- Types of Interactive Elements
- Defining Hyperlinks
- Creating Cross-References
- Working with Bookmarks
- Adding Sounds
- Movies and Animations
- Creating Buttons
- Sample Buttons
- Creating PDF Forms
- Sample Forms
- Animating InDesign Objects
- Timing
- Multi-State Objects
- Working with the SWF Preview Controls
- Setting Page Transitions
Multi-State Objects
Instead of cluttering up my bookshelf with hundreds of pictures of my family, friends, and pets, I have an electronic screen that displays all my pictures in a single picture frame. That’s what a multi-state object is like. A regular InDesign frame displays only a single image or text content. But multi-state objects are special frames that can display more than one image or text content. You can then cycle through the multi-state object in a presentation to show many different items.
To create a multi-state object:
- Choose Window > Interactive > Object States. This opens the Object States panel .
The Object States panel with no states visible.
- Select the object that you want to convert into a multi-state object.
- Click the New State button . This adds a multi-state name to the object and adds a second state to the object.
The New State button in the Object States panel.
To change the name of the multi-state object:
- Double-click the name in the Object Name field.
- Type a new name.
- Press Return to apply the new name.
To add states to a multi-state object:
- Click the New State button.
- Repeat to add as many new states as you want .
The Object States panel with two states applied to an object.
Adding and modifying multi-states one at a time takes too much time. What you want to do is select a whole bunch of objects and convert them into a multi-state object.
To create a multi-state object from existing frames:
- Select all the objects that you want to use in the multi-state object .
When multiple objects are selected, you can create multiple states in the Object States panel.
- Click the New State button in the Object States panel. This converts each object into a new state within a multi-state object.
Once you have a multi-state object, you can modify the object as a whole or change the contents of a particular state.
To modify the content of a state:
- Select the multi-state object with the Selection tool.
- Double-click the name of the state that you want to modify. This selects the state.
- Switch to the Direct Selection tool. The icon changes to indicate the content of the state has been selected .
The icons that show the status of the multi-states of a multi-state object.
- Make whatever changes you want to the content of the multi-state.
- Click the Paste Copied Content icon in the Object States panel . The pasted content is added to the state.
You can add content to a multi-state by using the Paste Copied Content icon.