If you think that a document is always a document, then you should think again. Whereas for centuries it was only possible to fill documents with text and imagery, in the modern world, where the internet and technology reign supreme, no longer are documents only created in physical form, they have become electronic as well – and that opens up all manner of possibilities. Indeed, paper-based documents are already dinosaurs in the digital age, as email, eBooks, HTML and even electronic administrative forms are very rapidly replacing their olde-worlde physical counterparts.

And the evolution continues. Text and imagery are now merely the basics of an electronic document – since we’re communicating so much with computers and smart technology, we have come to expect a certain level of interactivity and multimedia capabilities built into the very documents that we are connecting with. And it’s PDFs that are delivering on that expectation.

What are PDFs?

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. As the name implies, it is a data format that can be used to describe documents. Adobe, the developers of PDF, market software to create, edit and visualise PDF files – and one such program is the hugely powerful and versatile InDesign.

Adobe InDesign is the industry standard for creating your brochures, leaflets and posters, so its likely you already have an InDesign file that has been prepared for print. It is a relatively straight forward process to add interactive elements to this document to make it much more dynamic and friendly to any user who is viewing it on a PC screen, mobile phone or tablet.

What interactive elements can be added through InDesign?

There are many advantages for using PDFs – they’re quickly and easily created, they’re securable, self-contained, compressible and compact. But their most impressive aspect most certainly lies in the ability that users have to build in interactive features. These can all be done within Adobe InDesign.