This tutorial shows how to create navigation buttons in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat.
[Typewriter sounds]
Hello, my name is Erin.
I’m a technical writer and editor who shares step-by-step software tutorials and writing tips for the real world
on this channel and on my blog at erinwrightwriting.com.
Today’s tutorial shows how to create navigation buttons in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat.
Specifically, we will create “First Page,” “Previous Page,” “Next Page,” and “Last Page” buttons.
Then, we will look at how to the change the appearance of the buttons.
Finally, we will look at how to distribute the buttons across multiple pages.
The process for creating buttons to specific page numbers and page views is different than what is shown here,
so we will cover that topic in a separate tutorial.
I’ll be using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
The steps are the same in Acrobat Standard DC, Acrobat 2020, and Acrobat 2017.
However, Adobe’s free PDF display software, Acrobat Reader, does not provide a way to create buttons.
However, buttons created in Acrobat will work in Reader.
It’s important to note that Acrobat’s buttons may not work in all apps and/or devices.
Therefore, you should test your buttons in a variety of environments
if your audience will access your PDF with software other than Adobe Acrobat, Acrobat Reader, or a standard web browser.
This section shows how to add “First Page,” “Previous Page,” “Next Page,” and “Last Page” buttons.
However, you certainly can use other labels such as “Return to Top” instead of “First Page” or “Back” instead of “Previous Page.”
To begin, select the Tools tab.
Then, select Rich Media in the Tools Center.
Next, select Add Button from the Rich Media toolbar.
Move the button outline to the location where you want to create the first button.
Click on that location if you want to accept the default button size.
Alternatively, you can click and drag your mouse to resize the button outline.
Now, type the name of the button in the Field Name text box.
This name doesn’t have to be the same as the label that will appear in the button,
which we will add in just a few moments.
Once you have created the first button, repeat that process as many times as is necessary.
I’ll be adding three more buttons.
After creating your buttons, right-click the first button, and then select Properties from the shortcut menu.
Then, select the Actions tab in the Button Properties dialog box.
Ensure that Mouse Up is selected in the Select Trigger menu.
And then select "Execute a menu item" in the Select Action menu if it’s not already selected.
Next, select the Add button.
When the Menu Item dialog box appears, you can select a navigation option:
View Page Navigation First Page,
Previous Page
Next Page
Or, Last Page.
After making your choice, select the OK button.
Now, select the Options tab.
And then enter the text you want to appear in the button in the Label text box.
When you’re finished, select the Close button.
Right-click the next button and once again select Properties
and then repeat the steps we just did to select your navigation option and create the label.
When you are finished with each button, select the Close button in the Rich Media toolbar,
and then test your new buttons.
The buttons won’t work if the Rich Media toolbar is still open.
Now we’re going to change the appearance of our buttons.
We’re going to work with all the buttons simultaneously.
However, you can change the appearance of each button individually, if you’d like.
You can use these steps for any button in your PDF, not just navigation buttons.
To begin, select the Tools tab.
And then select Rich Media in the Tools Center to reopen the Rich Media toolbar.
Next, select Select Object.
And then click and drag your cursor around all the buttons to select all of them at once.
You’ll know that the buttons are selected if the field name boxes will turn blue.
Now, right-click a button and select Properties from the shortcut menu.
Next, select the Appearance tab in the Button Properties dialog box.
From here, you can select a border color,
line thickness,
fill color,
line style,
font size,
text color,
and font style.
After making your choices, select the Close button.
Followed by the Close button in the toolbar.
Your buttons should now feature your new appearance choices.
You can distribute, or copy, your buttons across all the pages in your PDF or across a specific page range.
These steps will work for any buttons in your PDF, not just navigation buttons.
To begin, we will once again open the Rich Media toolbar by selecting the Tools tab.
Followed by Rich Media in the Tools Center.
Next, select Select Object in the toolbar.
And then click and drag your cursor around all the buttons to select all of them at once.
Now, right-click a button and select Duplicate Across Pages from the shortcut menu.
When the Duplicate Field dialog box appears, select All if your want your buttons on every page.
Or, select From and then enter a page range in the text boxes.
When you’re finished, select the OK button.
And then select the Close button in the toolbar.
Your buttons should now be distributed across multiple pages.
Before we close, please note that you can delete individual buttons as necessary.
For example, I am going to delete the Previous button from page 2,
because it’s serving the same function as First Page in this instance.
As always, remember to save your PDF to save your changes.
I have created many other videos about Adobe Acrobat, including “How to Create Internal Links in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat,”
and “Three Ways to Create Bookmarks in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat.”
Please see the complete list in the playlist titled “How to Use Adobe Acrobat,” which is linked in the description box below.
The companion blog post for this video showing all the steps we just performed appears on
erinwrightwriting.com, which is also linked below.
Feel free to leave me a comment if there’s a specific topic related to Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, or Google Docs
that you would like me to talk about in the future.
And please subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss future tutorials.
And give this video a thumbs-up if you found it helpful.
Thank you so much for watching!
[Typewriter sounds]