Updating pdf

Unfortunately there is not a good design path/cycle for using buttons created in InDesign. But there are some things you can do to make your job easier. First, only use Indesign for the background design. Don't use it to create active elements like the buttons. If you are updating old pages use the Replace Pages feature in Acrobat, or if you adding new pages, just insert them. This way all the other PDF features are preserved.

It sounds like you are having navigation problems? i.e., when you insert a new page it throws off the page numbers used by some buttons for navigation?

There is a way to deal with this. Don't use absolute page numbers for navigation. Instead, create uniquely named bookmarks for all of your pages. The standard Bookmark uses what's called a destination to navigate to a page. You can move the pages around all you want and the bookmark will always go to the same page.

Next write a Document Level function that finds and executes a named bookmark. Use this function from a button to navigate to a particular page. You're basically creating page names that will work regardless of where a page is moved. Page Replacement won't affect this method and when you insert new pages, just add new bookmarks.

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/]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/[/url]

Thanks for the the response Thom, I will certainly use some of the advice you offered. One of the early problems I seemed to have was when I created bookmarks in idesign they would get messed up when I started moving pages around in acobat, especially when I had renamed the bookmarks in indesign. I noticed regardless of the renaming in indesign, acrobat seemed to always have the bookmarks as numbers.

I am now creating Hyperlink destinations instead of bookmarks which seems to be much better, I'd be interested to know if you think this is a good method. The job im creating started off as a pretty simple TouchScreen catalogue, but because it has been received so well its grown into a beast. It now has a functional shopping cart system so customers can create and print there own oders.

Im loving indesign and acrobat and this site is a great source for help, thanks for the reply.

Regards Peter.

I can understand why you prefer creating the buttons and bookmarks in Indesign. After all it's a great design tool and it seems very natural to create as many features as possible on the front end.

Unfortunatley it doesn't work very well because it locks you into only being able to create these features in InDesign. Bookmarks, buttons, and hyperlinks are interactive features and they cannot be cleanly imported into an existing PDF. If you do any finishing work in Acrobat then this work will be lost, or at least be a pain to transfer, if you do any redesigns. The best methodology is to use InDesign for the page design only and use Acrobat to add interactive features. That way you can use Replace Pages to import new page designs without losing previous work on interactive features.

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/]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/[/url]