How To Create Interactive Button Triggered Animations In InDesign CC

How to Create Button Triggered Animations in Adobe InDesign

Interactive buttons are one of the really nice features in Adobe InDesign Publish Online. They also work for EPUB, and they give you a much better way to communicate information without stuffing everything onto the page at once.

A simple example is an interactive location map. Click a country button or map pin, and the relevant store address slides down into view. The same technique works for product details, image galleries, secondary navigation, pop-up labels, and all sorts of content that needs to stay neatly tucked away until someone asks for it.

Build the content you want to reveal

Start on a new blank page in your InDesign document. Page transitions can safely be ignored here, particularly if they were added for interactive PDF, because those transitions are a separate feature and only work in full-screen interactive PDFs.

For the map example, place the main map graphic first, then add the icons that will act as the location controls. In this case, there are map pins for the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Next, create the content that should appear when one of those controls is activated. For the UK location:

1. Draw a rectangle for the address background.

2. Apply a fill colour that stands out from the map.

3. Create a text frame and paste in the UK store address.

4. Set the text colour and size so it is readable against the background.

5. Position the address panel where it should finish after animating onto the page.

The address panel is made of two objects, the coloured rectangle and the text frame. They need to move as one unit, so select both and group them with Command + G on Mac or Control + G on Windows.

Name animated objects properly

Before applying an animation, give the grouped object a useful name in the Animation panel. This matters more than it might seem. If every object is left with a name like “Group,” choosing the right animation later becomes a guessing game.

For this example, name the group UK Address. Clear names make interactive documents much easier to build, test, and fix, especially once you have several buttons and animations on one page.

Apply an animation preset

With the address group selected, open the Animation panel and choose an appropriate preset. A Fly In From Top animation works nicely for an address panel because it feels like the information is dropping into place.

At this point, test the animation in the EPUB Interactivity Preview panel. The address should slide down, but there is a problem: it will probably play as soon as the page opens. That is the default behaviour, and it is not what we want for a button-controlled animation.

Turn the map icon into an interactive button

Select the map pin or other graphic that should trigger the address. Open the Buttons and Forms panel and change its type to Button.

Give the button a meaningful name too, such as Button UK. Again, this keeps things sensible when your page grows beyond a single interaction.

Under Actions, choose Animation. InDesign may label this option as being for SWF and EPUB, but it also works properly in Publish Online.

Then choose the animation you want the button to play. In this case, select UK Address. The button is now connected to the grouped address panel.

By default, the button uses the On Release event. That means the action runs when the mouse button is released after clicking, or when a tap is completed on a touch screen. For most buttons, this is exactly what you want.

Stop the animation from playing on page load

This is the important bit. The button can now play the UK Address animation, but the animation may still run when the page loads. To fix that, select the animated address group again and return to the Animation panel.

Look in the Events area. You will see two events attached to the animation:

• On Page Load, which was assigned by default when the animation was created.

• On Release, which was added when the button was connected to the animation.

Remove On Page Load and leave On Release active. Now the address remains hidden until the UK button is clicked or tapped.

Preview button controlled animations

Use the EPUB Interactivity Preview panel to check that the address stays hidden initially and appears when the map icon is activated. This is a quick way to catch the most common issue, which is forgetting to remove the page-load event.

There is one small preview quirk worth knowing about. On Roll Over interactions may not work correctly in the small EPUB Interactivity Preview window, even though they work when published through Publish Online or exported for EPUB.

Use hover interactions when they make sense

On Release is the standard click or tap behaviour, but it is not your only choice. You can set a button to On Roll Over, which triggers an animation when the pointer moves over the button.

Hover-based interactions can be useful for desktop-focused experiences where a reader needs quick supporting information without clicking. They are less suitable as the only way to reveal essential information, since touch devices do not use a traditional mouse hover.

Repeat the process for other locations

Once the UK interaction is working, repeat the same process for the US and New Zealand map pins. Each one needs its own panel, group name, animation, and button connection.

1. Create a background rectangle and add the address text.

2. Group the elements together.

3. Name the group clearly, such as US Address.

4. Apply an animation of your choice.

5. Turn the corresponding map pin into a button.

6. Set the button action to play that specific animation.

7. Remove On Page Load from the animated group.

Try different animation styles rather than making every panel fly in the same way. The important thing is that the motion supports the content and does not become a distraction.

Think beyond map addresses

This technique is not really about maps. It is about giving one page more depth without making it feel cluttered. You can use a row of buttons to reveal different product images, show extra descriptions, switch between navigation options, or surface supporting content only when it is relevant.

The workflow stays the same:

• Create the content that will appear.

• Group it if it contains multiple elements.

• Name it clearly.

• Apply an animation.

• Create a button from the trigger object.

• Assign the animation action.

• Remove the page-load event.

Once that pattern clicks, Publish Online and EPUB layouts become much more flexible. Instead of trying to communicate everything at once, you can build interactions that invite people to explore information on a single page.

FAQ's

Do button-triggered animations work in InDesign Publish Online?

Yes. Set a button action to Animation and select the named animation you want it to play. Although InDesign may refer to SWF and EPUB in the panel, the interaction also works in Publish Online.

Why does my InDesign animation play before I click the button?

The animation still has the default On Page Load event enabled. Select the animated object, open the Animation panel, and remove On Page Load while keeping the button-triggered event active.

What does On Release mean for an InDesign button?

On Release means the button action occurs when a mouse click is released or a touch-screen tap is completed. It is the usual event for buttons that reveal content or play an animation.

Why should I group an address panel before animating it?

Grouping lets the background shape and text move together as one animated object. Without grouping, each element would need separate animation settings and could easily become misaligned.