From the course: InDesign: Interactive PDFs

What is an interactive PDF? - InDesign Tutorial

From the course: InDesign: Interactive PDFs

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What is an interactive PDF?

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- [Instructor] In one sense, every PDF file is an interactive PDF. I mean, you interact with it while you're reading it, right? But, generally, we use the term interactive PDF when we're talking about a PDF file that is meant to be viewed on screen, and the interactive PDF features are the parts of a PDF that take your audience beyond the basic reading experience where they're just looking at a page and give them more like buttons that let them navigate around the file or videos that explain the subject in detail, windows that open and close, hyperlinks, bookmarks, even check boxes and text entry fields. Now, you might use interactive PDFs for online publications like we do with InDesign Magazine. We've been producing this magazine for over a decade and the whole thing is designed to be read on screen, though I have met folks who print out each issue and put them in binders to read. I use interactive PDF for presentation slides because InDesign offers far more control over typography and page design than PowerPoint or Keynote. You might use interactive PDF for forms that someone can download and fill out, submitting the data right into a spreadsheet for you to analyze, and PDFs are of course great for books and documentation, but when you add some interactivity, you can turn a document into an experience that will draw your reader in and hold their attention longer, and, best of all, interactive PDFs are easy to make, easy to distribute, and easy to read on virtually any device.

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