I have a question for anyone...I am a huge fan of Interactive Pdf content. I create lots of pdf interactive brochures. My biggest concern is investing a lot of time into something I am not sure of its future. I do not see a lot of interactive pdf floating around the business world and I could be wrong about that, I just have not seen any. Is interactive pdf a dying technology? Or is it something that never caught on? or am I completely wrong about everything.
Your opinion
2010-05-30 20:37:57
My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro Extended 9.3.1, Windows
Acrobat Pro Extended 9.3.1, Windows
2010-05-31 06:43:47
#2
by interactive I mean embedded video, javascript, etc. I am wondering if everyone will be moving to apps like on the ipad for interactive presentations.
As far as forms goes, I think people are still working with microsoft word to create and deliver electronic forms.
As far as forms goes, I think people are still working with microsoft word to create and deliver electronic forms.
2010-05-31 07:37:25
#3
Rich media PDFs haven't caught on the way they necessarily could have, for a multitude of reasons. I think that in specific terms of video, the improved options for interactive content in CS5 (InDesign even has a workspace for "Interactive PDF") will kick-start some growth, but ultimately it's down to user choice. PDF isn't the only way to deliver a video to someone, by a long shot - you can put it on YouTube for free and send someone an email link, or embed it into your own website and send them the link, or you can buy Acrobat and send them a PDF - for most non-pro users, the visual advantages of PDF are heavily outweighed by that little word "free". For most [i]pro[/i] users, we're still battling against clients who use Reader 7 across their enterprise, so even the vague [u]idea[/u] of rich media is often difficult to sell. It takes many, many product cycles before the major corporations take on what they often see as a "gimmick". They will, eventually, but reeeeeeally slowly. The only places where it's happening with any significance is in forms, where the efficiency savings are too good to ignore - but even then, there are far more corporations using web forms than PDF forms.
Highly-complex interactive documents that draw on JavaScript, rich media, 3D, mapping and forms certainly do exist, but the public rarely gets to hear about them as they're almost entirely being made for closed circulation, for example between a designer and a client. There are some proof-of-concept demos (such as in the AUC galleries) but nobody's going to be allowed to post their "proper" work online. As a result, it seems there isn't any.
Remember, for most cubicle mice, technology is something that happens to other people. I doubt many of them will get to smell the box an iPad came in, never mind get to use one.
Highly-complex interactive documents that draw on JavaScript, rich media, 3D, mapping and forms certainly do exist, but the public rarely gets to hear about them as they're almost entirely being made for closed circulation, for example between a designer and a client. There are some proof-of-concept demos (such as in the AUC galleries) but nobody's going to be allowed to post their "proper" work online. As a result, it seems there isn't any.
Remember, for most cubicle mice, technology is something that happens to other people. I doubt many of them will get to smell the box an iPad came in, never mind get to use one.
2010-05-31 08:49:40
#4
Do you believe adobe will keep pushing and creating new ways of interactive content through a pdf, due to a lack of popularity
2010-05-31 11:01:36
#5
All depends on how you define "new ways". Video and Flash in PDF is central to the interactive publishing workflow in CS5, and Acrobat's forms system and JavaScript API aren't about to go away as so many people rely on them, but what other features may appear over time is very difficult to predict. When we were using Acrobat 4, the idea of Portfolios would've been laughed out the room. We also have to allow for new problems as well as new opportunities - legacy media being the obvious example.
Adobe has to make a profit like everybody else, but the PDF specifications are open - although the Adobe Flash Player and 3D engines are not - so despite Acrobat currently having all the bells and whistles and the rest playing catch-up, there's no reason why another vendor couldn't come out with some amazing feature that nobody's thought of - the ISO spec allows for that. Admittedly there's not a lot left to invent based on current technology, but in ten years, who knows... embedded smells? holograms? automatic translation? Only time will tell.
Adobe has to make a profit like everybody else, but the PDF specifications are open - although the Adobe Flash Player and 3D engines are not - so despite Acrobat currently having all the bells and whistles and the rest playing catch-up, there's no reason why another vendor couldn't come out with some amazing feature that nobody's thought of - the ISO spec allows for that. Admittedly there's not a lot left to invent based on current technology, but in ten years, who knows... embedded smells? holograms? automatic translation? Only time will tell.
2010-05-31 17:47:40
#6
I appreciate all the additional info...I guess your right, its to hard to predict what is to come...Interactive pdf documents are a very unique and great way to share information.
And before what you were saying about there are easier and cheaper ways to deliver interactive content such as the internet...but I will tell you, the great thing about pdf...... If you have specific content to deliver to a customer......sending a pdf allows you to send the information directly to customer instead of trying to drive that customer to your website. And really there is no better "electronic vehicle" to deliver interactive content directly to a person.
thanks again
And before what you were saying about there are easier and cheaper ways to deliver interactive content such as the internet...but I will tell you, the great thing about pdf...... If you have specific content to deliver to a customer......sending a pdf allows you to send the information directly to customer instead of trying to drive that customer to your website. And really there is no better "electronic vehicle" to deliver interactive content directly to a person.
thanks again
2010-06-03 20:58:09
#7
I appreciate all the additional info...I guess your right, its to hard to predict what is to come...Interactive pdf documents are a very unique and great way to share information.And before what you were saying about there are easier and cheaper ways to deliver interactive content such as the internet...but I will tell you, the great thing about pdf...... If you have specific content to deliver to a customer......sending a pdf allows you to send the information directly to customer instead of trying to drive that customer to your website. And really there is no better "electronic vehicle" to deliver interactive content directly to a person.
thanks again
ME TOO :d thanks again
Personally, I think that far too many (PDF) forms are still being printed out, filled in manually and handed in. As more and more organizations will become aware of the costs and environmental toll of this practice digital forms should become more common place.
But the question is also what you mean exactly by "interactive"?
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