Creating Folders?

So you want to do some fancy navigation and graphics in a PDF? Traditionally, you can best think of PDF as electronic paper. Paper doesn't have an easy way to create fancy dynamic graphics. But PDF is an electronic document format, so there some things you can do.

First, the scripting langauge for Acrobat and PDF is JavaScript. A PDF is composed of static page content overlaid with Interactive elements, which are controled through scripting.

For each version of Acrobat after 6, there are more advanced ways to do dynamic graphics. Up to the current release, Acrobat 9, which includes Portfolios and embedded flash players. So, you also have to decide what kind of Acrobat compatibility you want.

If you are a Flash/Actionscript programmer, then you can create some fancy navigation stuff, just like you are talking about with a portfolio in Acrobat 9.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Hi and thanks for your response. I wonder if I was not clear about what I want to do? I did not see it as doing fancy graphics, etc.? All I want to do is put my manual up on Acrobat. Just as I would create folders in my Mac, I'd like to create a series of folders to be in the "pages" section of the .pdf such that when you click on one which might be labeled WELCOME , for example, it would then open the three pages of "Welcome" stuff Is that considered doing fancy graphics? While I do video production and am also quite familiar with Photoshop, creating a folder, with a name on it, that contains three or four pages such that when you click on it opens the pages, doesn't seem complicated to me; though it may be very complicated in Acrobat?

I guess if that's the case I'll forget Acrobat?

Thanks.

Ben Strasser

Converting your manual to PDF is an excellent thing. PDF is one of the most used document formats of all time since the viewer, Adobe Reader, is free.

Since you have Acrobat 6 you can experiment with the different ways that documents and navigation structures are created in Acrobat. For example, the bookmarks panel on the left hand side of the Acrobat window is the oldest of the navigation controls. You can use it to create a tree structure of bookmarks similar to a table of contents, or a folder structure on a file system. But you have to understand that a PDF Document (in and of itself) is like a book, i.e., it's a stack of pages, not a hiearchal structure like a file system.

But there are other ways to organize a PDF. For example, you could put each chapter into a separate PDF and then create links, in the bookmarks or on a TOC page, that open the different chapter documents. You can do a similar thing using file attachements.

And as I said in my first post, Acrobat 9 provides a way to make your documents look more like a file system with Portfolios. In fact, I think this is more of what you are looking for. I'd suggest downloading a trial version of Acrobat 9 and trying out the Portfolio feature. You'll find some video tutorials and eseminars on this topic on this web site, acrobatusers.com.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Hi thomp. With this response you have suggested several things I can try and they all seem do-able. I'm going at it as soon as I finish saying Thanks. Appreciate you timely response so I can get to work.

Ben Strasser