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Export to interactive PDF

Caleb Clauset
  • Updated

Applies to the Adobe InDesign plug-in version 29 or later

The Export to interactive PDF workflow action exports an interactive PDF (.pdf) from an Adobe InDesign file (.indd or .indb).

An interactive PDF is a PDF document that can contain all sorts of digitally rich media—for example, buttons, videos, audio, GIFs, bookmarks, and page transitions.

The Export to interactive PDF  workflow action is divided into four tabs: General, Initial view, Viewing, and Images.

You can also use workflow variables to specify input fields. To insert a workflow variable, click the lightning bolt icon Lightning bolt iconand choose a variable from the pop-up menu.

General

Use this tab to specify the general settings, such as the input, output, and InDesign Server.

Export to Interactive PDF, General tab

Field Description
Input The file path to the input InDesign document (.indd) or book (.indb). Click the Choose File icon Choose File icon to choose the input InDesign file (.indd or .indb). Alternatively, enter the file path to the input file—for example, /Input/my-input.indd.
Output The file path to the output PDF file (.pdf). Enter a name for the generated PDF. Alternatively, click Choose File Choose File icon to choose an output from the pop-up menu.

The default output is output-1.pdf.
InDesign Server Choose the InDesign Server or Blinkenlights queue.
Create Acrobat layers Select the Create Acrobat layers checkbox to an interactive PDF with layers. Each InDesign layer is an Acrobat layer within the PDF. The layers are fully navigable, which allows users of Acrobat 6.0 and later to generate multiple versions of the file from a single PDF. Deselect if you do not want Acrobat layers.

Create Acrobat layer is selected by default.
Embed page thumbnails Select Embed page thumbnails to embed a thumbnail preview for each page in the PDF. Deselect if you do not want to embed page thumbnails.

Embedding a thumbnail preview increases the file size. Adobe recommends deselecting this setting when users of Acrobat 5.0 and later view and print the PDF; these versions generate thumbnails dynamically each time you click the Pages panel of a PDF.

Embed page thumbnails is selected by default.
Create tagged PDF Select Create tagged PDF to automatically tag elements in the story based on a subset of the Acrobat tags that InDesign supports, which includes paragraphs, basic text formatting, lists and tables. Deselect if you do not want InDesign to tag your document automatically.

Create tagged PDF is selected by default. Tagged PDFs are required for accessibility.
Use structure for tab order You must select Create tagged PDF to use Use Structure for tab order.

Select Use structure for tab order to use the structure for the reading order. Deselect if you do not want to use the structure for tab order.

Use structure for tab order is selected by default.
Forms and media Choose whether to allow forms and media—which includes movies, sounds, and buttons—to be interactive in the exported PDF file. Options include:
  • Include all: Forms and media are interactive in the exported PDF.
  • Appearance only: Forms and media are static elements in the exported PDF.
The default option is Include all.
Document language Enter an ISO 639-1 language code (for example, en for English) to set the appropriate language and pronunciation rules when assistive technologies are reading the document.

The default language code is en.

Initial view

Use this tab to specify the initial view of the interactive PDF. For example, you can set the display title and choose to lay out the PDF in a single page, or facing pages.

Export to interactive PDF, Initial view tab

Field Description
Display title (v31)

Title (v30 and earlier, formerly located on the Viewing tab)		 Choose the display title for the exported interactive PDF. Options include:
  • File name: The file name is the display title.
  • Document title: The document title is the display title.
The default display title is the File name.
Magnification Choose the magnification level (zoom) when the document is opened.

The default option is Fit page height.
Page layout Choose whether the exported PDF should open initially as a single page or facing pages. Options include:
  • Default: Displays the document according to Adobe Acrobat's default initial view settings.
  • Single page: Displays only the current document page on-screen and doesn’t show any adjoining pages. When you scroll to the top or bottom of the current page, other pages aren’t visible at the same time as the current page.
  • Single page continuous: Displays the current document page, and if you scroll to the top (or bottom) of the current page, the adjoining page is also visible. If you reduce your page viewing magnification, many document pages are visible.
  • Two-up (Facing): Displays pages as a spread, where you can view both the left and right sides of adjoining pages at the same time. When you have multi-page documents, use this option to see the pages presented side-by-side. As with the Single page mode, other pages that go before or fall after the spread aren’t visible—only the one pair of pages is visible on-screen, regardless of the magnification or scrolling.
  • Two-up continuous (Facing): Displays pages containing text or pictures on their adjoining pages, where you can scroll from one pair of visible pages to the next. When this view is selected, you can see adjoining page spreads. This option is the same as the Two-Up (Facing) option, but it also shows pages above or below the spread you’re currently viewing.
  • Two-up (Cover page): Same as Two-up (Facing), and it shows the cover page.
  • Two-up continuous (Cover page): Same as Two-up continuous (Facing), and it shows the cover page.
The default page layout is Single page.

Viewing

Use this tab to specify how the interactive PDF opens.

Export to interactive PDF, Viewing tab

Field Description
Open in Full Screen mode Select Open in Full Screen mode to immediately open the exported PDF in full screen mode. Deselect if you do not want it to open in full screen mode.

Open in Full Screen mode is selected by default.

Images

Use this tab to configure how images in the interactive PDF are exported.

Export to interactive PDF, Images tab

Field Description
Compression Choose how InDesign should compress images. Options include:
  • JPEG: Removes image data and possibly reduce image quality. (JPEG uses lossy compression, which means the image data is not exactly the same as it was originally, but rather a close approximation to it.)
  • JPEG 2000: Exports the image without any quality loss.
  • Automatic: Let InDesign determine the best quality for colour and grayscale images.
The default compression is JPEG.
JPEG quality Specify the amount of detail in the exported image. The higher the quality, the larger the file size. Options include:
  • Maximum: Includes all available high-resolution image data in the exported file and requires the most disk space. Choose this option if the file will be printed on a high‑resolution output device.
  • Low: Includes only screen-resolution versions (72 dpi) of placed bitmap images in the exported file. Choose this option if the file will be displayed on-screen only.
  • Medium and High: Includes more image data than Low, but use varying levels of compression to reduce file size.
If you chose JPEG 2000 from the Compression pop-up menu, JPEG quality is ignored because JPEG 2000 exports the image without any quality loss.

The default option is High.
Resolution (ppi) Specify the resolution of exported images in pixels per inch (ppi). Options include:
  • 72
  • 96
  • 150
  • 300
Choosing a high resolution is important to let viewers zoom in on pixel-based content. However, a high resolution can significantly increase the file size.

The default resolution is 72.

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