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• • August 21, 2013 at 6:34 am #64951
    dhrose

    Participant

    I’ve been using InDesign interactive capabilities for all sorts of things since CS5 was first introduced… Originally I thought of it as a easy fast Flash alternative. Then as a way to add some “flash” (dazzle) to pdfs. Lately though, I’m wondering if I should continue pursuing this course with the emphasis on mobile web, html 5, epub etc. And Adobe abandoning flash in general.

    I like to offer this to customers that want a cool pdf that they can distribute, but when it comes to the flash player and current version of the plugin there seems to be a lot of hassle in them standardizing and or having the correct version in a corporate setting. It always seems to come up when you show them the cool pdf… then mention the flash plugin. I’m embedding multi-state objects with buttons and video in the pdf which is awesome… but flash seems to be the killer all the time.

    So, what is everyone else doing? Are people using this, not or going to epub and forgetting pdfs al together?

    Thanks for your thoughts!

  • August 22, 2013 at 7:28 am #64965
    dhrose

    Participant

    Does anyone ever answer in this forum? Useless…

  • August 22, 2013 at 8:56 am #64970
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    dhrose: Patience, please! There aren’t always easy answers for every question.
    You might take a look at my lynda.com title on Interactive PDF. But the quick version is that: there is no easy, perfect answer anymore. Animations, in particular, do not transfer to iOS devices like the iPad.

  • August 22, 2013 at 9:23 am #64973
    dhrose

    Participant

    I know how to “use” InDesign’s interactive features… I just spent 2 years (possibly wasted?) creating presentations and pdfs with interactive capabilities. I’m wondering now whether it was a waste of time as flash is dead, and dps is the “new” way to go. I’m trying to decide what I should focus on for repurposing InDesign content for the future. That’s it.

    Thanks.

  • August 22, 2013 at 9:32 am #64975
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    PDF is not dead. But Flash is dying pretty rapidly. There is no doubt that HTML5 is the future, but it’s not really there yet for most distribution models. It may take the form of EPUB3 at some point, but that’s not clear. DPS does a lot, isn’t necessarily the answer either. For example, none of the animation features in InDesign currently work with DPS. They do work with App Studio (which is now owned by Quark, but they’ve given up demanding that people use QX, and now they’re happy to support ID users).

    If it feels like there are no good answers, that’s only because that is correct. But no, PDF isn’t a waste; it’s just that PDF used to be good for every device, and now it’s not. Currently there is no file format that works everywhere. Big sigh.

  • August 22, 2013 at 9:38 am #64976
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    David, do you think that DPS is just Adobe’s interim solution until things shake themselves out? Do you think we’ll still be using DPS in three years time, or are Adobe working on something else?

  • August 22, 2013 at 10:00 am #64983
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    Great question, Salieri. The future is hard to see! :)
    Personally, I think that HTMl5, EPUB3, web apps, DPS, and maybe even PDF will all start to merge into a universal solution. For example, I want Adobe to:
    * build webkit into Acrobat so I can use HTML5 inside PDF files
    * allow me to embed an epub into a pdf file, so that I can view either one (either fixed layout or reflowable epub text)
    * make a DPS reader that is ubiquitous, so that I can read a folio on the desktop, tablet, phone, web, etc., and can distribute it myself without having to go through Adobe or the Apple store, etc.

    I think the most likely end, however, is that EPUB3 will be the solution for most people’s needs in 3 or 4 years.

    • April 17, 2015 at 4:45 am #74756
      Olaf Mueller

      Member

      Thank you for all these hearty wishes – uttered two years ago seen from now – and hopefully fulfilled one day. On the hand Adobe gives the users more mean and possibilities but also keeps creating new snags and shortcomings at the same time, hobbling new features or putting proprietary restrictions on the output, like Adobe Developper or Cloud accounts. There should definitively be more players in this game. I look for a format to create – like dhrose – presentations, possibly from within InDesign, that play/run on more devices and will have a longer shelf-life…

  • August 22, 2013 at 3:29 pm #64988
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Thanks David, I agree an html-agreeable PDF would be wonderful.

    dhrose, if you haven’t gone off in a huff, my experience with interactive PDFs now takes one of several paths. Only very rarely do I use complex flash elements in a PDF for the reasons you have outlined. Sadly Powerpoint’s ubiquity makes it the program of choice for things like that. Increasingly, clients are kitting employees out with iPads and want presentations for those. Often they are so dazzled by the power or Apple that they refuse to believe there is reduced functionality on their products due to the lack of Flash!

    Anyway for the iPad, I either make PDFs that use only hyperlinks for interactivity, or go the DPS route to either folio or make them an app. Edge Animate integrates (quite) well here for Flash-like ‘dazzle’. (David, if you’re still reading, I’d love to see more posts on Edge integration in IDSecrets!)

  • August 22, 2013 at 3:32 pm #64989
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    @Salieri: Perhaps you should write up an Edge Animate article for the site! :)
    Feel free to email me about it (david aht indesignsecrets dotcom)

  • August 22, 2013 at 4:01 pm #64991
    dhrose

    Participant

    I am all about solutions and options… that’s what I came here for. I am getting a little annoyed, that I spent huge amounts of time on technology that is now abandoned or is being replaced with the “next big thing.” I had high hopes for InDesign interactive, and I spent a considerable amount of time messing around with Flash. Looking like wasted time at this point.

    But at the end of the day… I’m not a programmer and don’t want to be. Although, it’s hard to believe that I’ve spent 30 years working on computers as a graphic designer and I’m NOT a programmer. Sigh. Guess I need to check out Edge Animate. Back to Lynda…

  • August 22, 2013 at 4:03 pm #64992
    dhrose

    Participant

    I am all about solutions and options… that’s what I came here for. I am getting a little annoyed, that I spent huge amounts of time on technology that is now abandoned or is being replaced with the “next big thing.” I had high hopes for InDesign interactive, and I spent a considerable amount of time messing around with Flash. Looking like wasted time at this point.

    But at the end of the day… I’m not a programmer and don’t want to be. Although, it’s hard to believe that I’ve spent 30 years working on computers as a graphic designer and I’m NOT a programmer. Sigh. Guess I need to check out Edge Animate. Back to Lynda…

  • August 23, 2013 at 3:40 am #64996
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    On the plus side, the nascency of Edge means it’s quite easy to learn (provided you’re OK with learning some JQuery). On the downside, as David said we can’t predict what will happen and there’s no guarantee that Edge wont suddenly fold up and vanish a year down the line as well. And getting help on the web is harder than with Flash, as most people are using Edge to publish html to the web rather than DPS, I think. I am not nearly bold enough to write up an article for IDSecrets on this, not when Bob Levine could be reading! Maybe this time next year.

  • June 27, 2017 at 12:08 am #95688
    Olivier Gilkain

    Member

    Hello everyone. I need to create an interactive user guide for a new company (how to access it, where to park, where to eat, how to set up your desk chair, how to use the printer, and so on). The guide will include text, pictures, maps, sounds and videos, forms, etc.. It will be used on PCs, mobile devices (Android, Apple),… It should be usable even with no Internet connection. Flash is not an option. I have been trying to find the ideal format for a while but it is not that easy. Interactive PDF would have been a nice option as it supports multimedia but you need to have the Flash Player installed to make it work, and that is impossible in my case. Would you have any recommendations? Thank you.

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