Interactive Buttons not working when I export to PDF

[default2r56dxkbbcbb]

I am in the process of producing an interactive diagram.

I have added all of my buttons and layers to the file and linked them up. When I preview it, everything works perfectly, however when I export to PDF only a handfull of the buttons work.

I've checked the links again and again and everthing is in order, so I don't know why the buttons aren't working when I PDF.

I have even deleted some of the buttons that don't show in the PDF and remade from scratch (relinking everything etc.) and they still don't show up.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Frans v.d. Geest · Accepted solution]

You say: 'when I preview it', however: there is no iPDF preview in InDesign. I guess you preview it in the EPUB-preview window, a completely different format, there it will work but that is not PDF.

Then: how do you export? You have to choose 'interactive PDF' from the format menu when saving, not just PDF.

Third: how are these 'buttons' set up? As real buttons or hyperlinks?

Fourth: in which app do you view the exported PDF? Any other app than Acrobat and changes are it will not work. Not on any mobile device anyway, but for example 'Preview' app on Mac will not work.

As said here many, many times: just forget iPDF, it is dead...

[default2r56dxkbbcbb]

Cheers for the kind response, all fixed now

[spotonjohn]

How did you fix it? I am getting NO button functionality when saving to PDF (Interactive PDF), no matter what I do. 

[Derek Cross]

Do you have a simple hyperlink button or a multi-state button?

[Derek Cross · Accepted solution]

Regarding PDF interactive buttons, you can have a word or words or an image (such as a button shape) as a document hyperlink to say another page in the document, or to an external website.
Some devices, for example, iPads, don't have rollover capability – only click – you should avoid multi-action buttons like On Click, On Roll Over, etc.  Multi-state objects (MSO) don’t work at all in Interactive PDFs.

As an alternative to PDF, have a look at InDesign's Publish Online feature.

[default2r56dxkbbcbb]

Thanks Derek. Publish Online worked perfectly 

[Luis Nossa]

In my experience, when my Indesign file has non-english characters, the buttons linked pages (destination by table of content) will not work. When i remove the non-english characters, I export to PDF and everything works. In the end I can rename the PDF adding those non-english characters, and the buttons keep working.

[Chan30607464n3np]

How to remove the non-English characters?

[Luis Nossa]

I can't seem to replicate the problem again in the late Indesign version, but some time ago I noticed that the interactive buttons in the exported interactive PDF don't work if the document name  has non-English characters (something like: "reação.indd" with "ç" and  "ã"). I am referring to the name of the document, not any content in the document.
At the time, I created the interactive PDF from a file without non-English characters on it's name and in the end I put the non-English names back into the final PDF name. This way I lept the interactivity on the buttons.
Something strange that doesn't seem to make much sense (it's not even reported on the forums), but that's how it happened to me. 

[Chan30607464n3np]

I'm looking for a solution to the interactive buttons not working while exporting PDFs, I'm working on a book but it will not be public online. My client just wants to have a PDF format. The problem is the book has a menu bar for each chapter on each page and I know I can do it on Acrobat however I have to do it page by page. 

[Luis Nossa]

Don't know how to help. I can just try to test the export to PDF for you. You can attach here a version of  your document with only 2 pages. The first page with the button, and the second will be the destination.  I can see if i suceed in exporting to interactive PDF

[Derek Cross]

Try a simple hyperlink(s) on a Master/Parent page.

[Mac1972]

Not all interactive buttons from indesign work properly when exporting a interactive pdf. In my case, normal links to the web work fine, but buttons like 'go to page...' of 'previous page' wont work good. What I mostly do is make those links in Acrobat. When I export the iPDF from indesign, I open it in Acrobat Pro and save it under a different name. Like _interactive in the name. Then I make invisable buttons in Acrobat with edit PDF > Add document Link. Now draw a shape where you would like the button and choose an action (Menu item for previous and next pages) (page view for linking to anouther page...) Save this PDF. When you maken changes to the original indesign document simply export as normal pdf and open the interactive pdf and then exchange all the pages. make sure the links are in the right place when you changed the layout. it's a bit of a workaround but it works for me.

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Remember that some actions will not work in PDF or ePub etc, it is explained in grey above the options (PDF only; ePub only etc):

[BobLevine]

Time for a new screenshot. 🙂

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Yes indeed hahaha 😂! Found this one quickly on the the web (my version is Dutch), copied it, but yes: still Says Flash!

[Mac1972]

In the middle of creating an interactive pdf right now haha. Found some new solves. For linking to another page: you can make buttons with roll-over functions. Then make hyperlinktargets for the page you want to link to: f.i. select the hader on page 3 and choose: new hyperlink target in your hyperlink panel. Then go to the button and make an action where you select this hyperlink target (tekst acnhor) as your goal. This works fine. On iPad  the rollover obviously wont work, but the links work fine ! yeah!

[Mac1972]

also dutch; struggling with menu names in englisch haha