36. Create a Custom Button Before You Begin  33 Create a Multimedia Link
See Also  34 Create a Navigation Link 35 Create a Menu Action Link 37 Edit a Link
In addition to creating links, Acrobat also gives you the ability to create either text-based or custom graphical buttons. Both buttons and links perform actions, but the advantage of buttons is that they look like buttons. That is to say, they appear on your document as familiar and obviously clickable elements instead of invisible rectangles or rectangles whose meanings might be unclear. Obviously, if your PDF document already contains obvious cues, an invisible or visible link rectangle placed over the cue will get the job done. But if you are adding functionality that wasn't planned when the source document was created and converted, buttons can let the viewer know what to click and why. | 1. | Create a PDF Icon and Create a Button If all you want is a text-based button, you can skip this step. But if you want an icon of some sort for your button, you need to create it first. Acrobat does not come with any button graphics. Tip  | If you own Illustrator, you already have a large selection of images that are perfect for use as icons. The brushes and symbols that come with Illustrator can be used royalty-free for any purpose you desire ( assuming you legally own your copy of Illustrator, of course). Many other graphics applications also come with clip art or other images you can use for your own purposes. While Photoshop doesn't come with a library of image objects like Illustrator, Photoshop's layer effects, such as drop shadow and bevels, are ideal for creating your own custom button graphics. | To create a PDF icon, exit or minimize Acrobat and either locate a small image to use as your icon or create one in Photoshop, Illustrator, or any number of other graphics applications. When you have a small image, create a PDF version of it by printing it to PDF (see 5 About Creating a PDF from Other Applications ) or by converting the file within Acrobat (see 1 Create a PDF in Acrobat ). However you do it, you need to end up with a PDF version of a small, icon- size image. From the Tools menu, select the Advanced Editing submenu and the Button tool. Double-click or click and drag with the crosshair cursor where you want the button to appear. Acrobat presents you with the Button Properties dialog box. | | 2. | Define the Button Appearance Click the General tab, if it does not come up by default, and enter a name for the button in the Name field. In the Tooltip field, type in a short description of what the button does. This ToolTip appears when the viewer holds the mouse cursor over the button, just like the ToolTips for the buttons in the toolbars . If you are not using a custom icon, you might want to change some of the settings in the Appearance tab, but for a custom graphical button, this isn't necessary.  Click the Options tab. From the Layout drop-down list, select which combination of icon and/or label you want to use for your button. Click the Choose Icon button on the right side of the dialog box and locate and open the PDF icon file you created earlier. | | 3. | Add an Action
Click the Actions tab. Select an action from the Select Action drop-down list. You can also choose a trigger (the mouse action that triggers the selected action), but you will probably want to stick with the default, Mouse Up . This means that the action does not take place until the viewer releases the mouse button as the second half of a click of the button.
Define whatever parameters are necessary for your action, such as navigating to a specific page, selecting a sound or video file, or choosing a menu command to execute.
Click the Close button to exit the dialog box and complete the button-creation process.
| | 4. | Test the Button
Now it's time to test the button. To exit the Button Tool mode, press the Esc button. This returns you to the normal viewing mode with the Browse tool as the active tool. Click the newly created button to test it.
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