How to show/hide layers via buttons?

Question

To (finally) complete this massive musical publication, I would like to offer something different: an interactive PDF where, at the press of a button, the user can see a different version of the same page.

In specific, this is a collection of exercises for two cellos, where two editors added playing suggestions. My idea is that the user will press the button in the page they are studying and be able to cycle through the different options.

I thought I could do this quite handily by "simply" storing each version in a separate layer and have a button show layer 1 and hide layer 2, and another button hide layer 1 and show layer 2. After my initial investigation, though, this seems not possible.

I have looked on the web for similar question and it seems this would not be possible in InDesign but that I would need Acrobat. Is this true? If not, how can I achieve this in InDesign? If yes, how can I achieve this in Acrobat?

Thank you!

PS: if you think there may be a better workflow for this kind of result from within InDesign, you are welcome to propose it!

BobLevine · Answer

I'll give you my standard advice: Forget it!

Unless you can force everyone to use Acrobat or Reader on a desktop, your project is doomed. Additionally, the use of buttons for this, even with Acrobat is nothing short of wonky. And yes, you must do this in Acrobat so pop on over to the Acrobat forum if you still insist on trying.

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