multistate objects and hidden pages in a pdf

Report · May 03, 2017

Hi Community,

1. I want to add an app-like menu button to a pdf file that would open a sidebar with the key topics of the document. I am working from PowerPoint, so my goal is to have an interactive menu in my PDF file that is created from a ppt presentation.

2. I wanted to ask, if I can hide pages in PDF in any way. I would want the user to only reach a page through a hyperlink and not being able to navigate to it just by clicking through the document. Any ideas how this would be possible?

Would be grateful for you help.

Thanks,

Krisztian

Report · May 03, 2017

For #1, have you considered using bookmarks? If not, take some time to learn about how they're used in a PDF. There are other possibilities, but bookmarks are the standard way to do this and will have the most support among various PDF viewers.

For #2, it's possible to make a page a template and hide it. You can then use JavaScript to show the page when needed and delete it when not. The biggest problem with this approach is that it will not work with certain PDF viewers, such as older versions of Reader, mobile PDF viewers, and most other non-Adobe PDF viewers.

Report · May 03, 2017

George,

Thanks a lot! Great support.

#1 - I have reviewed bookmarks and they seem like a viable option. Do you know if they can be created from PowerPoint? Is it possible natively from PowePoint? I.e. it would be optimal, to define ‘chapters’ and ‘sub-chapters’, and also define which slide these link to. I have found an option through a software called novaPDF – however as a first go it would be great to go with native Microsoft programme.

#2 – I understand you spelled 2 options out. A) Make a page a template and hide it. B) Use javascript to delete pages.

As for A – Do you know how to do this from PowerPoint?

As for B – I am familiar with JS, but did not know I can programme PDFs. Can I also do it from PowerPoint? In any case, if I delete a page, clearly it will become ‘hidden’. But can I link to it with a hyperlink still?

Thanks a ton in advance,

Krisztian

Report · May 03, 2017

For #2, you cannot do the work in Powerpoint. You would have to use Acrobat to make the page a template and hide it. You would also use Acrobat to set up the JavaScript code that shows the page when needed and deletes it when needed. If you want more help with this, the best place to ask is in the Acrobat JavaScript forum here: JavaScript

For #1, I believe you can configure the document in Powerpoint so that when it's converted to PDF using Acrobat, the bookmarks are automatically generated. I don't have experience doing this with Powerpoint though, so you might want to ask this as a new question in this forum.

Report · May 05, 2017

There is another method to produce an interactive PDF, but it involves using InDesign or Illustrator to create layers. Acrobat can be used to direct the buttons to show or hide the various layers. The PDF will need to be viewed in Acrobat or Reader which will honor the layer visibility. Here is a link to a sample PDF, with instructions on page 2.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kksi4al82j8bkiv/PDF_Buttons.pdf.zip?dl=0