Creating Interactivity

Acrobat lets you create amazing interactive documents using various tools. We have already discussed the Sound and Movie tools. Bookmarks, Flash, links, actions, and buttons are all used to create interactive PDF documents. You can make any PDF form interactive as well. Interactivity just lets you go where no PDF has ever gone before.

Adding Bookmarks

Just as you would create a bookmark in your web browser, you can create bookmarks in your PDF documents. This is quite handy for large PDF files with numerous pages. You can access often-used pages quickly with bookmarks.

Did you Know?

To create a bookmark, first go to the page you want to bookmark. Then choose New Bookmark from the Options menu on the Bookmarks pane (see Figure 10.16). I suggest entering a name for the page you are bookmarking that lets you know what the page is about.

Figure 10.16. Choose New Bookmark from the Options menu on the Bookmarks pane.

In large PDF files, the bookmarks are really nice for navigating in the PDF. Bookmarks organize your PDF files. You can also access the New Bookmark option by Ctrl+clicking (right-clicking) on the PDF page you want to bookmark and choosing New Bookmark from the context menu. Accessing the Pages pane lets you view the whole PDF page in a mini preview. This is also a way of navigating to a certain page, but you really won't know which page is which unless they have very different layouts. That is why bookmarks are so handy for navigating exactly to the area you want.

At any time, you can rename, rearrange, or remove bookmarks. By dragging a bookmark above or below another bookmark, you can change the order of the bookmarks. You can also drag a bookmark within a bookmark as a subset of the other bookmark.

Linking and Actions

The Link tool is used to create a button link to other pages in the PDF file. You can also link to other documents or websites on the Internet. Within the link, you can set the properties of the button as you can for the Sound and Movie buttons. You can not only set the properties, but also add an action to the link.

You can choose Actions in the Link Properties dialog box (not in the Create Link dialog box). The actions you can choose from are Go to a Page in This Document, Go to a Page in Another Document, Go to Snapshot View, Open a File, Read an Article, Execute a Menu Item, Set Layer Visibility, Show/Hide a Field, Submit a Form, Reset a Form, Import Form Data, Run a JavaScript, Play Media (Acrobat 5 Compatible), Play a Sound, Play Media (Acrobat 6 Compatible), and Open a Web Link. So when you set a link, it can do multiple things.

Did you Know?

To set an action to a link, follow these steps. Using the Link tool, drag out a button area for the link. Enter the type of link in the Create Link dialog box. Click OK. Ctrl+click on the link with the Link tool to access the Link Properties dialog box. In the Link Properties dialog box, click the Actions tab. Choose an action from the pop-up menu and click OK. Use the Hand tool to click on the Link button to see the action activated.

JavaScript Support

JavaScript enables you to add more interactivity to your PDF forms that you just can't get with Acrobat alone. Use JavaScript with forms, links, and page actions. For those of you who are wondering what JavaScript is, it is a coding for HTML pages. Use it in Acrobat forms for adding up items, costs, and so forth.

To access a JavaScript, choose a button's properties and choose Run a JavaScript from the pop-up menu. Select the desired JavaScript and choose Edit to access JavaScript Editor. In this editor, you can alter the JavaScript code. Click OK when you are done. For more information on JavaScript, see Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript in 24 Hours, 2nd Edition (Sams Publishing, 0-6723-2025-8, 2000), by Michael Moncur.