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leslief36457558
leslief36457558
Participating Frequently
October 17, 2023
Question

InDesign Interactive PDF buttons won't work

  • October 17, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 875 views

I have created a mutli-page manual for a client and now that I am ready to send for review, none of the navigation buttons will work. I have them set up to go to URL destination (text anchor) and I can see the outline of the button when I hover over but it wont go anywhere. I have created sample test files to see if it is the program, and those all seem to function properly. Any ideas on trouble shooting this...down to the wire with the client.

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    4 replies

    leslief36457558
    leslief36457558Author
    Participating Frequently
    October 25, 2023

    I ended up having to rebuild the entire thing in Indesign 2024 (it was originally in the Beta program). Huge time suck and busted my budget. Very disappointed.

    Joel Cherney
    Community Expert
    Joel CherneyCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 17, 2023

    Any ideas on trouble shooting this...down to the wire with the client.

     

    Did you make export exactly the same kind of  PDF for your tests? Are you exporting Print or Interactive PDFs? Did you remember to e.g. check the boxes to include hyperlinks in a print PDF? 

     

    If you make a duplicate of your current file and add a new text anchor and a new hyperlink to it and export an interactive PDF, does that new link work? 

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 17, 2023

    Even in Acrobat/Reader, buttons are a crapshoot. The more you have the less reliable they are.

     

    As for go to URL, there are security issues there so depending on the reader app, it won't work.

     

    My standard advice when it comes to this: don't bother.

    Frans v.d. Geest
    Community Expert
    Frans v.d. GeestCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 17, 2023

    In which app does your client reviews the PDF? Only Acrobat on desktop is certain to work, other mobile devices and readers (mobile and desktop) may fail. So lets get that answer first...

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