User Guide

Lock and hide slides

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  1. Captivate User Guide
  2. Get to know Captivate
    1. What's new in Adobe Captivate
    2. Adobe Captivate System Requirements
    3. Download Adobe Captivate
    4. Frequently Asked Questions
  3. Adobe Captivate releases
    1. Adobe Captivate 13
      1. Adobe Captivate (13.1) release notes
      2. Adobe Captivate (13.0) release notes
    2. Adobe Captivate 12
      1. Adobe Captivate 12 summary
      2. Adobe Captivate (12.6 update) release notes
      3. Adobe Captivate (12.5 update) release notes
      4. Adobe Captivate (12.4 update) release notes
      5. Adobe Captivate (12.3 update) release notes
      6. Adobe Captivate (12.2 update) release notes
      7. Adobe Captivate (12.1 update) release notes
  4. Project setup
    1. Slide navigator
    2. Project dimensions
    3. Set preferences
      1. General preferences
      2. Generative AI preferences
      3. Project preferences
      4. Quizzing preferences
    4. Themes
    5. Configure URL access for Adobe Captivate features
  5. Import from PowerPoint
    1. Import PowerPoint presentations into Captivate
    2. Select PowerPoint slides to import into Captivate
    3. Work with text on imported slides
    4. Work with shapes on imported slides
    5. Add media to imported slides
    6. Add interactions and animations to imported slides
  6. Import from Captivate Classic
    1. Import Captivate Classic projects into Adobe Captivate
    2. Import Captivate Classic simulation projects into Captivate
  7. Generative AI in Adobe Captivate
    1. Generative AI overview
    2. Generative AI FAQs
    3. Generative credits
    4. Generate text 
      1. Generate text overview
      2. Write effective prompts for text generation
      3. Generate text using quick prompts
      4. Generate text using custom prompts
      5. Provide feedback to improve text generation
    5. Generate images
      1. Generate image overview
      2. Generate images using prompts
      3. Choose image content type - Photo or Art
      4. Use reference images for Composition and Style
      5. Best practices for effective image generation
      6. Provide feedback to improve image generation
    6. Generate avatar
      1. Generate avatar overview
      2. Customize the avatar
      3. Create transcripts for avatar narration
      4. Generate avatar narration
      5. Provide feedback to improve avatar generation
    7. Generate transcripts
      1. Generate transcripts overview
      2. Generate transcripts for closed captions
      3. Best practices to use transcripts effectively
  8. Add and edit text
    1. Add text to a project
    2. Add Adobe fonts to a project
    3. Add quotes
    4. Author in right-to-left languages
  9. Add and edit images
    1. Add images to a project
    2. Edit the background image on a slide
    3. Add SVGs to a project
  10. Add and edit media
    1. Add videos to a project
    2. Add and edit audio
    3. Add audio for widget interactions
    4. Add closed captions
    5. Add web objects to a project
  11. Interactive components
    1. Add a button
    2. Add an input field
    3. Add a radio button group
    4. Add a dropdown
    5. Add a checkbox
    6. Variables in Adobe Captivate
  12. Create quizzes
    1. Add a Multiple-choice question
    2. Add a True or false question
    3. Add a Match the column question
    4. Add a Short answer question
    5. Add a Sequence question
    6. Add question pools and random question slides
    7. Import questions as CSV
  13. Add widgets
    1. Add a Card
    2. Add Tabs
    3. Add a Certificate
    4. Add a Carousel
    5. Add a Hotspot
    6. Add Drag-and-Drop
    7. Add a Timeline
    8. Add Click to Reveal
    9. Add an Accordion
    10. Add a slider
    11. Add a stack card
  14. Interactions and animations
    1. Add interactions to a project
    2. Create interactive video with overlay
    3. Create a slide-level interaction
    4. Create an object-level interaction
    5. Add animations to a project
    6. States in Adobe Captivate
  15. Enhance your e-learning project
    1. Add padding to content blocks and components
    2. Add a header to a project
    3. Add a footer to a project
    4. Create a long scroll project
    5. Add a conversation slide
    6. Add characters to your Adobe Captivate project
    7. Assets in Captivate
  16. Simulation projects
    1. Simulation overview and setup
    2. Demo mode
    3. Training mode
    4. Assessment mode
    5. Full-motion recording
  17. Timeline and TOC
    1. Timeline panel in Adobe Captivate
    2. Table of Contents in Adobe Captivate
    3. Lock and hide slides in Adobe Captivate
  18. Review and collaborate
    1. Share for review
    2. Create and manage reviews
    3. Add review comments and collaborate
    4. FAQs and Troubleshooting guide for sharing projects for review   
  19. Preview and publish
    1. Preview your project
    2. Publish your project
  20. Accessibility
    1. Create accessible eLearning content in Adobe Captivate
    2. Make a slide accessible
    3. Make slide objects accessible
    4. Make an interactive component accessible
    5. Make a widget accessible
    6. Make a quiz accessible
    7. TOC and Playbar accessibility
  21. Design options in Adobe Captivate
    1. What are design options?
    2. Parts of a design option
    3. Create custom design options
    4. Modify a custom design option
    5. Export a custom design option
    6. Import a custom design option
  22. Additional resources
    1. Top How-tos in Captivate
    2. Captivate Classic vs Adobe Captivate
    3. Upgrade older Captivate projects to the latest version
    4. Create and deploy Captivate packages in Admin Console
Important

Locking and hiding objects is applicable to only slides imported from Captivate Classic projects (.cptx) or PowerPoint slides (.pptx).

Introduction

Lock or hide objects on the Timeline in Adobe Captivate so you avoid accidental edits and reach overlapping content while you author slides.

Lock and hide are available in Adobe Captivate 13.1 and later. Lock stops selection and edits on the slide. Hide clears the object from the slide while you author. Published output still follows your settings (for example, Hide during publish in context menus).

Why use lock and hide

Complex slides stack video, text, shapes, and buttons. You might move or resize the wrong object, or struggle to select an item under another. Lock and hide give you fast controls from the Timeline or context menus.

Use cases

  • Protect layout: Lock a background or video so it does not shift while you edit text or buttons on top
  • Reach overlapping items: Hide a large foreground object so you can select and edit what is underneath
  • Work from the Timeline: Use the eye and padlock icons on each row; hover feedback shows the controls even when the object selection is elsewhere

Compare lock and hide

 

 Lock Hide
On the slide The object stays visible. Resize handles and dragging are off. A small lock icon can appear on the object. The object is not drawn on the slide while it is hidden.
Select on the slide You cannot select the object on the slide. You cannot select the object on the slide.
Timeline You can select the row. Hover highlights the object on the slide like other objects. You can select the row. Hover shows a translucent highlight over the object area. Select the row to show a thin bounding outline without unhiding.
Properties Fields are unavailable until you unlock. Select the row in the Timeline to work with Properties while the object stays hidden, if your build supports it.
CpC Slide row You can lock the whole slide. All rows can show locked state. Hide is not available for the slide row. Only lock applies to CpC Slide.

Lock or hide from the Timeline

  1. Open your project and select the slide you want to edit.

  2. In the Timeline, move the pointer over the object row (for example, Video_1).

    When the row is hovered, the Show/Hide (eye) and Lock (padlock) icons appear next to the object name.

    Captivate Timeline showing eye and padlock icons on object rows with a locked object on the canvas.
    Eye and padlock controls appear on each Timeline row when hovered, letting you toggle visibility and editing independently per object.

  3. Move the pointer over an icon to see a highlight that shows the control is active. This works whether or not the object is selected in the slide.

Lock an object

  1. In the Timeline, hover the object row to show the padlock icon.

  2. Select the padlock icon.

    Locked object on the Captivate slide with a lock icon and closed padlock visible in the Timeline row.
    After locking, the padlock closes in the Timeline and resize handles are removed from the object on the slide.

The padlock appears closed in the Timeline and may appear in the Properties panel header. On the slide, resize handles disappear and a small lock icon can appear on the object. Properties for that object stay unavailable until you unlock.

Unlock an object

In the Timeline, select the closed padlock for the object.

If a lock icon appears on the object on the slide, you can select that icon to unlock it when the Timeline allows it. Resize handles return, and you can edit the object again.

Captivate canvas with an unlocked object displaying resize handles and Timeline rows with padlock and eye icons.
After unlocking, the object on the slide regains resize handles and the padlock icon in the Timeline reflects the open state.

Locked objects on the slide and in the Timeline

  • Slide: The object is not selectable. Selecting it on the slide does not select the object or show handles.
  • Timeline: You can select the row. Hovering the row shows the same slide highlight as for unlocked objects.
  • Properties: You cannot edit the object through Properties while it is locked, even if you selected it from the Timeline.

Hide an object

  1. In the Timeline, hover the object row to show the eye icon.

  2. Select the eye icon.

    Captivate Timeline with slashed eye icon on an object row and the hidden object absent from the slide canvas.
    After selecting the eye icon, the Timeline reflects the hidden state while the slide clears the object from the authoring view without affecting published output.

The eye shows a slash when the object is hidden, and the object no longer appears on the slide.

Show a hidden object

In the Timeline, select the slashed eye icon for that object.

The object appears on the slide again.

Captivate Timeline with eye icon toggled to restore a hidden object back to visible on the slide canvas.
Select the slashed eye icon on a Timeline row to restore the hidden object and make it visible on the slide again.

Find a hidden object on the slide

Hidden objects are not selectable on the slide. Use the Timeline:

  • Hover the object name to show a translucent highlight over the object area on the slide.
  • Select the object row to show a thin outline so you can see position and size without unhiding.

Lock or unlock the whole slide

  1. In the Timeline, select the last row, which is normally the name of the slide.

  2. Hover the row and select the Lock icon to lock the slide.

    Captivate workspace showing a locked slide with padlock icons on the slide thumbnail, canvas edge, and all Timeline rows.
    When a slide is locked, all object rows inherit the locked state, preventing edits across the entire slide until you unlock from the Slides panel or Timeline.

The slide thumbnail in the Slides panel can show a lock icon, the slide edge on the slide can show a lock, and each object row is locked.

Unlock the slide

  • Select the lock icon on the slide thumbnail in the Slides panel, or
  • Select the lock icon next to the locked slide in the Timeline.
Captivate workspace with lock icons visible on the canvas, Timeline object rows, and Slides panel after locking a slide.
Visual indicators confirm a locked slide, Timeline, and Slides panel so authors can quickly identify protected content.

Other ways to lock or hide

  • Context menu: Right-click an object on the slide or its Timeline row, then choose Lock or Hide.
  • Keyboard: Ctrl+K (Windows) or Command+K (macOS) for lock. Shift+Ctrl+H (Windows) or Shift+Command+H (macOS) for hide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does hiding remove the object from the published course?
Hide changes what you see on the slide while you author. Published output depends on your settings and options such as Hide during publish. Preview your output to confirm.

Why can’t I select a locked object on the slide?
That behavior prevents accidental moves or resizes. Select the row in the Timeline to find the object, then unlock to edit.

Why is there no eye icon for the whole slide?
Hide applies to object layers. The slide row supports lock only.

Do lock and hide work if the object is not selected first?
Yes. Hover the Timeline row and use the icons.

What does the blue highlight on an icon mean?
It is hover feedback that the control is active, including when the object is not selected on the slide.

Adobe, Inc.

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