Excerpted from Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

PDF as a Presentation Tool

Sandee Cohen and Pattie Belle Hastings
Using Acrobat to create interactive presentations allows you to use professional
layout and graphic applications for the design process. This session covers the process
from authoring application to Acrobat interactive enhancements for live or electronic
delivery techniques. Techniques will be demonstrated using both Acrobat 5 &
Acrobat 6 Professional.

Topics will include:

Advantages and disadvantages of using

Acrobat over other presentation
applications

NO T E

This presentation will cover

tools and techniques in both
Adobe Acrobat 5 & Acrobat 6
Professional.

PDF Presentations

Presentation design including layout

grid, color, copy writing, typography
and visuals

Preflighting presentations - checklists

and back-up plans

Everything you wanted to know about

Acrobat full-sceen mode... appearance,
transitions, timing, pitfalls, etc.

I use Acrobat to make my presentations instead of Microsoft PowerPoint?

Creating self-running PDF

presentations

to our graphic design background. We have, however, noticed countless ques-

Handling multiple documents in

full screen

Embedding page transitions and

controlling their timing

Using sound, movies, and the

comment tools for added oomph

InDesign/Acrobat integration for

creating PDF presentations

We can hear some of you asking, Hey, with all those interactive buttons, can

Its never occurred to us to use PowerPoint for presentations most likely, due

tions and threads in pdf discussions about how to convert PowerPoint presentations into pdf documents. We also see a trendgraphic designers who
want to use their professional layout tools as the basis for creating dynamic
presentations. This is all possible using Acrobat and pdf.

Presented by Sandee Cohen & Pattie Belle Hastings

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

10.1 Creating Dynamic Presentations

with Adobe Acrobat
With Acrobats full screen feature, any pdf can instantly become a presentation. Think about it.
You dont have to do anything to the document other than go into full screen mode or specify that
the document opens in full screen mode. Prestoinstant presentation. If the presenter knows the
keyboard commands for the hand, zoom, scroll, page forward, and page backward tools, this
instant presentation can appear seamless and very professional.
Before we go any further, let us state unequiv-

documents need to be converted to html les

ocally that we have nothing against Microsoft

before they can be viewed on the web, whereas

PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a terric program

pdf les do not.

for salesmen and other non-designers to use

Acrobat is the perfect convergence of con-

to organize their thoughts and create internal

tent and media created from other applications,

slide presentations. Unfortunately, many peo-

such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere, Final

ple feel that the same slides they present to their

Cut Pro, Flash, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, In-

colleagues are suitable to present to potential

Design, Microsoft Word, Excel, and even

clients and the general public. Would you use

PowerPoint. In other words, Acrobat plays

Microsoft Word to create an important annual

well with others.

report or brochure? Of course not. Yet thats

Its easy to re-purpose existing print con-

exactly what you do when you use Power-

tent into a quality presentation without limi-

Point for a public presentation.

tations on typography, layout, and color. For

There are many reasons to use Acrobat

instead of PowerPoint. For example, you cant

quality typography in a pdf document. The

transparency features in Photoshop, Illustra-

on other peoples machines with the same

effects that you created. (Although there is a

ments.

You dont have to worry about the viewer

tor, or InDesign also translate into pdf docuAcrobats value-added interactive features,
such as rollover buttons, links, movies, and
sound, are easy to learn and implement. If

having the same fonts as you. Although Power-

created with the proper settings, pdf le sizes

Point 2002 has the ability to embed the fonts

are usually much smaller than PowerPoint

used in the document, weve seen presentations

les. Of course, this doesnt mean that any

in the past ruined by missing or substituted

pdf document automatically makes a good

fonts. pdf documents are inherently cross-plat-

presentationbut more on that later.

form and can easily be posted on websites and

viewed through web browsers. PowerPoint

The combination of
vector graphics and
sound effects make
the presentation look
like a Flash movie.

phy in Adobe InDesign, you get the same

PowerPoint. So your presentation may not play

distributed than the Acrobat Reader.)

Although simulated
here in print, the transitions from one page
to another create a
dramatic opening for
the presentation.

example, if you use the high-quality typogra-

rely on someone having the same version of

free PowerPoint player, it is much less widely

Glenn Page is the

principle director of
GPMC, a marketing
and sales consulting
firm. GPMC creates
interactive marketing
presentations for its
clients that can be
sent by e-mail or
downloaded from a
website. Using PDF as
the platform, these
iBrochures are excellent presentations that
go far beyond the typical slide show. These
are just a few frames
from the opening of
the companys own
interactive sales piece.

Lets say youve traveled across the country and the laptop you were going to use for a

Notice the effective

use of contrasting
color.

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

presentation has a problem. (This actually

Layout Grid

tion, we open one of these templates and

presentation room. However, that is rarely pos-

happened to Pattie Belle and Bjrn in Bergen,

Just as any print document is designed on a

bring in the content.

sible. Allow us to offer some gross generaliza-

Norway.) If you have posted your pdf presenta-

grid of some sort, your slide designs should

tion on the web, you can use anyone elses

machine (Windows or Mac) to present the

incorporate a basic underlying grid for the

Color

placement of text, images, media, logos, etc.

Just as you start with an underlying grid for

Our fail-safe recommendations are 36-

document. You can even download the Reader

software to the backup computer. (Pattie Belle

The goal is to present a clear, easy-to-read,

structure, you should also create a simple color

point or larger type for headings and titles, and

and memorable message. The layout should

palette before you begin creating your slides.

24-point type for body text. Pattie Belle often

and Bjrn recommend e-mailing the presen-

direct the audience to the key points, while at

Contrast and legibility are the key concerns

uses 14- to 18-point type for body text. Shes

tations to yourself before leaving the ofce, so

the same time present information in a visu-

when it comes to using color in presentations.

luckyshe speaks in front of various audiences

you have the option to download your pdf

ally interesting format.

All projectors are not created equal and color

several times a week, week in and week out. This

tions that should keep the back of the room

from getting out their binoculars.

variation from your monitor to the actual pro-

allows her to test her documents on a variety

speakers around the country and around the

for the presentation. Create master slides (mas-

jection scenario can be quite dramatic. In some

of projectors, and in a wide range of spaces.

world, weve experienced and seen quite a few

ter pages if you use QuarkXpress or InDesign)

instances, color variation can even destroy the

Dont get crazy with your font selection.

problems while on the road. See the Planning

for the presentation using the same grid, fonts,

legibility of the presentation. The only way to

Create a style sheet for your font choices, sizes,

for the Worst-Case Scenario section, later in

colors, graphics, and object placement. To cre-

have absolute control over this is to provide

and colors. Pick two families that complement

this chapter.

ate continuity, rhythm, and ow, use different

the projector yourself not always feasible.

each other, such as a serif and san-serif, and use

layout variations (but the same underlying

Play it safe and stick to a simple, high contrast

one for the headings and titles and one for the

grid) for slide variety.

color palette. This should improve as the base-

body text and captions. Italics and all-caps may

line for projector technology improves.

be harder to read than plain text, so use them

le from anywhere in the world.) As frequent

Though we do promote pdf for presentations, there are some disadvantages. pdf is a
nal format. Even with the Touchup tools, you

Dene the overall visual theme and style

Design a system of page layouts based on

will want to edit a presentation back in the

the use of your grid and the repeating elements

original authoring application. Acrobat is not

of the presentation. The unexpected changes

template-driven like PowerPoint. You cant

in layout will help to keep audience attention

just grab style #42 and throw in the text.

(Fortunately, this also means that your pres-

during the presentation. Dont get too elabo-

entation is less likely to look the same as the

of your information with too much visual

fellow who just preceded you onstage.)

competition. Dont be afraid of white space.

Acrobat doesnt have the single focus on

rate. You may end up destroying the reception

This is the term for the amount of slide (or

presentation that PowerPoint does. Acrobat

page) that is not covered by image and text.

doesnt have as many slide show effects as

PowerPoint. (But then again, we think people

White space provides a visual pause, or rest,

have a tendency to over-use and misuse the

transitions and special effects in PowerPoint.)

for the viewers eyes.

The size of your slides should be in close
ratio with your screen for best results. Power-

Copy

Keep the number of words per slide and per

sentence to a minimum to get the message
across. Slides are meant to be visual aids for

sparingly. If you are using bullet points, try to

tighten the language to simple phrases rather
than long sentences. This helps the audience
focus on the key concepts of the presentation.

the audience, not a script for the presenter. Use

Visuals

short sentences. Use numbered lists or bulleted

Visuals can enhance slides and increase audi-

lists. Use charts, graphs, and illustrations.

ence retention of key points. Use photographs,

On the other hand, it is possible to have

illustrations, charts, graphs, symbols, and icons

too little copy in the slide. A slide with just

to illustrate your content. Media elements, such

three bullet points that is projected for more

as movies, sound, and animation can also act

than ten minutes of discussion is great way to

as information enhancements. Rollover text

put your audience to sleep.

buttons and show/hide elds can be used to

enhance the visual aspects of the presentation.

Point creates slides that are 10x8 inches, but

PRESENTATION DESIGN

Presentation Typography

we usually base our slide size on a standard

Design your presentation with the authoring

video size of 640x480 pixels. We round this

When it comes to slide typography, the num-

application of your choice. Pattie Belle and

gure off to 9x6 inches if were working in an

Bjrn mainly use QuarkXpress and Illustra-

application that does not support pixel meas-

tor, although they agree with Sandee that the

projected in front of an audience, you want to

urement. Create a bank of your own slide

future will include InDesign. Here are a few

err on the larger size. How can you tell what

HYPERLINKS AND
CROSS-DOCUMENT REFERENCES

templates for future use. We keep blank doc-

presentation design fundamentals to keep in

will be legible to an audience from looking at

A presentation can also be greatly enhanced

uments of these sizes with basic grid format-

mind during the pre-pdf process.

your monitor? Well, you cant. In an ideal sce-

by hyperlinks, cross-document references, and

ting in all our favorite application formats. If

nario, you would be able to test your presen-

web links. The success of these techniques

we have to throw together a quick presenta-

tation using the actual projector setup in the

depends upon the presentation scenario, web

ber one concern is readability. Lets start with

point size. If your presentation is going to be

For example, if your slide has a question that

you are discussing, the answer can be revealed
with rollover text.

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

access, document library, dependent applica-

and layout for consistency. Electronic style sheets

tions, etc. This method is probably the easiest

can help avoid errors. Also, use the book feature

way to customize a presentation on the y.

to coordinate styles and colors across multiple

Perhaps you realize that your audience

expects more details on a key subject. A few

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

10.2 Full Screen Mode

documents. Proof for bad line breaks and stray

single words.

hyperlinks to the appropriate website can

instantly provide the added material. Instead

During PDF Creation

Whats the most important part of an Acrobat presentation? The opening. You dont want the rst

of creating a one-size-ts-all presentation,

Do the following during the process of distill-

thing that your audience sees to be you resizing a document window; moving the title bar up to the

build a library of interconnected pdf les

ing the document, or saving as a pdf le. Dou-

top of the screen; madly clicking to close palettes and tool bars; and then zooming in and out to

that can be customized on the y to t the

ble check the page-size specications in the

the correct magnication. This is the electronic equivalent of watching the Three Stooges trying to

audience. Remember, in most presentation

Document Setup dialog boxes. Even if you are

get their act together.

settings, your audience does not know what

going to present the document on your own

you plan to present. They never need to know

machine, make sure all the fonts are embedded.

OPEN IN FULL SCREEN MODE

Full Screen mode, youll still need to set the full

you changed the content at the last moment.

You never know when youll have to work on

Back in Chapter 3, we looked at the Document

screen behavior. Choose Edit>Preferences>

someone elses computer.

Open Options. These options control how the

General and then click the Full Screen category.

document appears when it is rst opened. The

The Full Screen Preferences will appear.

PREFLIGHTING PRESENTATIONS

The best-laid schemes o mice an men Gang

aft agley (Robert Burns). Be prepared! (Boy
Scout motto). Anything that can go wrong,
will go wrong. (Murphys Law).

After PDF Creation

Set the following options in Acrobat. Specify

appropriate open and full screen options (covered in the next section). Test your page tran-

Obviously, things went wrong long before

sitions and timing. Test all sounds, movies, and

computers and electronic presentations. Thats

links. This is especially important if you have

why you need to consider every possible sce-

moved the les from one computer to another.

nario for what might go wrong and how you

Memorize the keyboard commands for all

can x it. You wouldnt believe the number of

navigation tools.

backup operating system and application disks

we take on the road for our speaking and training assignments. Here are the preight checklists we use as we create pdf presentations.

Worst-Case Scenario Back-up Plan

Your le gets corrupted. Your hard disk fails.

Your computer is stolen. Take the following
steps and youll be able to work on anyone

Author Application Checklist

elses computer. Burn a cross-platform cd and

Make sure you do the following while in your

pack it separately from your laptop. Upload

authoring application. Spell-check and proof-

your presentation to a website or e-mail the

read the document. Remember, Acrobats

pdf to yourself at an address you can access

Spelling command only works on comments

from any computer.

and forms, not the text from the authoring

application. But dont rely on spell check for
everything. It cant nd errors if they are reel
words. Check the spelling of proper nouns,
names, and terms not included in the appli-

Open in Full Screen Mode in the Document

Open dialog box is an important setting for

FULL SCREEN NAVIGATION

presentations.

The full screen navigation options are very

The Full Screen mode hides everything that

helpful if you want to create a self-running

isnt part of the presentation. The document

kiosk-style presentation. These options control

opens with none of the following elements vis-

how you can move from one page to another.

ible: menus, tool bars, palettes, document

If you have memorized the shortcuts for the

window, computer desktop, icons, other appli-

navigation commands under the Document

cations, operating system controls. Further-

menu, or you use navigational elements con-

more, if the document window does not t

tained within the document, you probably

exactly inside the computer screen, a back-

wont need to set these options.

ground color will appear around the document.

Advance every [number] seconds sets the

In the Full Screen mode, no one ever needs to

presentation to run automatically with a spe-

know you are working in Acrobat. After you

cic time interval between each page. Even if

choose Open in Full Screen Mode, the docu-

this setting is turned on, you can still use man-

ment doesnt automatically change into the

ual clicks and keyboard shortcuts to override

Full Screen mode. You have to close the docu-

it and move through the document.

ment and then open it to see the Full Screen

Advance On Any Click allows you to move

setting, or you can choose View>Full Screen.

through the presentation by pressing the mouse

You cant count on the fact that someone

button. This is very useful for kiosk displays in

will stay in the Full Screen mode. Anyone who

which you dont want the user to use the key-

knows the keyboard command for View>Full

Screen (Ctrl-L for Windows or Command-L

board to close the document or quit the pro-

for Macintosh) can switch to the normal view.

cations dictionary. Check the links for placed

gram.
Loop After Last Page turns the presentation
into a never-ending document. Unless you want

images, charts, graphs, and illustrations. Check

SETTING FULL SCREEN PREFERENCES

to mesmerize a seated audience, this option is

colors, typefaces, capitalization, punctuation,

Once you have set a document to open in the

better left for kiosk displays.

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS
FULL SCREEN MODE

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

Escape Key Exits designates the Escape key

Choose File >Document Properties >

Open Options to set
the Window Options
to Open In Full
Screen Mode. Use
the Full Screen Preferences to set the
behavior for the full
screen mode.

The setting for No Transition and Replace

view. The Escape key function used to stop a

may appear identical, but there is a difference.

movie supercedes this command, so if a movie

No Transition lets one page replace another

is running youll have to hit the Escape key

without any control over the visual display.

twice to exit Full Screen.

This may cause some page elements to icker

When you set a document to run in the

or redraw poorly. If that happens, choose the

full screen mode, you may frighten inexperi-

Replace transition, which forces a better page

enced users who may think your presentation

replacement.

has taken over their computer. They may not

The ve basic transition appearances

(from left to right):
Blinds, Box, Dissolve,
Split, and Wipe.

uses an assortment of the listed transitions.

to exit from the Full Screen mode to the normal

The options in the Mouse Cursor menu

know that they can press the Escape key; close

let you set what should happen to the mouse

the le; or quit Acrobat to get back to their

cursor. Always Visible keeps the mouse cursor

computer. For those users, you might consider

visible throughout the presentation. Use this

creating a button that executes the menu item

setting especially if you want your user to click

View>Full Screen. Give the button a name such

buttons or other onscreen elements. Hidden

as Back to the Computer Screen to let users

After Delay hides the mouse cursor a few sec-

know that they can escape from the full screen.

onds after the Full Screen mode begins. However, if the user clicks or moves the mouse, the

FULL SCREEN APPEARANCE

cursor reappears. This is an excellent choice to

These options offer renements relating to how

keep the screen uncluttered without immobi-

the Full Screen mode should be displayed. It is

lizing the user from using the mouse. Always

important to remember that all of these options

Hidden hides the mouse cursor immediately

are not contained within your document. This

after moving into the Full Screen mode. It

means that you cannot rely on the same settings

does not reappear even if the mouse is clicked

when your presentation is shown on another

or moved.

computer.
Transitions are the graphic devices that

SELF-RUNNING PDF
Choose File>Document Options >Open
Options. Set the Window Options to Open
in Full Screen. Save
the changes.

If the pdf document does not completely

ll the screen, youll need some sort of ll

replace one page with another. Acrobat offers

around the document. The Background Color

19 transition choices in the Default Transition

option lets you choose the color for that ll.

menu. These choices can be grouped into ve

The default setting is black which means that

categories: Blinds, Box, Dissolve/Glitter, Split,

most people will have a black color surround-

and Wipe. The option for Random Transition

ing their document. Sandee routinely changes

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS

her background color to match one of the high-

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

To test the settings, close the document

light colors in her presentations such as the red

and then reopen it. Watch the document run

in the text.

at least twice to make sure the advance, loop,

10.3 Embedding Page Transitions

and full screen settings work correctly.

CREATING A SELF-RUNNING PDF

The following steps can be used to set a document to automatically advance from one page

OPENING MULTIPLE
DOCUMENTS IN FULL SCREEN

to another with a transition.

Sandee discovered this technique recently when

she had to quickly present 30 different pdf doc-

The major limitation associated with using page transitions is that they are controlled by the pref-

Step

Set the Open Options

uments as a single presentation. The Full Screen

erences on each users machine. Fortunately, there are several ways to embed the instructions for

Choose File>Document Properties>Open

mode can also be used to string separate single-

page transitions within the document. This makes it possible to create sophisticated page transi-

Options. Choose Open in Full Screen from the

page documents into what looks like one pres-

tions that play anywhere, without relying on the users preference settings.

Window Options. Set the Magnication to Fit

entation. Open all the documents in Acrobat.

in Window to see the entire presentation. Set

Set the the Full Screen Appearance as desired.

ACROBAT PDFMARKS

well explain it all after youve followed the

the Page Layout to Single Page to see one page

Switch to the Full Screen mode. The rst doc-

Back in the days of Acrobat 3, the Acrobat cd

steps and seen it work.

at a time. Click ok and then save the changes

ument appears. Use the keyboard shortcut

contained a folder of transition eps les. You

to the le.

to close the document. The next document

imported an eps into the page layout. When

Step

appears in the Full Screen mode with the

the document was distilled, the transition was

Choose Tools>JavaScript>Console. The Java-

transition you selected. Close each document

embedded as part of the page. These transitions

Script Console dialog box appears. Dont worry

to continue through the presentation.

overruled the preference settings and allowed

about any text that may be in the console area.

different transitions for each page. If you have

The main concern should be the new text

you enter.

Step

Set the Document to Repeat

Choose Edit>Preferences>General. Then click

the Full Screen category. The Full Screen Pref-

Transitions set in the Preferences are differ-

erences appear. To create a self-running docu-

ent on each machine. You also cant set different

access to an Acrobat 3 cd, you can still use

ment, choose Advance Every [number] seconds.

transitions for each page in the Preferences. The

those les.

Set the time to reect the length of time you

next section shows how to create transitions

Type the JavaScript

Click inside the white area of the console, and

the page. To create a document that runs con-

EMBEDDING PAGE TRANSITIONS

FROM THE JAVASCRIPT CONSOLE

tinuously, choose Loop After Last Page.

These days there are easier ways to embed page

lowing code as one line, exactly as written.

(Watch for the spaces after the colons and

Step

transitions. The JavaScript Console lets you

type in commands (calls) that control page

feel it would take a moderate reader to read

that can play anywhere.

Set the Transition

In the Full Screen Preferences, choose one of

transitions. Using the JavaScript

ON THE CD

console, you can set different

the transitions in the Default Transition menu.

The JavaScript from this section is included on the Acrobat
Master Class cd. You can
copy and paste it from our
text le into the JavaScript
Console.

Close the preferences.

Set the Advance

Every [number] settings for the amount
of time youd like
between the pages.

Step

Open the JavaScript Console

Set the Default Transition for the document.

Close the document
and then reopen it to
test the settings.

make sure youre on a new line. Enter the fol-

commas.)
this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,
aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

transitions for the various pages.

Press the enter key on the numeric key pad to

You can also set the length of

send the code from the console into the docu-

time each transition runs. More

ment. If youve entered the text correctly, you

importantly, these transitions

will see the word undened appear in the

work in the normal and full

console text area. If youre on a keyboard that

screen modes. This method of embedding

doesnt have a numeric keypad, hold the Alt

transitions also works when the document is

key (w) or Control key (m) when you press

viewed in Reader 4.

Enter (Return) to execute the script.

Is this easy? We asked the most code-phobic

member of our team (Sandee) to try it. Here

Step

are the steps she took to add the Box In tran-

Save the le, close the document, and then

Save and Test

sition for the rst two pages of a document.

reopen it. Use any of the navigation controls

Dont try to understand the code, right now;

to move between pages. The rst two pages

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS
EMBEDDING TRANSITIONS

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,

will appear with the Box In transition. The

aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

other pages will appear with whatever transiPDFMARK

If you still have your

CD from Acrobat 3,
look for the Trans
(W) or Transitions
(M) folder in the
Utility folder. Place
the EPS les onto
the page in the
authoring application. Then distill the

le. The transitions

are embedded in the
le. This is how the
code looks in a text
editor, such as
BBEdit.

tion has been set in the Full Screen Prefer-

This is the name of the transition as it appears

ences. If you want to modify your embedded

in the preferences. Type the name of all tran-

page transition, you must enter the new call

sitions without any spaces.

this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,

in the console and then press the Enter key to

aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

send it to the document.

This number sets the duration of the transition.

UNDERSTANDING THE JAVASCRIPT
PAGE TRANSITIONS CODE

The 1 here stands for one second.

this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,

Heres a breakdown of the JavaScript code in

the previous exercise.
this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,
aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

This phrase says the script is to set the page

JAVASCRIPT
CONSOLE

This is quite an easy

method, even if you
are not familiar with
JavaScript. Go to
Tools>JavaScript>
Console and type
the script into the
console. Hit Enter
on your numeric
keypad and the
word undened

want the transition applied to. If you want only

one page to have the transition, you can delete
this part of the code.

transitions.
will appear. You can
test your results by
moving from page
to page. You must
save the document
for the transitions to
be permanent.

this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,

Applying a Transition to All the Pages

aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

nStart species the page of the document for

If you want to apply a transition to all the

pages in a document, use this code. (Here, we

the transition. Acrobat starts numbering

changed the transition to Dissolve.)

pages with 0.

this.setPageTransitions({aTrans:

this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,

[-1, "Dissolve", 1]});

aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

THIRD PARTY
PLUG-INS

These products provide an interface for

setting page transitions. They can all be
purchased from the
Planet PDF ePublish
store at www.epublishstore.com.

aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

The nEnd number stands for the last page you

Actino Softwares Presentation Tool (W),

$75, lets you set the
duration and page
advance, in addition
to the transition.
Kas Thomas TransitionAny (W) $50, does
page transitions only.
ARTS PDF Tools (W/M)
$149, does page transitions and a whole
lot more.

aTrans sets the denition array for the transi-

Deleting the Embedded Code

tion.

What if you want to get back to a normal doc-

this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,

ument without embedded transitions? Youll

aTrans: [-1, "BoxIn", 1], nEnd: 1});

The information in the square brackets is an

have to send a command to delete the embedded transitions. (Clearing the JavaScript Con-

array, and sets the denition of the transition.

sole wont work.) Heres the code to delete the

The rst number controls how long (in sec-

transitions from the rst two pages.

onds) the page is displayed. The value of -1

this.setPageTransitions({nStart: 0,

turns off automatic page advancing.

nEnd: 1});

EMBEDDING TRANSITIONS
Choose Tools >
JavaScript >Console.
The JavaScript Console dialog box will
appear.

Type the text for the

code and then press
the Enter key on the
keypad. The word
undened appears.

Save the document

and test the transition in the Full
Screen mode.

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

10.4 Transition Magic

When we rst saw Glenn Pages pdf presentations we were blown away! They were unique
they looked more like Flash movies than Acrobat les. When we found out how he created them,
we were even more amazed. The rst thing youll notice when you view his documents is that
they seem to be self-running presentations. Then, they stop and let the user interact with the elements. Certainly, that cant be possiblebut there it is. Heres a little background on Maestro
Page, and some of the secrets behind the curtain.
Glenn Page calls himself a corporate consult-

impressed with Acrobats ability to transform

ant, but that hardly does justice to his talents

print-based documents into multimedia expe-

as a designer, copywriter, salesman, voice-over

riences. He also realized that interactive, pdf

brochures (Glenn calls them iBrochures) are

announcer, and pdf-magician.

much more than ordinary slide presentations.

FROM PRINT TO
INTERACTIVE MARKETING

Glenn is the principle director of gpmCommunications, a corporate sales and marketing rm.
Several years back, Glenn felt he had reached
a creative dead-end with print documents and

They give the viewer a range of options for

navigating through the document. The more
time a viewer spends playing with one of
Glenns iBrochures, the more likely they are to
call or e-mail for more information.

decided to make the move to digital marketing.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT GPMC

He had been working in QuarkXPress and

Glenn uses his own small studio with profes-

InDesign and was looking at the possibilities

sional audio equipment and software. This is

of multimedia and interactive presentations

very important, as he makes ample use of

using Macromedia Director. Then

ON THE CD

one of his client requested a pdf

Samples of Glenn Pages pdf
presentations can be found on
the Acrobat Master Class cd.
You can nd more information about Glenns work at
www.gpmconnect.com.

proof of a project.
While researching the features of Acrobat, Glenn came
across information on interactive
pdf les in Ted Padovas pdf

Bible. His interest was piqued. Unlike Director,

Acrobat and pdf allowed him to use his famil-

sounds and voice-over narration.

His Acrobat les start in InDesign with a
page size of approximately 9x6 inches. This
allows them to t neatly into most computer
screens, with just a little background color.
The iBrochure presentations are designed
to be downloaded from a companys website
or sent as an e-mail attachment. The animation
for the iBrochures comes not from movie

iar print software and still create animated,

objects, but through the clever use of page

interactive projects. He also had much better

transitions. This helps keep the size of the

control of text. Acrobat was the multimedia

iBrochure to a minimum.

application he had been looking for.

Glenns rst project was an interactive
portfolio for himself. He was immediately

For the page transitions, Glenn used bbedit to open the eps les from the Acrobat 3
cd. He then changed the timing of the transi-

GPMC iBrochures are

designed with all the
care of print documents. This type of
control is not possible
with other presentation applications.

DYNAMIC PRESENTATIONS

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

tionsfaster or slower to suit his needs. The

visuals create a countdown effect: 05 04 03 02

and 02. It then stops on the page that contains

the viewer to control page navigation. To do

timing of these transitions is actually the most

01. On the fth page, the presentation stops. A

the number 01.

critical aspect. The transitions cant be too long

button lets the viewer move to the next page.

this, youll need to add a custom navigation

button. (Glenn Pages presentations are much

or too short. Glenn spends a lot of time testing

On the last page, the viewer clicks a button

choose Document>Set Page Action. Click the

more complex than this simplistic example,

the transitions.

which exits the full screen mode.

Page Open event and click the Add button. In

but the principle is the same.)

Move to the rst page (numbered 05) and

He then imports these eps les onto their

the Add an Action dialog box, set the Action

own layer on the appropriate pages in InDesign.

Step

He can also put one transition on a master page

to apply it to all the pages in the document. He

Set the Page Transitions

On page ve, (numbered 01), use the Form

Type to Execute Menu Item. Then click the Edit

tool to draw a button. Name the button, and

Our rst step adds the code to the JavaScript

Menu Item button. Choose the Document>

set the action to Execute the menu item to go

Console. Choose Tools>JavaScript>Console.

Next Page menu command. Click ok and Set

then converted the InDesign documents to a

Click in the Console eld and enter the follow-

Action to close the Add an Action dialog box.

to Document>Next Page.
On the last page, (labeled ab), use the Form

pdf document using Distiller. Although InDe-

ing code.

Move to the next page (numbered 04) and

tool to draw a button. Name the button and set

sign has an Export as pdf feature, that feature

this.setPageTransitions({aTrans:

repeat this step. Then move to the next page

the action to execute the menu item View>Full

does not recognize the eps transition les.

[-1, "WipeRight", 1]});

and repeat the step. Continue until you get to

Screen. If the document is in Full Screen, the

This code set applies the Wipe Right transition

the fth page, (numbered 01). Then stop. Dont

command exits the mode.

to all the pages with a one-second transition

apply a page action to that page. Thats where

time. We set the timing for all the pages so we

we want the presentation to pause for the

Step

could control the appearance for the entire

viewers input.

As a last step, choose File>Document Proper-

CREATING A CUSTOM
AUTO-RUN PRESENTATION

Glenn uses the eps page transition les from

the Acrobat 3 cd. However, you can achieve

document.

the same effect by embedding page transitions

When you set Page Actions to advance from

Dont set the timing too fast. At rst we

Set the Open Options

ties>Open Options. Set the Window Options

one page to another, you may nd it difcult to

to Open in Full Screen. Set the Magnication to

using the JavaScript Console. The following

tried a tenth of a second and found that Acro-

the size that is appropriate for your document.

steps show how to use page transitions and

go back and edit the pages. As soon as you go

bat couldnt combine the page transition with

We chose Fit in Window. We also chose the

page actions to create a custom

to the page, the Page Action takes you to the

the page actions at that speed. The presentation

Page Layout as Single Page. This forces us to

self-running presentation. The

next page. Set the View to Continuous-Facing.

just jumped to page ve without any transitions

remember to reset the document from Con-

benet of using the embedded

This stops the Page Actions, so you can edit

at all.

pages. You may have to increase the magni-

tinuous-Facing to Single Page.

FOLLOW ALONG

Look on the cd for before

and after versions of the
Autorun document featured
in these steps. You can open
the after version to see the
finished effect. Then open
the before version to follow
along with the steps.

transitions is that they override

Dont forget to save your work. The code

cation so the odd-numbered pages touch the

Save your work and close the document.

any transitions set on the users

isnt embedded in the document until it is

Reopen the le and test all the transitions

machine.

left-side of the document window. Thats how

saved.

Acrobat recognizes that youre working on a

and buttons.

The presentation opens in

the Full Screen mode. When the

Step

specic page.

Set the Page Actions

Now youll need to set the page actions for the

Step

pages are automatically displayed with custom

rst four pages. This moves the presentation

transitions that wipe from left to right. The

automatically through the numbers 05, 04, 03,

At this point, we want the presentation to stop

document opens, the rst ve

Create the Buttons

moving from page to page, in order to allow

AUTO-RUN PRESENTATION
Choose Tools>JavaScript >Console. The
JavaScript Console dialog box will appear.
Type the code in the
Console and press the
Enter key.

On page five, use the

Form tool to create a
button with the Document>Next Page
command.

Move to the rst page

and choose Document>Set Page
Action. Choose Page
Open and click the
Add button. For

Action Type, choose

Execute Menu Item
and then choose Document >Next Page.
Repeat for pages two,
three, and four.

On the last page, use

the Form tool to create a button with the
View>Full Screen
command.

Choose File>Document
Properties>Open
Options. Set the Window Options to Open

in Full Screen. Set the

Magnication as
desired. Set the Page
Layout to Single Page.