Unstoppable InDesign Interactive Wizardry — in5 3.4 release
For years now, Adobe InDesign has had great tools that let you build interactivity without coding.
in5 lets you export that interactivity from InDesign to a usable, open format.
BUT, learning to build complex interactive elements — slideshows, animated menus, lightbox pop-ups, etc — has still been a bit of a hurdle even though it doesn’t involve coding.
The in5 3.4 release fixes that with the new Build Wizards. Imagine the simplicity of a tool like Adobe Spark or Balsamiq Mock-ups, with the power and polish of Adobe InDesign.
Build Wizards create complex interactive objects with the click of your mouse, and the objects remain editable InDesign objects that your can style and refine. Take a first glimpse at the Build Wizards in the video below.
Empty Object States are so useful — let’s make them easy to create!
Most of the Multi-State Objects (MSOs) that I create in InDesign involve using an “empty” state, so I wanted to cut out the many painful steps in creating one:
- Duplicating a state
- Removing all the duplicate content
- Adding an empty rectangle
- Triple-clicking (multiple times) to editing the name
See how easy it is now in the video below.
Along with this new Empty State option, and all the Build Wizards I’m going to show you below, I’ve changed one of the default behaviors within in5. in5 now exports the first state of an MSO as the active state (it used to use the selected state from InDesign). This way, you don’t have to worry which state is selected when you export.
If you want a different state to appear first, drag it to the top of the stack in the your Object States panel before exporting.
Ok. Now it’s time for the heavy hitters!
Introducing Build Wizards
Yes, they build stuff, and yes, they’re magic as you’ll see in the demos below.
Build Wizards are dialog boxes that let you select a few options, then whiz-bang they create interactive, editable stuff for your digital magazine and other projects. It makes short work of UX, UI, wireframing, and finished interactive projects without coding (or spending a bunch of time drawing boxes and applying interactivity).
The Pop-up Builder
Want to create a custom lightbox that sits over your magazine pages or other content? Watch how easy it is.
Of course, you can go even deeper with this very quickly, as I show in the Create a Video Pop-up course on Ajar Academy.
The Menu Builder — Compact aka Hamburger Menu
The Menu Builder is actually three Build Wizards neatly tucked into one.
The Compact option creates a “hamburger” menu that’s great for mobile experiences.
Sliding Door aka Animated Menu
Sophisticated animation in a menu automatically created from your InDesign Bookmarks or Paragraph Styles? No problem! That’s the second type of menu you can create with a couple of clicks.
Top Navigation Menu
The third type of Menu Builder creates a menu across the top of your page(s).
The Slideshow Builder
Whether you’re creating an interactive slideshow with buttons and thumbnail images — or a self-running set of slides within your publication — the new Slideshow Builder will make your life so much easier.
Check out just how easy it is to create a slideshow from a folder of images in the video below.
PhoneGap Resource Generator for Icons & Splash Screens
It’s been possible to create a mobile app for iOS and Android using Adobe InDesign and in5. It doesn’t require any coding, but it has been a bit involved to create the configuration file, and all the required icons and splash screens that PhoneGap expects for the various mobile devices.
in5 now comes with a free script that simplifies this process.
To learn more about using this script, as well as creating a mobile app using in5 and InDesign, check out the Create a Mobile App with in5 & PhoneGap Build video course.
Are you ready to make your work easier and to wow your bosses and clients with all the interactivity you can create?
Check out the latest version of in5 to get started right now.
