How do I enable slideshows & videos in an interactive PDF that is offline and not used on an Apple product?

[Claireabella39]

Hi, I need to create an interactive PDF document that will be on a stand alone PC which has no internet connection.  There will be a touch screen for users to interact with the PDF.  Is there a way that I can publish and package the project so that slideshows and videos will still play.  From my tests, I can see that I am not able to use buttons but hyperlinks for navigating from page to page.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you.  p.s.  I did an online chat and was told that it was possible but I've yet to find a way to make it happen!!

[Laubender]

Claireabella39  wrote

… From my tests, I can see that I am not able to use buttons but hyperlinks for navigating from page to page. …

What did you test exactly? What's the PDF Viewer? On a PC you have the chance to use Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Buttons should work to navigate from page to page with Adobe Acrobat Reader for Windows.

What's not working with buttons:

Go to a distinct page. Say: Go To Page 24.

Go to Next Page, Previous Page, First Page and Last Page should work.

Also: Go to a bookmarked page.

However, I'm not sure if the touch screen is restricting the use of buttons.

Regards,
Uwe

[Claireabella39]

This is for a museum exhibit so the PDF will be the only thing on the drive.  There will be no internet connection.  I thought that if I packaged the project so all the files and links were in that folder it would work offline, but when I tested it, none of the buttons were there  and there was no slideshow either.  All the hyperlinks were fine.

[BobLevine]

Most of what you want will not work well (or, in the case of a slideshow, at all) in a PDF.

If you can actually control the output device (and if that device is an iPad) try a fixed layout epub. They work great in iBooks.

[Claireabella39]

I don't know if the museum has access to an ipad.  I believe that it will just be a drive with the PDF on it that a museum staff member can launch each morning. 

[Diane Burns]

Just a note to say I agree with Bob. If you can use a device that will play a fixed layout ePub properly, that might be the easiest solution, and would likely just involve exporting again to that format.

[Claireabella39]

thanks Diane. I think we've got round the problem by using In5, which lets me create an interactive PDF, then export the project, with cached files as an HTML5 version, so it can be used, with full functionality, offline, whilst still having the interactive PDF for online viewing.

[Derek Cross · Accepted solution]

You might be more successful using in5: Export HTML5 from InDesign with in5 - Home

[Claireabella39]

Thanks for the link to In5.  I'm looking to see if the export to the HTML will work offline and on a PC.

[Derek Cross]

Yes, if the device has a browser that can render HTML5.