Over the last few Adobe InDesign interactive tutorials, I have gone over how to create buttons, primarily for ePub (Fixed Layout) documents.
Well, I was recently asked about creating interactive PDF buttons in Adobe InDesign. Specifically, how to navigate to a specific page in a PFD document, such as creating buttons to index pages that jump to another page in your layout.
In this tutorial, I will go over how to set up an index menu and create each into clickable buttons that will jump to a section or page in an Id layout.
If you'd like to follow along in this tutorial, you can download the lesson files here:
Because we'll be exporting out as an interactive PDF, the panels to use will be Buttons and Forms as well as Bookmarks.
Let's get started!
In the example used in this lesson, there are four index images that correspond with the section they will jump to. These images and section titles will be created into buttons.
Before you create the buttons, it's important to create the destinations. This will be done using the Bookmarks panel, which can be accessed by going to Window > Interactive >Bookmarks.
Bookmarks
In the Pages panel, click on Page 4 in the document.
Open the Bookmarks panel and in the bottom right-hand corner, create a new Bookmark by clicking the Plus icon.
Name the Bookmark. For example, in this tutorial, I named the Page 4 bookmark "Lift".
Repeat the process for the other sections in the document — "Box", "Run" and "Train".
Here's an overview slide of the steps mentioned above.
Great! You have created Bookmarks for all four sections in the document. Now, let's create the buttons to the index images and apply the proper destination designations.
Buttons and Forms > Go To Destination
With your Selection Tool, click on the first Index image
Open the Buttons and Forms panel and convert the image into a Button
In the Actions options, select Go to Destination
In the Destination dropdown, select the page (Bookmark) you would like to navigate to
Repeat Steps 2-4 for the remaining three images on the Index Page
Here's an overview slide of the steps mentioned above:
You will have to export your work out as a PDF in order to test the buttons. Using the ePub Preview window will not allow you to view multi-page interactions.
Go to File > Export > PDF (Interactive)
Here's a look at the Index buttons in action, with the settings applied in this tutorial: