Some interactive text fields work and others don't ? What may I be skipping?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
February 21, 2025
3 replies
242 views

I don't know what I may be doing wrong, but some of my buttons still show even after I click on them to fill the form that's below them.

I think I'm following the exact same steps for all of them, and yet some (Month, Day, Year and Background and Context) appear as slightly grayed-out,a dn when clicked won't disapear. Instead, I am typing text in the fillable form over the button text (see Background and Context)

All others (like subject for instance work perfectly and the button hides as soon as I click on it so I can type in the interactive text box below it).

What mistake am I making?

BIG THANKS FOR YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM!

Peter Villevoye

Community Expert

Many (if not most) interactive features have become a bag of hurt, due to fact that there's so little (and even decreasing) support for the various kinds of interactive output InDesign is capable of exporting. It's not so much about how all these features work, but in which export format they might work ! It's crucial to first define and decide which kind of distribution and/or platform you're going to use.

More and more technical barriers are rising, to let PDFs perform any Java-scripted interactions (only plain hyperlinks and some form fields and options might work). While ePub Reflowable has been very successful for many decades, ePub Fixed Layout never gained any traction from the industry to manufacture or develop hard or software readers for it (only Apple supports it). Adobe's Publish Online (not Share for Review) works quite well with interactions and even animations, but simple visual stuff like transparancy and shadows seem to be tricky (I haven't checked for 2 or 3 years...) The recently added Export to HTML5 promises a lot (did Adobe finally acquire in5 plugin or what ?) But you know: I don't trust any of it anymore...

Maybe that HTML5 thing is the solution you should be looking for, judging by your example. 😄

So the question actually is: are your viewers willing and capable to download a file and maybe some better app along with it to open it, in stead of using their browser or simple standard or free viewer ? Or do you want them go to a website and view it online ? Do they have a Mac or an iPad ? Is it just for setting up some display in a trade booth or shop, and are you in total control of that device ? These questions (and the answers) define which distribution(s) and file format(s) you're going to use. And then you can decide and design the interactive features you're allowed to use.