Embed a Youtbe video in pages > pdf.

Question

Level 1

4 points

Embed a Youtbe video in pages > pdf.

If I create a report using pages09, then convert to a pdf for distribution, is ther a way I can embed a youtube link that will play right inside the document?

I don't mean have a video right in it, but rather embed the video link so as to not actually download a complete video file that is inside a pdf report, but play inside the pdf like it was really part of it. Wow I hope this makes some sense to someone.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jun 21, 2009 12:29 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 21, 2009 1:52 PM in response to Smarty33

You can have links to URLs which will be preserved if the document is exported to a .pdf.

Select some text:

+Inspector > Links (9th tab curled arrow in blue dot) > Hyperlink > Enable as a hyperlink > type URL+

Peter

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Answer 2

Jun 21, 2009 1:55 PM in response to Smarty33

On rereading I notice you would like it to play inside the pdf.

I don't think this is possible in Pages, but you can edit the resultant .pdf in Acrobat Pro and do this quite easily. Just make sure you provide a keyframe or blank rectangular area within the layout to place the Youtube movie.

Peter

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Answer 3

Smarty33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 21, 2009 2:27 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

I see. So practically I would leave a place for the video in the pages layout, export the document into Adobe Acrobat and embed the video link there - then export as PDF.??

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Answer 4

Jun 21, 2009 2:48 PM in response to Smarty33

Yes, except you would export the document as a .pdf from Pages with whatever other links you had embedded.

The post editing would all have to be done in Acrobat Pro, which is quite straight forward if sometimes fiddly.

Peter

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Answer 5

Smarty33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 21, 2009 3:10 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Thank you. I just might be able to handle this!

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Answer 6

Jun 21, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Smarty33

If you need any help with the Acrobat Pro, let me know.

Peter

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Answer 7

Smarty33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 21, 2009 8:49 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

OK Peter I downloaded a tutorial on how to embed a video into an acrobat 9 pro pdf doc. Here is the address - the PDF is quite well done -

http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/nathan/2009-03f.pdf

Now the instructions in it allude to exactly what you were saying - that it is possible to embed a youtube video, but I have yet to make it work. I can easily embed a flash file from my hard-drive, but the URL feature does not work.

When I paste the URL address of the video, I get this error message:
+No media file has been specified. Please select one and try again.+

If you can pull this off, and let me know how yours rsponds I would like to hear the results. I also went through the full video list at Lynda.com, and not once does it refer to embedding an externally hosted video.

If this cannot be done, no prob, I will just pop the video out in a separate browser, but it would more professional to have it play right in the PDF file.

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Answer 8

Jun 21, 2009 9:02 PM in response to Smarty33

I must confess I have done all my embedded media, locally, but I will look into it.

It will certainly launch Safari and take you to the site.

Alternatively you could grab the YouTube flash movie and save that to your desktop and embed or link that to your .pdf.

Peter

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Answer 9

Smarty33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 21, 2009 9:36 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Thanks. The idea is for a longer PDF which has several (many) embedded videos. I do not want to increase the file size and thus increase downloading times. The instructional PDF above seems to indicate that can be done, so it is very curious to me why I can't get it to work. It would be a handy feature to be sure.

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Answer 10

Jun 21, 2009 10:48 PM in response to Smarty33

I didn't read all of the instructional .pdf but it seemed to be covering the process of embedding or linking to media. That is not the same as what you are trying to do which is show the linked media within the bounds of the .pdf page.

I played with this in Acrobat 9.

The problem is to get the actual address of the .swf movie in YouTube.

This is being handled by a swag of .php, .css and other files.

If you open:

+Safari > Menu View > Activity+

You will see what is being loaded on the YouTube page. The .swf file will be the largest by far and will grow progressively. If you double click on the .swf name in the Activity list it will briefly show the actual address then DL it.

On my machine this happens so fast that I do not get a chance to capture the address which is otherwise truncated in the Activity list.

I tried taking the Shared address and pasting this into Acrobat's media dialog but it doesn't like it either.

Try going over to Adobe's Acrobat forum:

http://forums.adobe.com/community/acrobat/acrobat_macintosh

…and see if you can find someone to get around this.

Sorry I couldn't help more,

Peter

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