You can import and edit Microsoft PowerPoint presentations in Adobe Captivate. Imported slides can be edited in a Microsoft PowerPoint environment from within Adobe Captivate. You can choose to link to the source PowerPoint presentation to keep it in sync with the Adobe Captivate project.

When a PowerPoint presentation is linked to an Adobe Captivate project, Adobe Captivate creates a reference to the source presentation. When the linked presentation is opened in Adobe Captivate for editing, the source presentation is loaded into Adobe Captivate. Because the source presentation is referenced, and not embedded into the project, linking to presentations does not affect the file size of the Adobe Captivate project.

When you import a presentation into Adobe Captivate without linking to it, the entire source presentation is embedded into the project. Editing an embedded presentation does not affect its source file. However, embedding increases the file size of the Adobe Captivate project. You can embed the presentation when the location of the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation is not fixed. Embedding is also useful when the Adobe Captivate project must be opened on a computer that doesn't have access to the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

Adobe Captivate supports PowerPoint presentations with the extensions .ppt, .pps, .pptx, and .ppsx. You can import PPT and PPS slides even if you do not have PowerPoint installed on your computer. However, you can’t edit them after import. To import PPTX and PPSX slides, you must have Microsoft PowerPoint installed on your system. Adobe Captivate converts PPTX files to PPT files during import. 

Open, edit, and save the PowerPoint file in Microsoft PowerPoint before importing it into Adobe Captivate. Performing this procedure ensures that the PowerPoint version installed on your computer is stable.

Follow these guidelines when you work with Adobe Captivate and PowerPoint:

• Do not close or use PowerPoint launched by Adobe Captivate during import or round-tripping.
• Launch both Adobe Captivate and PowerPoint in the same mode, that is either both in Administrator mode or both in non-Administrator mode. It is recommended that you launch both in Administrator mode.
• Avoid doing any copy/paste action (even in other applications such as Notepad, or file copy), when Adobe Captivate is using PowerPoint.
• Avoid parallel edits. For example, suppose that you edit a linked PowerPoint file within Adobe Captivate and the source file in Microsoft PowerPoint simultaneously. In such cases, the results are unpredictable.
• Avoid editing PPTX and PPSX files with older Microsoft PowerPoint versions. If you want to edit an embedded PPTX of PPSX file outside Adobe Captivate, export the file from the resource Library and then edit the file. The edited file can then be updated in Adobe Captivate.
• If you have installed any interactive PowerPoint plug-ins, ensure that you launch Microsoft PowerPoint before you open the presentation in Adobe Captivate for editing.
• Avoid linking to PowerPoint files over the network on a shared network drive. The results are unpredictable if you lose connectivity while working with the shared file.
• Ensure that the size of the slides in both Captivate and PowerPoint are properly aligned.
• If you have imported an audio file in PowerPoint slides, make sure that the audio file you are importing is in the same location as the PPT file.
• Reduce the Captivate file size by compacting the PowerPoint file.

Import PowerPoint presentations into Adobe Captivate

Narration in a PowerPoint presentation slide is imported as a sound object and appears as a separate object on the Timeline. Even in the linked mode, changes made to the audio file in Adobe Captivate after import are not reflected in the respective Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. Similarly, changes made to the audio file in Microsoft PowerPoint are not reflected in the Adobe Captivate project. Object sounds are retained in the SWF file that is created from slides containing such objects.

Slide labels and notes are imported only during the first import. Any subsequent changes to the labels and notes in PowerPoint are not reflected in Adobe Captivate.

Import PowerPoint presentations in a responsive project

PowerPoint to mobile learning

Create Adobe Captivate projects from PowerPoint presentations

Insert Adobe Captivate projects into PowerPoint presentations

You can insert Adobe Captivate projects into Microsoft PowerPoint presentations in a few simple steps. Publish an Adobe Captivate project as a SWF file. Then open a PowerPoint presentation and insert the published SWF file into a slide.

note: For information on inserting Adobe Captivate projects into Microsoft PowerPoint 2007, see the topic on PowerPoint 2007 on the Microsoft website.

Edit imported PowerPoint slides within Adobe Captivate

You can edit an individual slide or the entire set of slides imported from a PowerPoint presentation within Adobe Captivate without launching PowerPoint. If you want to edit only a few slides, edit each slide individually. It is faster than editing the entire presentation.

When you send an Adobe Captivate project with linked slides for editing, send the PowerPoint presentation along with the project. Sometimes the recipient has to relink the presentation before editing it.

Update PowerPoint presentation changes made outside Adobe Captivate

Updating is necessary when the PowerPoint file is linked and the changes are made directly in Microsoft PowerPoint.

Change link type after importing the presentation

Change the link to the presentation after importing

When you send an Adobe Captivate project for editing, the recipient sometimes has to relink the presentation to the project.

Reduce file size of projects with embedded slides

You can import a presentation into an Adobe Captivate project without linking (embedded mode). The entire presentation is embedded into the Adobe Captivate project. Slides that are not selected during import are also imported into the Adobe Captivate project, but they are not visible in the project. When you choose to reduce the file size, Adobe Captivate deletes such slides permanently from the project. This process is irreversible.

Using Adobe Captivate with Microsoft PowerPoint on Mac OS

The following list describes the changes in behavior when you use Adobe Captivate with Microsoft PowerPoint on Mac OS:

• When you select to edit a presentation (added as Adobe Captivate project), the presentation opens in Microsoft PowerPoint and not in Adobe Captivate. On Microsoft Windows, you can edit the presentation from within Adobe Captivate.

  When you edit the presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint, you can continue to work in Adobe Captivate.

  Note: Do not edit the presentation when Adobe Captivate updates the project, else the changes are lost. Let Adobe Captivate update the project and then modify the presentation.

Download sample projects

To learn more about Captivate and how you can create engaging learning content, download the following projects:

• Safeguarding-and-PII Compliance
• Picture-Perfect Simulation
• Adobe Captivate Draft
• CloudAir SoftSkills
• Captivate 9 eLearning
• Adobe Lead Generation