Acrobat Resources

TIP #97

Drawing a Button

A button is a form element, and as such has more complex properties than a link. However, adding a simple button is almost as easy as creating a link.

Choose Tools > Advanced Editing > Forms > Button Tool. Or click the Button tool on the Advanced Editing toolbar; it is the Forms tool shown by default on the toolbar. Drag a marquee on the page where you want to place the button.

The Button Properties dialog opens to the General tab (Figure 97a). A button is named “Button1” by default; other buttons you add without customizing the name are numbered in sequence. To set the properties for a basic button: 

Figure 97a: Set characteristics for your buttons in the Button Properties dialog.

1. Name the button if you like. You can also add a tool tip that appears when the user moves the pointer over the button’s area on the page.

2. Click the Appearance tab and define how the button will look by choosing background and text color, borders, font, and line styles.

3. Click the Options tab and define how the content on the but­ton should look. You can use labels and icons for a button and customize it to your heart’s content.

4. Click the Actions tab and specify both triggers and actions that you want to associate with the button. Triggers are described in the sidebar on the previous page.

Note

If you want to use separate actions for separate triggers, repeat the pro­cess and choose the appropriate trigger from the Triggers pull-down list.

5. Click Close to dismiss the dialog and complete the button.

6. Click the Hand tool on the Basic toolbar to deselect the Button tool—you can’t see your button in action as long as the tool is selected. Test your button (Figure 97b).

Figure 97b: Test your button when it is finished. In this example, taken from an exotic vacation slideshow, the user is treated to tool tip messages as well as images.

This tip was excerpted from:
Adobe Acrobat 7 Tips and Tricks: The 150 Best by Donna Baker.
Copyright © 2005 Donna Baker.
Used with permission of Pearson Education, Inc. and Adobe Press.

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