How to Create an Interactive PDF

Let’s face it, PDFs are usually pretty boring documents! But we need PDFs in our lives, especially when working in an office. So, why not get creative and make your PDFs more interactive and engaging for your audience?

Well, if you’re looking for ways to make your PDF catalogs, magazines or portfolios more engaging and interactive, this guide will come in handy. Let’s start by defining what a PDF is.

Why Are Interactive PDFs Worth Your Time?

If we're all honest, we'll all agree that plain PDFs are great for sharing info, but they don’t exactly grab attention. But with interactive PDFs, adding elements like videos, audio clips, clickable buttons—or even a simple interactive table of contents—transforms a static document into something your audience wants to explore. Whether you’re sharing a product catalog, brochures, or an e-book, interactive features make the experience smoother and way more engaging.

Plus, it’s not as hard as it sounds! Tools like an interactive PDF creator make it easy to add videos, audio, and even clickable boxes. With just a little effort, you can turn ‘meh’ PDFs into documents that get clicks, views, and real results.

How To Make PDFs More Interactive?

Brands are in a constant battle for customers’ attention. And holding a customer or reader’s attention for as long as possible is no easy job.

But there are several ways to add a layer of interactivity to your PDFs, allowing you to hold that precious attention for longer.

Here’s how you can make your PDFs more interactive using an interactive PDF creator, Smallpdf, and word processing tools like Microsoft Word and LibreOffice:

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are like little shortcuts—your readers click, and bam, they’re exactly where you want them to be. Whether it’s a product page or a custom landing page, adding hyperlinks to your interactive PDFs helps drive traffic to your site and gets visitors right where you need them. This can be done using interactive PDF makers, or a combination of Word and our PDF Converter.

Add Videos

Sure, a picture tells a story, but a video? That’s where the magic really happens! If you’re building a portfolio or presentation, you can add video to your interactive PDF to grab attention right away. This works just as well with product demos and showcases, without sending readers to YouTube and possible distractions. This is easily achieved using an interactive PDF creator like FlipSnack.

Buttons

Adding CTA (call-to-action) buttons to your PDFs is a great way to guide readers toward the next step—whether it’s visiting your website, making a purchase, or signing up for something. And for easy navigation, you can include buttons that help readers jump between sections or pages. Want more engagement? Add social media buttons so readers can connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. This can be done using interactive PDF makers, or a combination of Word and our PDF Converter.

Form Fields

If you’re sharing a free e-book, adding interactive form fields is a must. It’s a simple and effective way to collect emails and grow your newsletter list while giving readers something valuable in return. This is easily achieved using an interactive PDF creator like FlipSnack.

Photo Galleries

Adding images in your PDF document is commonly used. However, when it comes to making an interactive PDF, why not go the extra mile? Add multiple images on the same page and navigational buttons to the gallery, so readers can flip through images more easily. This can be done using Word and our PDF Converter, or interactive PDF makers.

Audio files

Podcasts are now more popular than ever. Why not include relevant audio clips throughout your interactive PDF? If you didn’t know you could, you just found another interesting way to make your PDF more engaging.

How To Create an Interactive and Engaging PDF?

If you want to create engaging interactive PDFs like digital catalogs, there are plenty of tools to help. But let’s be honest—some can be costly and complicated, and not everyone has the time (or patience) to design interactive PDFs from scratch.

A very easy to use tool for creating interactive digital catalogs or magazines is Flipsnack. Simply upload your PDF—or create a new flipbook using a template—and add some interactive elements. You can add buttons, hyperlinks, audio, video, and interactive charts and forms. And you can decide whether to share your interactive PDFs publicly or privately.

Interactive PDF Examples

Here’s a great example of an interactive PDF catalog for Electrolux:

Frequently Asked Questions About Interactive PDFs

How do I turn a PDF into an interactive form?

Tools like Flipsnack let you add form fields to your PDFs. These fields can be used for text input, checkboxes, or even signatures. However, you can also use LibreOffice for adding interactive, fillable form fields for simpler PDFs.

Can you make an interactive PDF from Word?

Yes, you can! Use Word to add an interactive table of contents, hyperlinks, and bookmarks for easier navigation through your document. Then use our PDF Converter to turn it into a PDF with clickable links. You can also use an interactive PDF creator later to add clickable buttons, videos, and form fields.

How to make a PDF with clickable boxes?

Use LibreOffice or an interactive PDF maker to add clickable checkboxes or interactive buttons to your document. While Word allows you to add checkboxes and buttons to a document, these are no longer clickable once you save the document as a PDF.

How to add video to an interactive PDF?

Easy! Upload your PDF to an interactive PDF creator like Flipsnack and use the add video feature to insert a video file directly into your PDF, complete with playback controls.

Making your digital flipbooks, catalogs or magazines more interactive is a great way to have your business stand out. Adding hyperlinks, buttons, video, audio or even interactive form fields will definitely keep your audience engaged with and interested in your PDF. So, why not try it out?