when you check the button properties in acrobat? do they match what you have in indesign?

[mccoole-creative]

Issues relate to user experience when viewing/using the exported PDF. I wouldn't call a basic navigation complex - so surprised I'm having issues.

[Doug A Roberts]

using it in acrobat DC? acrobat viewer? some other PDF viewer?

[mccoole-creative]

Acrobat DC.

[Doug A Roberts]

what do the button properties look like there? do they correspond to your settings in indesign?

[mccoole-creative]

Cosmetically fine - look as intended.

[Doug A Roberts]

no, i mean the functions -- in the button properties

[Doug A Roberts]

i.e.:

[mccoole-creative]

Ah yes - functions look fine (I think).

[mccoole-creative]

* But weirdly works okay when viewed in browser (Google Chrome) - though buttons are highlighted like it is a PDF form.

[mccoole-creative]

No reasoning as to why I'm experiencing the navigation skipping a page on my next page item though?

[Doug A Roberts]

can you share the PDF?

[mccoole-creative · Accepted solution]

thanks for sticking with the thread @dougofakkad - I started again with the navigation and it seems to have resolved the issue / taken out any hidden errors (despite using same settings etc.). I'd like to say it must have been human error but I was also noticing the on click/on release event state was resetting too. So for now, all is good.

[Doug A Roberts]

well, that's good, because i was really out of ideas as well.

[michealh61432933]

Hello,

I'm also having trouble with buttons.

I'm trying to create an interactive order form, and I'm using two types of buttons. The radio button and the checkboxes. What I'm having trouble with are the checkboxes.

I've designed both the radio button and the checkbox on off states in to match each other. So, upon selection, the buttons should be filled in black or if left unselected they should be a hairline stroke around an empty circle. And when printing they should be the same. Which works perfectly for the radio buttons. The Checkbox buttons, however, seem to revert to a natural state within acrobat so that the circle becomes smaller than the radio buttons and upon printing the hairlines are removed altogether.

Please help!