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Publisher "Portfolio" Is it possible to get something similar like the Acrobat Portfolio?


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Adobe Acrobat has a portfolio feature that makes it possible to embed several PDFs in one PDF. This means that you open a collective PDF in which the other PDFs are displayed as chapters and when you click on them, the respective content is displayed. The Filename is the Chapter Title. And basically the other Files are embedded.
The individual sections / chapters each start with page 1 and "end" at the end of the chapter. You cannot scroll over them, but have to select the second file / second chapter in the menu on the left.
The files can also have different page formats and different orientations.
This is very practical if you can only send one file instead of several files, which may then be overlooked.
Sections can also be better separated thematically and you don't read two topics "at the same time" when skimming.

My question now is, is it possible to achieve something similar in Affinity Publisher?

I had looked at the sections, but these are not exported as chapters in a PDF and are rather intended for internal organization when creating?
 

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5 hours ago, eWeinhold said:

The individual sections / chapters each start with page 1 and "end" at the end of the chapter. You cannot scroll over them, but have to select the second file / second chapter in the menu on the left.

This will not be able with APub but you may achieve click-navigation to certain pages with a workaround by using bookmarks or hyperlinks. If you use bookmarks you need to activate their symbol in the "Anchor" panel to make them appear for the readers in the bookmarks sidebar of their PDF viewer app.

Workaround with hyperlinks:

1. Load all PDF files via menu Document > "Add Pages From File…".
2. Create an extra page as page 1.
3. Create for each PDF an icon/thumbnail (e.g. a screenshot of their title page)
4. Arrange these PDF thumbnails on the first page.
5. In the "Hyperlink" panel create a new hyperlink of type "Page" for each of this thumbnails and let its jump to the page number where this PDF starts in your document.

Bildschirmfoto2024-04-12um01_26_56.jpg.84c654aad5a13219525a6d3d3835196a.jpg

6. Optional: add a blank page after each PDF and place a symbol + hyperlink back to page 1.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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Thank you for the hint you provided. It’s a helpful nudge in the right direction.
I can maintain and reuse my sections as the hyperlink type without disrupting the pagination when future edits are made.

It’s a functional stopgap for now.

I’m currently devising a way to incorporate a repeated Menu page throughout the document. The master page option is on the table, though it feels like it’s complicating what should be a straightforward task.

The thought of navigating a 100-page document with such a workaround is daunting, and I’m considering whether an Acrobat subscription is necessary for this singular purpose.

Any further advice or suggestions from the community would be welcomed.

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31 minutes ago, eWeinhold said:

It’s a functional stopgap for now.

That's why I called it workaround when you asked for something similar. – I assume their "Portfolio" feature gets created via HTML inside a parent PDF. That type of code for layout and navigation is not available / compatible in Affinity except for "Anchor", "Bookmark" and "Hyperlink".

Note, in earlier versions they seemed to be using "Flash" + requiring "Flash Player" for creation or display on the reader's side:

Bildschirmfoto2024-04-12um11_26_44.jpg.2e3b4971a4fbfeb785661c14245268f9.jpg

Bildschirmfoto2024-04-12um11_25_14.jpg.c1c08545538fee561596e81f14a1a3b2.jpg

This websites might shed more light on the wanted feature and possible usage: 

https://documentservices.adobe.com/view-sdk-demo/index.html#/view/LIGHT_BOX/Bodea Brochure.pdf

https://practicalpdf.com/pages/embed-api-expertise.html

Bildschirmfoto2024-04-12um11_45_51.jpg.27b6c5ad42a5fe7e1fa207ebaa489107.jpg

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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I don't mean something with flash from 25 years ago... I was there btw. 
I mean the PDF portfolio that works as a collective PDF.

One simple PDF - yes it opens only in Acrobat Reader - other viewer show the first pic. with the instruction to open it in Adobe Reader.

The PDF Collection has a Filelist left with the simple Names (editable) of the Files, if you double click one it opens in the right view. 
You can browse through that PDF start to end. (of that single PDF)
Then you select the next PDF in the List left ... and so on..

Nothing fancy - but extremely useful to keep stuff together that belongs together but separate enough to not cross read something from two different Files like one PDF with all the pages merged after another.

Usecase: Portfolio, Moodboards
Shownotes of the Same Season but different episodes
Meeting notes of the same recurring meeting but from different sessions or days.

PDF-Portfolio.jpg

PDF-Portfolio_2.jpg

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What I see in your last screenshot is easily done in PDF Studio Pro and likely in other pdf editors:


– Menu > File > Create PDF > From multiple files

– Add the files you want combined

– Under ‘options’ check ‘Add bookmark for each merged document’

Macbook Pro mid 2015, 16 GB, double barrel: MacOS Mojave + Affinity 1 (+ Adobe’s CS6)/ MacOS Monterey + Affinity 2

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35 minutes ago, eWeinhold said:

I don't mean something with flash from 25 years ago... I was there btw. 
I mean the PDF portfolio that works as a collective PDF.

One simple PDF

Apparently they re-coded the layout & interactivity features when Flash was quit.

Now you seem to confuse / mix "Portfolio" and "Collection". While the Portfolio shows an extra Start Page + Layout + Interface the Collection is just a bunch of several pages within a PDF and thus a "One simple PDF" + bookmarks.

With Affinity you can create a "Collection" (-> bookmarks) but a "Portfolio" only with manual layout creation + limited options. (but possibly with more compatibility with PDF viewing apps other than Acrobat).

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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1 hour ago, thomaso said:

Now you seem to confuse / mix "Portfolio" and "Collection".

I don't confuse anything here.
I wrote PDF Portfolio - what Adobe calls Portfolio - was is titled Portfolio in Acrobat, in that Portfolio-PDF Screenshot I attached.
I literally attached a screenshot of an opened PDF Portfolio in Acrobat Reader to show what an Adobe PDF Portfolio looks like.
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/overview-pdf-portfolios.html
 

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6 hours ago, eWeinhold said:

I don't confuse anything here.
I wrote PDF Portfolio

… and you wrote:

8 hours ago, eWeinhold said:

One simple PDF - (…)

The PDF Collection has a Filelist left with the simple Names (…)

… which appears confusing since a PDF Portfolio is neither "simple" nor just "one PDF" – unlike a Collection of multiple PDF files, which, furthermore, also may open as in your screenshot with bookmarks for each containing PDF.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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