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• • November 29, 2010 at 3:59 pm #57948
    Margaret M Carioti

    Member

    Hello.

    I am about to start a very large book, created as individual sections in InDesign CS5 and then compiled into a final PDF for distribution. The final PDF will need to include the following hyperlinks:

    • bookmarks linking to sections of the document
    • TOC page numbers which find their respective pages in the book body
    • Page references within the body which jump to specific topics on other body pages
    • Index pages and cross-references which link back to their respective topics in the body
    • URLs which open in a browser window

    I was wondering if there is any consensus out there among my fellow graphic designers, who have used CS5 for awhile, as to the best way to prepare for the links. My main questions are:

    • Is it possible to build all of the interactivity in InDesignCS5 and have it export properly to the Acrobat file, with only minor tweaks and additions needed in Acrobat, OR
    • Is it best to do limited (or none) link formatting in InDesign CS5 and do all or most of it once the document is compiled as the final PDF?
    • Or, should some things be done in InDesign and others in Acrobat for the greatest efficiency?

    I am trying to plan a production schedule and the best of all possible worlds would allow me to be building the interactivity in the Master InDesign Documents while all of the text for this giant book is being proofread by someone else. That way, when the proofreading changes come in, I am still working in the InDesign files and can finalize the Master. However, if the general consensus is that the links should be built in the PDF only, then I will not be able to do the interactive prep simultaneous with the proofreading, and at least another week will need to be added to the project timeline.

    Any insights into the best practices for this process would be much appreciated. Thanks!

  • November 29, 2010 at 4:23 pm #57949
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    I think you can do all that in InDesign. I would suggest doing it as a single document if you can, as opposed to a book. X-refs and links and tocs are having some weird problems in CS5 when docs are split up in a book panel.

    Take a look at the InDesign CS4 Beyond the Basics title at lynda.com for how to do long-doc features in InDesign, such as cross-references, table of contents, links, and so on. (We haven't updated that for CS5 at this time, but it's mostly the same from cs4 and cs5.)

  • November 29, 2010 at 4:59 pm #57951
    Margaret M Carioti

    Member

    Thanks for the heads-up about the CS5 link issues in a split document. The document already exists as a book though, and I need to make modifications to each section (some are being done outside of my office, so it is actually helpful to have it in sections, at least for the first round of updates). The book is approximately 470 pages…will there be any issue with having a single final document that large? Is there any provision for compiling pages from multiple documents into one big one in InDesign?

    I will check into the InDesign CS4 doc you mentioned. Thank you.

    MC

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