I suspect that PDFs are way more versatile than you know. You probably have seen form fields in a PDF. PDFs also include lots of features that are common on web pages – linking between pages, check boxes, pull-down menus and more. They also allow some of the same high-powered functionality that websites do such as dynamic content and logic-based operations.
Combine this digital DNA with the reliability to hold any page design, regardless of whether it’s seen in a browser, as a stand-alone document, by email, or even printed, and you may start to see PDFs have the power to fill the space between digital and printed media. And maybe even take a bite out of both of their markets.
The following list of amazing features came from a single PDF project we had the pleasure of developing for PALS at The Curry School at the University of Virginia.
- Create a form that populates information from one page to the next within a multi-page PDF.
- Use common navigation elements to make it easier to scan multi-page PDFs.
- Create pre-defined print parameters so users can print specific sections of large documents easier.
- Link to supporting documents and web content directly from the PDF.
- Include webpage-style radio buttons, check boxes and pull-down menus.
Push the PDF to it’s limits and you may be pleasantly surprised. Feel free to contact us for a tour!
