How to Use Action Buttons for PDFs in Adobe Acrobat
Ever wondered if there’s more you can do with your PDF files? PDF files are great for preserving the formatting of your documents, but they can house more than just text. Despite their reputation, PDF documents can be interactive.
Action buttons are one way to achieve this. you may customize these buttons to perform a variety of tasks and suit the look and feel of your document perfectly. Adobe Acrobat makes working with action buttons a breeze. Let’s see how you can add some more functions to your PDF files with action buttons.
What Are Action Buttons in PDF?
PDF files are typically static. When you save a document as a PDF, you can be confident that your audience will view it exactly as intended. However, despite this primary benefit, PDF files don’t have to be entirely static. You can incorporate dynamic features into your PDF to make it more interactive.
A prime example of this is action buttons. These are similar to internal links, but instead of text, they are represented graphically. you’re able to use a PDF action button to trigger a specific action when it’s clicked. Action buttons can perform a variety of tasks, like navigating to a different page in the document, opening another document, playing audio or video files, and even running JavaScript code.
MostPDF reader appscan display action buttons, such as Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Reader, and built-in browser PDF viewers. Thence, you likely don’t need to be concerned about which app your reader will use to view your file.
However, to create and modify action buttons, you will require a copy of Adobe Acrobat. Any desktop version of Acrobat, including Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro, and Acrobat Pro DC, can create action buttons. Although you canedit PDF files with the Adobe Acrobat browser extension, you’re able to’t create action buttons through it.
How to Create Action Buttons in Adobe Acrobat
The trigger and the action are the two main parameters in Adobe Acrobat action buttons. Other than these, you can also customize the looks of the action button. Creating the action button itself is a matter of mere clicks.
The name that you assign the button is distinct from the display text. You can use the button’s name to refer to it when needed.
Now you have an action button in your document. At the moment, it does nothing. In fact, it doesn’t even say anything about it. To see your button in its actual form, close the Button Properties window and clickClosein the Rich Media toolbar.
As mentioned before, there are plenty of things you can do with action buttons in PDFs. As an example, let’s create a button that takes the reader to the last page.
This will open the Button Properties window, where it’s possible to change the button’s settings and behavior. You can add an action in theActionstab. Here you’ll have to select a trigger and an action. You can edit an action after adding it.
There are plenty of triggers you can choose from. Although each is useful on its own, theMouse Uptrigger will suffice for a simple button. With this trigger, the action will trigger once the user clicks and releases the click on the button. The action won’t trigger if the user clicks the button but releases it outside the button.
With the trigger out of the way, let’s give this button some action:
Now your button has an action. To try it out, close the Rich Media toolbar and click the button. If it works as it should, it’s time to edit the button to give it a label.
Same as before, go to Rich Media and then right-click on the button to bring up the properties.
Alternatively, you can add an icon instead of a label. To do so, change the layout in theOptionstab fromLabel onlyto one that includes an icon as well. Then in Icon and Label, click onChoose Icon.
Now you have an action button that will take you to the last page of the document when you click it. Try it out by closing the Rich Media toolbar. If there’s anything you don’t like about the button, you know how to change it.
If other people are going to use your document, make sure to test your button on as many PDF viewers as you can. If there’s one where the button doesn’t work, you can add a note and ask the readers to avoid opening the document with that specific viewer.
That’s it! you could now go ahead andshare your PDF file online, so that everyone gets a taste of this interactivity.
Make Your PDF Interactive With Action Buttons
Adding action buttons to your PDF documents is a great way to enhance both their interactivity and functionality. With Adobe Acrobat, creating these buttons is a straightforward process that you can accomplish with just a few clicks.
By selecting the appropriate triggers and actions, you can create buttons that perform a wide variety of tasks, including navigating to different parts of the document, playing multimedia files, and executing JavaScript code.
You can make the buttons more user-friendly and visually appealing by adding labels or icons and changing the appearance. There’s a lot more you can do with PDF action buttons. So why not hop on and try it out for yourself?
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