Interactive PDF

[lisalochead]

With the cessation of Flash, how do we create a file for interactive?

[Dov Isaacs]

InDesign still allows for embedding of .mp4 video and .mp3 sound files which will properly export to PDF using the “interactive” PDF option.

[lisalochead]

Hi Dov,

Can you please show me an example?  I have been trying to export a PDF booklet for interactivity and how I you play the file.

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

Simply use the interactive tools to place video and sound files.

Then export PDF using the interactive option.

Your resultant PDF file will have the video and/or sound files clickable for playing.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS · Accepted solution]

If you need more advanced interactive features, your best bet is either a fixed-layout EPUB or use the In5 plugin. 

For fixed-layout, mobile devices usually have good readers; the Mac has iBook, which is also very good too. Oddly enough, Windows doesn't come with a good reader. For Windows, you can use a third-party reader such as Thorium Reader. (Adobe has the Adobe Digital Editions app, but based on the last time I used it, I would not recommend it for anything but basic EPUBs.)

[Diane Burns · Accepted solution]

Why not use Publish Online? It's part of InDesign and you can do some really interesting things using just InDesign with Publish Online. Anyone with a browser can view it. Here are some good examples: http://bit.ly/PubOnCollection