Paul Wilson
- Captivate Classic User Guide
- Introduction to Captivate
- Captivate Classic Release Notes
- Create Projects
- Create different types of projects in Adobe Captivate
- Customize the size of an Adobe Captivate project
- Responsive Project Design with Adobe Captivate
- Create Virtual Reality (VR) projects
- Work with responsive text in Adobe Captivate
- Work with themes in Adobe Captivate
- How to apply view specific properties in responsive projects
- How to create backup files for Adobe Captivate projects
- Asset panel
- Create branching and forced navigation in Captivate
- Replace image on the stage
- Add and Manage Objects
- Work with multi-state objects in Adobe Captivate
- Object effects
- Insert web objects in Adobe Captivate projects
- Work with object styles in Adobe Captivate
- How to rotate objects in Adobe Captivate
- How to manage objects with the Main Options toolbar
- How to merge objects in a slide
- How to manage objects in the library
- How to group objects in Adobe Captivate
- Edit object information using the Advanced Interaction panel
- How to copy, paste, and duplicate objects in Adobe Captivate
- Control the visibility of objects
- How to change the display order of objects in Adobe Captivate
- Apply shadows to objects
- How to align objects in Adobe Captivate
- How to add reflection to objects in Adobe Captivate
- Import assets into a Captivate project
- Slides
- Add slides to an Adobe Captivate project
- Editing slides in an Adobe Captivate project
- Delete Adobe Captivate project slides
- Change slide order in Adobe Captivate
- Set slide properties in Adobe Captivate
- Add and convert slide notes to audio files with Adobe Captivate
- Set up knowledge check slides in Adobe Captivate
- How to add slide transitions in Adobe Captivate
- How to work with master slides in Adobe Captivate
- How to lock Adobe Captivate slides
- How to hide or exclude slides in an Adobe Captivate project
- How to group and ungroup slides in Adobe Captivate
- Timeline and grids
- Create Quizzes
- Insert question slides in Adobe Captivate projects
- Set quiz preferences for Adobe Captivate
- How to enable learners to submit all quiz responses simultaneously
- How to set up question slides with Adobe Captivate
- Using random question slides in Adobe Captivate
- How to allow users to return to quiz
- Import questions from CSV format files
- Import questions from GIFT format files
- How to insert pretests in Adobe Captivate
- Audio
- Video
- Interactive Objects
- Interactions
- Non-interactive objects
- Create and edit smart shapes
- Edit and create text captions with Captivate
- How to use images and rollover images with Captivate
- How to customize smart shapes in Adobe Captivate
- How to create zoom areas in Adobe Captivate
- How to set audio for noninteractive objects
- How to create rollover slidelets in Adobe Captivate
- How to create rollover captions in Adobe Captivate
- Change mouse properties in Adobe Captivate
- Use highlight boxes in Captivate
- Work with swatches in Adobe Captivate
- Fix size and position of non-interactive objects
- Add animations to a Adobe Captivate project
- Advanced Editing and Project Reviews
- Variables and Advanced Actions
- Record Projects
- Publish Projects
- Preview and publish responsive projects
- Publish project to Adobe Captivate Prime
- Publish projects as HTML5 files with Adobe Captivate
- Publish projects as executable files
- Publish projects as MP4 files with Adobe Captivate
- Set publishing preferences in Adobe Captivate
- Using web fonts from Adobe Fonts in Adobe Captivate
- Report quiz results to an internal server
- Use Adobe Captivate with Other Applications
- Import and edit PowerPoint presentations in Captivate
- Upload an Adobe Captivate project to a Learning Management System
- Learn about the Common JavaScript interface for Adobe Captivate
- How to publish Captivate projects to Microsoft Word
- Using Adobe Connect with Captivate
- How to add Captivate projects to a RoboHelp online help system
- How to package multiple SCOs using the Adobe Multi-SCORM Packager
- Troubleshoot Adobe Captivate
- Resolve known issues and limitations in the latest versions of Adobe Captivate, Adobe FrameMaker, and Adobe RoboHelp.
- Early build for Captivate (2019 release) on macOS Big Sur (macOS 11)
- Hotfix for VR content not playing on devices
- Configure SSL for Live Preview on Devices
- Captivate (2019 release) activation issues on macOS Catalina
- Captivate responsive courses will not auto-play on browsers
- Issues with Asset panel in Adobe Captivate (2019 release)
- Error 103 while installing Adobe Captivate
- Issues when previewing a Captivate project
- Resolve known issues and limitations in the latest versions of Adobe Captivate, Adobe FrameMaker, and Adobe RoboHelp.
Create a project to include software simulation
You can create an Adobe Captivate Classic project by recording events in an application or screen area on your computer. The following modes of recording are available.
Automatic Recording
Adobe Captivate Classic captures screenshots automatically and places them in separate slides. For more information, see Automatic recording.
Manual Recording
You can manually capture screenshots using this option. The chosen set of screenshots appears sequentially in separate slides after the recording is complete. For more information, see Manual recording.
For more information, see Recording Projects.
Adobe Captivate Classic : Create a Simulation
You can also watch Paul Wilson's videos on recording a software solution.
Adobe Captivate Classic – Software Simulation Part 1
Adobe Captivate Classic – Software Simulation Part 2
Create a project from PowerPoint presentations
You can import an entire PowerPoint presentation, or only selected slides into an Adobe Captivate Classic project. Each PowerPoint slide is imported as a separate slide in the Adobe Captivate Classic project. You can later edit the PowerPoint presentations from within Adobe Captivate Classic.
For more information, refer Importing PowerPoint presentations.
While importing PowerPoint presentations, you may have to adjust the size of the presentations. Refer the blog, Right size your PowerPoint imports.
Paul Wilson has created a fantastic YouTube tutorial on importing a PPT presentation into your Captivate Classic project.
Adobe Captivate Classic - Importing PowerPoint Workflow
Create a project from images
Projects created from images can be viewed as a slideshow. Each image is imported into a separate slide.
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Select File > New Project > Image Slideshow.
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In the New Image Slideshow dialog box, set the dimensions of the project.
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Click OK, and select the images that you want to add to your project.
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If the Resize/Crop image dialog box appears, set the following options:
Note: You see the Crop/Resize dialog box only when an image exceeds the height or width limits of the project. If you are inserting more than one slide, only those images that exceed the dimension limits are displayed in the dialog box.
Fit To Stage
Resizes the image to fit the dimensions of the slide.
Crop
Displays a bounding box with dimensions corresponding to that of the project. Resize the handles of the box to select the area that you want displayed on the slide. If you selected Constrain Proportions, Adobe Captivate Classic maintains the height-to-width ratio of the bounding box.
Zoom
You can zoom in and zoom out of the image by moving the slider. Alternatively, you can choose from a list of standard zoom sizes from the menu.
Constrain Proportions
Maintains the height-to-width ratio of the bounding box used to crop the image. This option is enabled only when you choose to crop the image. When you disable this option, resize the bounding box, and enable the option again; the new dimensions are used thereafter to calculate the ratio.
In addition to the above options, you can also set tone controls (brightness, sharpness, and contrast) and adjust color ranges (alpha, hue, and saturation). You can also flip or rotate the image.
Advanced Actions & Variables: Image Slideshow
Create a project starting with blank slides
You can start with a blank project, and then import slides or images from PowerPoint presentations, images, or other Adobe Captivate Classic projects. You can also add a software demonstration, or interactive simulation by recording additional slides.
Select File > New Project > Blank Project.
Select a preset size in the Select list, or specify a custom width and height for the project.
Click OK.
The default theme is applied to the new project. The theme contains a set of master slides that you can use for title, content, and question slides. For more information, see Themes.
Adobe Captivate Classic : Create a New Project
Create a responsive project
You can create a project whose content and design can be viewed across multiple devices such as desktop, tablet, and mobile.
For more information on creating responsive projects, see Responsive project.
Adobe Captivate Classic 2017: Responsive eLearning with Fluid Boxes
You can also create responsive simulations using Captivate Classic. For more information, refer Dr. Pooja Jaisingh's blog in the eLearning community portal.
Create a VR Project
Nothing captures your attention like a 360° image or video. Such assets give you a perception of being there in the scene, without actually being there. A 360° image or a video is an abstraction of a real-world panoramic image, which is shot using an omnidirectional camera.
A 360° is an immersive experience. In eLearning, 360° images or videos, apart from giving you a sense of presence, makes you relive an experience. You can focus on multiple aspects, while gaining a high degree or recall.
360° images and videos have disrupted industries across multiple verticals. From new-hire orientation to medicine, from armed forces to athletics, 360° have captured the imagination of trainers and instructors to deliver a cutting-edge, world class training program.
Typically, on a 360° image or video, you interact via Hotspots, which you can click and display some text, launch a video, launch a quiz, or play an audio.
For more information on creating a VR project, see VR project.
Create template-based projects
Adobe Captivate Classic templates allow you to improve consistency across similar projects or modules of a project and reduce the effort required to create new projects.
Create a storyboard and workflow
No matter what project you want to create, it is helpful to do some planning before you start taking screenshots. Consider first what you want the user to do, learn, or achieve as a result of viewing your project. Defining this goal allows you to create a comprehensive plan for success. Once you have defined the action you want the audience to take, you can create the “core” of the project.
Every movie tells a story. A storyboard is a written version of that story either in the form of text or graphics. It tells you whether you have a clear understanding of what you are about to present to your audience. You can use the 5W, 1H rule adopted in journalism to get your story straight—who, what, when, where, why, and how.
You can create a workflow readily when you have a storyboard in place. A workflow is the flow of information in a project that follows the rules you create for it. For example, you can have a nonlinear presentation in which you can move back and forth between slides, skip slides, or set rules for slide sequence. Defining the workflow in advance helps you complete your project earlier, with minimal changes during the editing cycle.
If your project includes a great deal of text (captions), a script is the best place to begin. Scripts use text-based pages. They are like pages in a book: logical, sequential, and containing as much detail as you care to provide.
Create project templates
When you want to create similar projects or similar modules in a project, use project templates to ensure consistency and save time. Project templates are especially useful when multiple authors are working on different project modules or on similar projects.
Project templates help achieve the following:
Consistency across Adobe Captivate Classic projects.
Reduced development time for multiple projects due to reuse of design.
Reuse of project preferences across multiple projects.
In a collaborative environment where the designers work separately from the people creating the content, designers use templates to ensure consistency across projects. Content developers do not have to worry about the workflow of the project, the various standards involved, or the creation of the layout. All they have to do is follow the instructions in the template and provide the required content in the relevant placeholders.
Creating a repository of templates requires a disciplined effort involving all stakeholders. However, the effort pays for itself over time in terms of reduced development time for projects.
An Adobe Captivate Classic project template consists of the following:
Slides with placeholders for various Adobe Captivate Classic objects
Placeholders for the following:
Recording slides
Question slides.
Master slides. For more information on Master Slides, see Master slides.
You can define and use object styles along with the project templates to ensure a uniform appearance for your projects.
When you create a project using a template, the placeholders in the template are marked with a placeholder icon. The icon disappears when you insert an object into a placeholder.
The placeholder objects are not visible when you preview or publish a project created with a project template.
In addition to placeholders, you can add all Adobe Captivate Classic objects and supported media to templates. The template serves as a ‘stencil’ only. Users can change the objects and placeholders without any restriction when creating a project from the template.
To make a project template more effective, add slide notes providing information or instructions. Include information on the recommended types and properties of objects, media, or slides that users are to insert in the placeholders.
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Select File > New Project > Project Template.
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Specify the dimensions of the project template, and click OK.
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Set preferences for the template using the Edit > Preferences dialog box. The preferences are automatically applied when you use the project template to create a project.
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Choose the look and feel for projects based on the template by clicking Themes > Themes. The Themes bar appears. Click the required theme from the Themes bar.
You can also modify the theme to suit your requirements. For more information on themes, see Themes.
Obs!If you do not want to use themes, you can create your own layouts by inserting placeholder objects on the slides (Insert > Placeholder Objects).
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To insert placeholders for slides, select Insert > Placeholder Slides, and choose the type of slide placeholder.
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Insert other Adobe Captivate Classic objects, and required media.
Best practice is to add all objects or media that do not change from project to project (for example, a logo) as actual objects. Use placeholders for objects or media that are specific to the project.
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Save the file. The file is saved with a .cptl extension.
Create projects from project templates
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Select File > New Project > Project From Template.
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Navigate to the template file and click Open.
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Double-click the placeholder and do the following:
For placeholder objects, use the respective dialog box to add objects to the placeholder. The placeholder is converted to a concrete object.
For recording slide placeholders, double-click the placeholder slide to start recording.
For question slide placeholders, double-click the placeholder slide to insert a question slide.
For more information and to download a sample template, refer Dr. Allen Partridge's blog in the community portal.