Macromedia Captivate - 8.0.1 User Manual

ADOBE® CAPTIVATE® HELP

Legal notices

For legal notices, see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/legalnotices/index.html.

Last updated 10/13/2014

Chapter 1: What’s new

What's New in Adobe Captivate 8.0.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Chapter 2: Workspace

Undoing and redoing actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Shortcut keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Filmstrip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Disable confirmation messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Customizing the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Branching panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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Chapter 3: Creating Projects

Create projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Responsive Project Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

View Specific Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Enable backup file creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Customize the project size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 4: Recording Projects

Record video demonstrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Pause while recording projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Record software simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Set recording preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Types of recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Chapter 5: Slides

Slide notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Add slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Change slide order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Delete slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Edit slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Group slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Hide slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Lock slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Master slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Slide properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Slide transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Tips for introductory slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Last updated 10/13/2014

CAPTIVATE

Content s

Chapter 6: Adding and Managing Objects

Web objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Object style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Rotate objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Resize and reposition objects bypixel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Object effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Managing objects with the MainOptions toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Merge objects into a slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Manage Library objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Group objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Edit object information using the Advanced Interaction panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Copy, paste, and duplicate objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Controlling the visibility of objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Change the display order of objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Apply shadows to objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Align objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Add reflection to objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Chapter 7: Noninteractive Objects and Media

Smart shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Tex t capt ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Insert Mathematical equations (Cp 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Highlight boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Images and rollover images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Rollover captions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Rollover slidelets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Set audio for noninteractive objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Zoom areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Chapter 8: Interactive Objects

Tex t ent ry box es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Add JavaScript to boxes and buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Add audio to boxes and buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Click boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Project navigation using interactive objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Chapter 9: Audio

Edit audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

System audio (Cp 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Export audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

View audio details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Preview audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Recording in sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Insert audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

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Chapter 10: Video

Differences between event and synchronizedvideos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Event video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Multi-slide synchronized video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Chapter 11: Widgets

Smart learning interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Learner Notes interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Drag-and-drop interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

New widget APIs in Adobe Captivate6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Create widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Create WDGT files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Accessing Adobe Captivate movie properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Add widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Defining visibility mode for widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Properties of widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Question widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Twitter widget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Types of widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Using ActionScript 3.0 in widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Using XML in widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Using variables in widgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Widget panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Chapter 12: Variables and Advanced Actions

Shared actions (Cp8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Tutorial on scripting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Edit/delete a user-defined variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Create a user-defined variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Adobe Captivate SWF events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Assign advanced actions to an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Advanced actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Chapter 13: Creating a Quiz

Import questions from GIFT format files (Cp 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Allow users to return to quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Insert pretests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Insert question slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Quiz preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Random question slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Set up question slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Submitting all answers simultaneously . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Chapter 14: Advanced Editing and Project Reviews

Using the AIR Review application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Table of contents (TOC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Spelling and search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Skins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

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Content s

Resize projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Projects and project preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Preview projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Localizing Adobe Captivate projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Link Adobe Captivate projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Import, export, and delete content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Creating accessible projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Combining multiple SWF files with aggregator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Chapter 15: Publishing Projects

Publish projects as executable files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Preview and publish Responsive projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Publish projects as MP4 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Publish projects as HTML5 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Set publishing preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Report to Acrobat.com or internalserver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Publish projects as SWF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Collaboration with Acrobat.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Change the default location ofpublished files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Chapter 16: Using Adobe Captivate with OtherApplications

Common JS interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Adobe Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

RoboHelp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Learning management system (LMS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Microsoft PowerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Adobe Multi-SCORM Packager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Microsoft Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Adobe Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Adobe Captivate App Packager (Cp 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Adobe Bridge (Cp 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Chapter 17: Troubleshooting

Animation timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Application distortion when recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Capture of elevated applicationsin Windows Vista/Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Capturing while recording a web application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Choppy full motion recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Correcting colors in slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

JavaScript that does not appear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Publishing projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Quizzing errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Recording Applications on Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Recording audio produces recording(Clip).wavfile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Security warning with Flash Player9 or later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Text viewed in a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

The Skin Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

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Content s

Uninstalling Adobe Captivate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Video errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

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Chapter 1: What’s new

What's New in Adobe Captivate 8.0.1

Adobe Captivate reimagines the way interactive eLearning is created for a multi-device world. Rapidly author a wide range of interactive and responsive HTML5-based eLearning content without programming. Adobe Captivate 8.0.1 release includes phone gap integration, exe publishing, responsive project support for drag-and-drop, custom shapes, smart shape conversion of captions, smart positioning, and many feature enhancements.

Adobe Captivate 8.0.1 is an update release which is available to Adobe Captivate 8 customers through Adobe Update Manager.

Read on for a quick introduction to these new features and enhancements, and links to resources offering more information.

What's new and changed

App packager integration

Publish apps for devices from within Captivate project instead of using app packager. Choose Publish > Publish for Devices (App). It is supported for Android, iOS, and Windows 8 platforms.

For more information on publishing apps for devices in responsive projects, see Publish as Apps for devices

For non-responsive/blank projects, see Publish as Apps for devices

Convert captions to smart shapes

Success/Failure/Hint Captions can be replaced with Smart Shapes. Right-click the Caption and select Convert to Smartshape. To revert, right-click and click Revert to text.

For more information, see Tex t c a p t ion s .

Responsive drag & drop

Users can drag-and-drop objects in responsive projects with a seamless experience. For more information, see

Responsive Project Design.

Custom shapes & line support

Now, you can use custom shapes and line to create your own objects in responsive project.

For more information, see Smart shapes .

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What’s new

Publish projects as exe files

Adobe Captivate 8.0.1 enables you to publish your projects as stand-alone executable files for both personal computer and for Mac. This publishing option enables you to create a Windows executable file (.exe) or MAC executable file (.app). For more information, see

Publish projects as executable files

Other enhancements

Map support

Map support is included for selecting geolocation in variables. Users can browse through Google™ integrated maps and choose the location. Values are populated automatically.

For more information, see Geo location map .

Embed support for web objects

Now, you can embed code in to the properties window along with URL. An option to choose Help (i) is also added. Width and height of Video web objects aligns according to the web object container dimensions seamlessly in responsive projects.

For more information, see Web obj e ct s .

Symmetrical editing

Shift+draw option added for drawing shapes like circle or square. Now, by pressing shift key authors can draw a circle or square symmetrically in projects.

Shift+control+drag option is included for all shapes enabling authors to draw shapes symmetrically with reference to a starting point.

In the above image, A and B graphs are drawn with reference to Origin (intersection point of x and y-axis) by using shift+ctrl+draw. In A, you can see the starting point with crossbar cursor at the origin. When you draw circle with shift+ctrl+draw, it moves symmetrically with reference to the starting point (here, the origin).

In the image C also the pink colored circle is drawn with origin as a starting point, but here shift+ctrl+draw is not used.

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What’s new

You can notice the difference and the usefulness of this enhancement for drawing.

Apply position properties across all views

Now you can update position properties of objects across all views to match the properties of the currently selected text element. To support Applying the object position properties across all the views, right click context menu is included. This setting relinks objects across the views in responsive projects.

For more information, see Position properties .

Apply text and text properties across all views

Now you can reset the properties of responsive text elements or update all views to match the properties of the currently selected text element. To support applying the text and text properties across all the views, right click context menu is included. This setting relinks objects across the views in responsive projects.

For more information, see Responsive text .

Color coding

Now, text objects in different views of responsive projects can have color coding. You can see different color coding in text area border in properties window. Earlier, it was applicable for only position properties.

For more information, see Color coding .

Project size

Project Info panel displays the project content size enabling users to know the size of the projects before publishing. Users can choose Windows >Project Info panel to view the size. In non-responsive projects, it displays SWF content and HTML content sizes. For responsive projects, only HTML size.

A sample project info view is shown in the below snapshot. Figure A represents responsive project and Figure B represents blank project. By default, when you open project info, the size of the project is not displayed in responsive and blank projects. Click blue colored Check text to view the size.

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What’s new

Smart positioning between breakpoints

Smart Positioning is honored in between breakpoints of responsive projects. View published projects seamlessly across all device sizes.

For more information, see Smart positioning

Export responsive views captions to single Word or xml file

Project Captions and Closed Captions in responsive projects can be exported to a single Word™ or xml document. Now, it is responsive. Exported documents contain data from all the views of responsive projects. This feature facilitates translation of responsive captions, even when the text is different in various views.

Autoscaling of interactions in responsive project views

Now, interactions in responsive projects autoscale themselves to align for all the views with a fixed ratio. Users can experience seamless alignment of interactions in each view.

Automatic linked files inclusion in output

Open URL/File/Project options copy/paste the linked file to the destination folder if the file is present in an accessible location. It copies automatically in the published output folder. (Note: files in next level reference url do not get copied.)

Swatch manager

Swatches are integrated in color palette. Users can load swatch manager from color palette by clicking at the upper-right corner as shown in the Figure - B below. In windows menu, swatches menu item is renamed to swatch manager as shown in Figure -A below.

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What’s new

Lock individual objects

Now you can lock or unlock the size and position of individual items contained in group, from within timeline.

fx symbol for objects in timeline

Visual indication added for objects with effects in timeline. fx symbol appears adjacent to object in timeline.

Color tool tip

Color Category is displayed as tool tips in theme color palette. For example, hovering over a color theme displays Title component of theme.

Note: Refer to what's new of Adobe Captivate 8 to understand all the features that were introduced in Adobe Captivate 8.

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Chapter 2: Workspace

Undoing and redoing actions

You can reverse the previous action by using the Undo command.

• From the Edit menu, select Undo [Name of the recent action] or press Control+Z.

Each click reverses one more action. Continue clicking Undo (or pressing Control+Z) to remove as many of the previous changes as necessary.

When the Undo command is unavailable (dimmed), you cannot undo the previous action.

Adobe Captivate tracks actions from the time you open a project until the time you close the project. Therefore, you can undo as many times as you need to, as long as the project remains open.

You can reverse the action of the Undo command by using the Redo command.

• After you have used the Undo command, from the Edit menu, select Redo or press Control+Y.

Toolbars

Toolbars provide you an easier access to the most commonly used menus. You can quickly complete a task or a procedure by clicking the buttons on the toolbar instead of navigating to the menu.

You can hide or show toolbars according to your requirements. To show or hide a toolbar, select Window and then select the name of the toolbar.

Main Options Shortcuts to frequently performed actions, such as, save, record, and preview.

Object Toolbar Shortcuts for adding Adobe Captivate objects, such as, text captions, buttons, and highlight boxes.

Using this toolbar you can also draw smart shapes, such as, lines and rectangles, and also set the stroke and fill colors.

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A Smart Shapes B Smart Shapes fly-out C Insert Text Caption D Insert Rollover Caption E Insert Image F Insert Rollover Image G Ins ert Highlight Box H Text An imat ion O

Align Shortcuts for aligning different objects on a slide. For more information, see Align objects.

Inse rt Ro llover Slidel et I In ser t Z oom Are a J Inse rt Mou se K Insert Click Box L Insert Button M Insert Text Entry Box N Insert

Insert Animation P Insert Video Q Insert Interaction

Rearranging the Object Toolbar

By default, the tools in the toolbar are arranged in a single column. Click the double arrow at the top of the toolbar to make it horizontal or to arrange the tools in two columns.

Note: To make the toolbar horizontal, ensure that the toolbar is free-floating and is not grouped with any other panel.

To make the toolbar free-floating, drag it out of the panel group using the two horizontal dotted lines at the top of the bar.

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Timeline

The Timeline is a visual representation of the timing of all objects on a slide. The Timeline provides an easy way to view, at a high level, all objects on a slide and their relationship to each other.

With the Timeline, you can organize objects and precisely control the timing of objects. For example, on a slide that contains a caption, an image, and a highlight box, you can display the caption, then the image 4 seconds later, and then the highlight box 2 seconds after that. The Timeline also shows any audio associated with the slide or with objects on the slide. You can easily coordinate the timing of audio with the slide using the Timeline.

A Show/Hide All Items B Lock/Unlock All Items C Playhead D Time line Heade r E Fly-Out Menu F Move the Playhead to the beginning G Stop H

Play I Move the Playhead to the end J Mute K Elapsed Time L Selected Start Time M Selected Duration N Slide Duration O Zoom Slider

The major components of the Timeline are objects, the header, and the playhead. The objects on a slide are displayed as stacked bars in the right pane of the Timeline. The header at the top of the Timeline indicates time in seconds (and parts of seconds). The playhead shows the point in time in which the slide is being viewed.

The Timeline header shows time, in minutes:seconds format. For example, 01:05 indicates 1 minute and 5 seconds. The markings helps you see exactly when objects appear.

You can use the Timeline to hide or lock objects easily. This is useful when a slide contains many objects and you need to edit the objects separately.

Show or hide the Timeline

Select Window > Timeline.

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Rearrange the Timeline panel

By default, the Timeline panel is docked at the bottom of any slide in an Adobe Captivate project. You can move, resize, group, or dock the Timeline panel to suit your requirement.

Change the zoom level of the Timeline panel

Use the slider in the Timeline panel. The center of the slider indicates 100% zoom. To increase the zoom level, drag the slider to the right. To reduce the zoom level, drag the slider to the left.

Change the order of object layers

1 Move the mouse over the object in the Timeline panel until the hand icon appears and drag the object up or down

to reposition it.

2 If you have two objects that overlap on the slide, you need to select the object you want in front by setting the

stacking order.

Changing the stacking order consists of moving objects to the back and front of the slide Stage. The key point to remember is that objects at the back of the Stage appear behind other objects. Use one of the following methods to set the stacking order:

• Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) an object on the slide, click Arrange, and select one of the

object order options. If necessary, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) other objects on the slide and adjust their order.

Bring To FrontThis option brings the selected object to the top. When the project plays, the object appears on top of all others.

Send To BackTh is op tion send s the s electe d obj ec t to the ba ckgro und . Wh en the pro ject p lay s, the obje ct app ear s behind all others.

Bring ForwardThis option moves the object one layer forward.

Send BackwardThis option moves the object one layer back.

• On the Timeline, move the mouse over an object until the hand appears and drag the object up or down to change

its position in the stacking order. Moving an object higher in the stacking order moves it to the front of the Stage, while moving an object lower moves it to the back of the Stage.

Hide objects during editing

❖ In the Timeline, click the dot below the eye icon in the layer that you want to hide.

The object disappears from the slide and an X icon appears in the column. To display the object on the slide, click the X icon.

When you hide an object layer, it is hidden only on the Stage. You can still view the layer when it is previewed or published.

Timeline for slidelets

A slidelet is a slide within a slide. A slidelet has its own Timeline. All the objects in the slidelet are displayed in its Timeline. When you select a slidelet, the Timeline changes automatically to that of the slidelet. To display the Timeline for the slide containing the slidelet, click anywhere outside the slidelet. For more information on slidelets, see

slidelets.

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Lock objects

❖ In the Timeline, click the dot below the lock icon in the layer that you want to lock.

The layer and its corresponding object cannot be edited or moved until you unlock the layer. To unlock the layer, click the lock icon.

Set time for objects and slides using the Timeline

You can change the amount of time an object or slide appears in the movie using its Property Inspector or by using the Timeline. You may find this feature useful in several situations. For example, you may want to set exact object timing when coordinating a voice-over with a highlight box; you may want the highlight box to appear only when the voiceover says, “Enter the date here.”

• Move the mouse over the left or right edge of the slide or object on the Timeline until the resize pointer appears.

Click and drag the edge to the required position in the Timeline.

• To set two objects to appear at the same time, align their left and right edges. For example, you can set a highlight

box to appear at the same time as an image so that the highlight box can appear over the image.

• To adjust the display time of interactive objects (such as text entry boxes, click boxes, and buttons) rest the pointer

over the line between Active and Inactive in the bar until the slider handle appears. Drag the slider to adjust the display time.

You can select multiple objects and move them at the same time. Hold down the Shift key and click objects to select consecutive stacked objects in the Timeline, or to select nonconsecutive objects, hold down the Control key and click the objects to move.

You can determine whether keystrokes are played slowly or quickly in a project. If the project has many keystrokes, increasing the speed will make the pace of the project faster. However, if keystrokes are critical in the project, you may want them to play slowly so users can view them clearly. Use the Timeline to change keystroke speed. Keystrokes are contained in a Timeline object named Typing.

You determine the speed at which the mouse moves on any individual slide in a project. A high mouse speed increases the pace at which the project plays. However, if mouse movements are complicated, you may want to decrease the mouse speed so users can view all movements. Mouse movement is contained in a Timeline object named Mouse. To shorten the amount of time it takes for the mouse movement to play, move the mouse pointer over the left edge of the Mouse object until the resize pointer appears. Click and drag the edge to the left.

Preview a slide using the playhead

The red line that moves across the Timeline is the playhead. The playhead moves through the Timeline to indicate how the currently displayed slide appears in the project. It is a quick and efficient way to preview a single slide and check object timing.

To see how the playhead functions, press F3. You can stop a playhead when it is playing by clicking it. To drag the playhead to a required position, move the mouse over its “head” in the area displaying the time. When the pointer appears, drag the playhead to the required position.

❖ Do one of the following to preview a slide:

• “Scrub” the slide by dragging the playhead to the left or right. As you move the playhead, objects appear and fade

as they will when users view the slide. Scrubbing gives you the ability to control the pace and view the slide at any speed from very slowly to very quickly.

• With the playhead in any location on the Timeline, press the Spacebar or F3 to begin playing the slide.

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• With the playhead in any location on the Timeline, press in the lower-left corner of the Timeline. (To end

playback, press , or to wait, press .)

Shortcut keys

Shortcut keys provide an easier and quicker way to navigate and use Adobe Captivate. They let you use keyboard key combinations instead of a mouse or program menu. The common shortcut keys are listed in the table.

Shortcut key Action

F1 (Win & Mac) Open Adobe Captivate Help (To access dialog-box-level help, click the

F2 (Win & Mac) Rename the selected object

F3 (Win & Mac) Test view the current slide

F4 (Win & Mac) Preview the project

F5 (Win & Mac) Record audio

F6 (Win & Mac) Import audio

F7 (Win & Mac) Perform a spelling and grammar check

F8 (Win only) Preview project from current slide

F9 (Win only) Show the Advanced Interaction panel

F10 (Win only) Preview the current slide and the following “N” slides

F12 (Win), Command+F12 (Mac) Preview the project in a web browser

Page Up (win & Mac) Scroll to the previous slide

Page Down (win & Mac) Scroll to the next slide

Alt+A (Win), Option+A (Mac) Create question pool

Alt+Up, Down, Left, Right Arrows (Win), Option+Up, Down, Left, Right Arrows

Control+A (Win), Command+A (Mac) Select all

Help button on individual dialog boxes.)

Click the object, click a resize handle, and use these options to resize the object in the selected direction by 1 pixel

Control+B (Win), Command+B (Mac) Find audio in the Library/Change text to Bold

Control+C (Win), Command+C (Mac) Copy (slide in Filmstrip, and selected object on stage)

Control+D (Win) Duplicate (slide in Filmstrip, and selected object on stage)

Control+E (Win), Command+E (Mac) Extend the length of the objec t display time to the end of the slide on

Control+F (Win), Command+F (Mac) Find/replace a particular object in the project Library

Control+I (Win), Command+I (Mac) Increase the indent (selected object on stage)/Change text to Italics.

Control+L (Win), Command+L (Mac) Sync the selected object to the playhead

Control+M (Win), Command+M (Mac) Merge the selected object with the background

Control+N (Win), Command+N (Mac) Open new project

the Timeline

Indentation is equal to the grid size.

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Shortcut key Action

Control+O (Win), Command+S (Mac) Open the project

Control+Q (Win), Shift+Option+R (Mac) Insert a random question slide

Control+R (Win), Command + R (Mac) Start/record new capture project

Control+S (Win), Command+S (Mac) Save

Control+T (Win), Command+T(Mac) Open project template

Control+U (Win) Underline the selected text

Control+V (Win), Command+V (Mac) Paste what is on the clipboard (for example, slide, image, object, and

Control+W (Win), Command+W (Mac) Close the project

Control+X (Win), Command+X (Mac) Cut (selected object on stage)

Control+Y (Win), Command+Y (Mac) Redo

Control+Z (Win), Command+Z (Mac) Undo

Control+Enter (Win), Conmmand+Enter (Mac) Preview the project

Control+Alt+A (Win), Command+Option+A (Mac) Export PowerPoint slides as animation

Control+Alt+B (Win), Command+Option+B (Mac) Show or hide Filmstrip

Control+Alt+C (Win), Command+Option+C (Mac) Show the Closed Captioning dialog box

Control+Alt+D (Win), Shift+Option+D (Mac) Update the Library

Control+Alt+E (Win), Command+Option+E (Mac) Edit points of polygon drawing object

Control+Alt+F (Win), Command+Option+F (Mac) Find in the Library

Control+Alt+G (win), Command+Option+G (Mac) Create a slide group and autoadjust the rollover area

Control+Alt+H (Win), Command+Option+H (Mac) Hide the selected object

Control+Alt+I (Win), Command+Options+I (Mac) Find PowerPoint slides in the Library

Control+Alt+J (Win), Command+Option+J (Mac) Edit PowerPoint slides

Control+Alt+K (Win), Command+Option+K (Mac) Lock the selected object

so on)

Control+Alt+L (Win), Command+Option+L (Mac) Show or hide the Library

Control+Alt+M (Win), Command+Option+M (Mac) Insert master slide

Control+Alt+N (Win), Command+Option+N (Mac) Show slide notes

Control+Alt+O (Win), Command+Option+O (Mac) Record additional slides

Control+Alt+P (Win), Command+Option+P (Mac) Remove a slide group.

Control+Alt+Q (Win), Option+Shift+Q (Mac) Show the Question Pools Manager

Control+Alt+S (Win only) Edit PowerPoint slide

Control+Alt+T (Win), Command+Option+T (Mac) Show or hide the Timeline

Control+Alt+U (Win), Command+Option+U (Mac) Library usage

Control+Alt+V (Win), Command+Option+V (Mac) Import video file

Control+Alt+X (Win), Command+Options X (Mac) Show/hide the SWF-Commenting pane

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Shortcut key Action

Control+Alt+Z (Win), Command+Option+Z (Mac) Show/hide the Widget panel

Shift+F7 (Win & Mac) Show objects style manager

Shift+F8 (Win), Command + , (Mac) Preferences dialog box

Shift+F9 (Win), Shift+Command+F9 (Mac) Actions dialog box

Shift+F10 (Win), Shift+Command+F10 (Mac) Table of contents

Shift+F11 (Win), Shift+ Command+F11 (Mac) Skin Editor panel

Shift+F12 (Win), Shift+Option+F12 (Mac) Publish the file

Shift+A (Win & Mac) Insert Animation placeholder

Shift+F (Win & Mac) Insert Flash video placeholder

Shift+R (Win & Mac) Insert rollover caption placeholder

Shift+O (Win & Mac) Insert rollover image placeholder

Shift+C (Win & Mac) Insert Text Caption placeholder

Shift+V (Win & Mac) Insert video place holder

Shift+M (Win & Mac) Insert Image placeholder

Shift+Q (Win), Option + Q (Mac) Insert Question slide placeholder

Shift+X (Win & Mac) Insert Text Animation placeholder

Shift+Alt+A (Win), Shift+Option+A (Mac) Show Audio Management panel

Shift+Alt+W (Win), Shift+Option+W (Mac) Close all the open projects

Shift+Alt+O (Win), Shift+Option+O (Mac) Insert recording slide placeholder

Shift+Alt+P (Win), Shift+Option+P (Mac) Import Photoshop file

Shift+Alt+S (Win), Shift+Option+A (Mac) Show Speech Management panel

Shift+Alt+V (Win), Shift+Option+V (Mac) Paste as Background

Shift+Alt+Up, Down, Left, Right Arrows (Win), Shift+Option+Up, Down, Left, Right Arrows

Shift+Control+A (Win), Shift+ Command+A (Mac) Add an animation object

Shift+Control+B (Win), Shift+Command+B (Mac) Add a new button

Shift+Control+C (Win), Shift+ Control+C (Mac) Add a new text caption

Shift+Control+D (Win), Command+Shift+D (Mac) View slide properties

Shift+Control+E (Win), Shift+Command+E (Mac) Insert a new zoom area

Shift+Control+F (Win), Shift+Command+F (Mac) Insert an FLV file

Shift+Control+H (Win), Shift+Command+H (Mac) Hide/show slide

Click the object, click a resize handle, and use these options to resize the object in the selected direction by 10 pixel

Shift+Control+I (Win), Shift+Command+I (Mac) Decrease the indent

Shift+Control+J (win), Shift+Command+J (Mac) Insert a blank slide

Shift+Control+K (Win), Shift+Command+K (Mac) Add a new click box

Shift+Control+L (Win), Shift+Command+L (Mac) Insert a highlight box

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Shortcut key Action

Shift+Control+M (Win), Shift+Command+M (Mac) Add a new image

Shift+Control+N (Win), Shift+Command+N (Mac) Add a new animation slide

Shift+Control+O (Win), Shift+Command+O (Mac) Add a new rollover image

Shift+Control+P (Win), Shift+Command+P (Mac) Import PPT

Shift+Control+Q (Win), Shift+Q (Mac) Insert a question slide

Shift+Control+R (Win), Shift+Command+R (Mac) Insert a rollover caption

Shift+Control+S (Win), Shift+Command+S (Mac) Save the project with different name

Shift+Control+T (Win), Shift+Command+T (Mac) Insert a text entry box

Shift+Control+U (Win), Shift+Command+U (Mac) Insert the mouse

Shift+Control+W (Win), Shift+Command+W (Mac) Insert a widget

Shift+Control+X (Win), Shift+Command+X (Mac) Insert a text animation

Shift+Control+Y (Win), Shift+Command+Y (Mac) Copy the background

Shift+Control+Z (Win), Shift+Command+Z (Mac) Insert Slidelet

Shift + Control + Alt + B (Win), Shift+Command+Option+B (Mac) Show Branching View

Shift+Control+Alt+S (Win), Shift+Command+Option+S (Mac) Insert an image slide

Shift+Control+Alt+E (Win), Shift+Command+Option+E (Mac) Show/Hide effects panel

Shift+Control+V (Win), Shift+Command+V (Mac) Insert stencil slides

Shift+Control+G (Win), Shift +Command+G (Mac) Edit gradient

Magnification shortcuts

Shortcut key Magnification level

Control+1 (Win), Command + 1 (Mac) 100%

Control+2 (Win), Command + 2 (Mac) 200%

Control+3(Win), Command + 3 (Mac) 300%

Control+4 (Win), Command + 4 (Mac) 400%

Control+ - (Win), Command + - (Mac) Zoom out

Control++ (Win), Command + + (Mac) Zoom in

Control + 0 (win), Command + 0 (Mac) Best Fit Zoom / Center Align Workspace

Shortcut keys for recording

The following table lists the default shortcut keys used during recording. These shortcuts should be used only after you start the recording process. The same keys function differently when you are editing a project.

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Shortcut key Action

Control+R (Win), Command + R (Mac) Start/record new capture project

Control+Alt+O (Win), Command+Option+O (Mac) Record additional slides

End (Win), Command+Enter (Mac) Stop recording

Delete (Win & Mac) Delete the current selection

Pause (Win), Command+F2 (Mac) Pause or resume recording

Print Screen (Win), Command +F6 (Mac) Capture a screenshot manually

F4 (Win & Mac) Preview project

F3 (Win & Mac) Preview single slide

F2 (Win & Mac) Edit caption text

F12 (Win & Mac) Preview project in browser

F4 (Win), Command+F4 (Mac) Auto panning

F3 (Win), Command+F3(Mac) Manual panning

F7 (Win), Command+F7(Mac) Stop panning

F9 (Win), Command+F9 (Mac) Start Full Motion Recording

F10 (Win), Command+F10 (Mac) Stop Full Motion Recording

F11 (Win), Command+F11 (Mac) Snap recording window to mouse

F12 (Win), Command+F12 (Mac) Toggle mouse capture

Change shortcut keys for recording

1 Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Captivate > Preferences (Mac OS).

2 In the Preferences dialog box, select Keys from the Recording menu.

3 To change keys, click once in one of the text boxes and, on the keyboard, press the key or key combination you want

to use. For example, click inside the To Stop Recording text box and then press Shift+Alt+4. The key combination you entered now appears in the To Stop Recording text box. You can use almost any key, including the Control, Alt, Shift+Control, and Shift+Alt keys. For example, you could change the stop recording key to Alt+R.

Panels

To show or hide panels, select Window and then select the name of the panel.

Filmstrip Displays a thumbnail view of the slides in the project in the order of their appearance. For more information,

Filmstrip.

see

Question Pool Displays a thumbnail view of the slides in question pools from where quiz questions are randomly

picked at run-time. For more information, see

Master Slide Displays the slides that define background and common objects, such as logos, headers, and footers for

Grids

The Snap To Grid option helps you position objects accurately on a page. A grid is a set of lines to which the objects “stick” when the Snap To Grid feature is enabled. When you bring an object close to a grid line, the object snaps to the line much in the same way as iron sticks to a magnet. For example, you can stack objects accurately one above the other using a grid.

Work with grids

• Select View > Show Grid. The grid is displayed as a matrix of dots on the slide.

• Select View > Snap To Grid.

• Select View > Snap To Object

Snap To Object is applicable only when you are drawing objects on a slide and not when you are editing or moving them. When both Snap To Grid and Snap To Object options are selected, the Snap To Object option takes precedence.

Change the dimensions of a grid

1 Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Captivate > Preferences (Mac OS).

2 In the Preferences dialog box, select General Settings from the Global menu.

3 Change the Grid Size value. The smaller the value, the smaller is the gap between the dots in the grid.

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Filmstrip

The Filmstrip displays all the slides in the project in the order in which they appear when published.

You can change the order of a slide by dragging it to a new location within the Filmstrip. To select multiple slides, hold down the Shift or Control key when clicking on slides. To select all slides, press Control+A.

To change the size of the thumbnails in the Filmstrip, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) on any slide, select Filmstrip, and then select Small, Medium, or Large.

If a slide has a label (short title) assigned, the label appears under the slide. It might be easier to move slides and jump to a specific slide if you have assigned labels instead of just using the slide number.

A Slide Label B Slide Number

A handycam icon appears at the bottom of slides if the slide was recorded in:

• Video Demo mode

• Full Motion Recording (FMR) mode. You can record in the FMR mode by pressing F9 (to start FMR) and F10 (to

end FMR) while doing Automatic or Manual recording.

If a slide has an audio file associated with it, the audio icon appears at the bottom of the slide. You can click the sound icon

If a slide is locked, the lock icon appears on the upper-right corner of the slide. You can click the lock icon to unlock the slide.

If a slide contains mouse movement, the mouse icon appears at the bottom of the slide. You can click the mouse icon to modify some of mouse properties. For more information on mouse properties, see Change mouse properties.

to show a menu with sound options such a Play, Import, and Edit.

Disable confirmation messages

Confirmation messages appear when you perform important, and often permanent, actions in Adobe Captivate. The confirmation messages give you an opportunity to reconsider your decisions when deleting information or changing key attributes.

If you find that certain messages are not necessary for the way you work or are slowing down your work, you might want to disable them.

1 In an open project, select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Captivate > Preferences (Mac OS).

2 In the Category panel, select Global > General Settings.

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3 Click Confirmation Messages in the General Settings panel.

4 In the Confirmation Messages dialog box, deselect the options for which you do not require confirmation messages.

Customizing the workspace

You can create a custom workspace by rearranging and resizing document windows and panels. You can save the customized workspaces and switch between them.

Rearrange document windows

When you open more than one file, the Document windows are tabbed. To rearrange the tabbed Document windows, drag and drop the window’s tab to the new location.

Move panels

• To move a panel, drag it by its tab.

• To move a panel group, drag the title bar.

As you drag the panels, you see blue highlighted drop zones, areas where you can drop the panels. If you drag to an area that is not a drop zone, the panel floats freely in the workspace.

Note: The position of the mouse pointer, rather than the position of the panel, activates the drop zone.

Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) while moving a panel to prevent it from docking. Press Esc while moving the panel to cancel the operation.

Dock and undock panels

A dock is a collection of panels or panel groups displayed together, generally in a vertical orientation. You dock and undock panels by moving them into and out of a dock.

• To dock a panel, drag it by its tab into the dock, at the top, bottom, or in between other panels.

• To dock a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid empty bar above the tabs) into the dock.

• To remove a panel or panel group from a dock, drag it out of the dock by its tab or title bar. You can also drag it into

another dock or make it free-floating.

• To resize a panel, move the mouse over the edges of the panel. When double-sided arrow appears, drag the panel to

the required size.

Add and remove panels from docks

If you remove all panels from a dock, the dock disappears. You can create a dock by moving panels to the right edge of the workspace until a drop zone appears.

• To remove a panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) its tab and then select Close, or deselect it from

the Window menu.

• To add a panel, select it from the Window menu and dock it wherever you want.

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Workspace

Stack floating panels

When you drag a panel out of its dock but not into a drop zone, the panel floats freely. The floating panel allows you to position it anywhere in the workspace. You can stack floating panels or panel groups so that they move as a unit when you drag the topmost title bar.

• To stack floating panels, drag a panel by its tab to the drop zone at the bottom of another panel.

• To change the stacking order, drag a panel up or down by its tab.

Note: Be sure to release the tab over the narrow drop zone between panels, rather than the broad drop zone in a title bar.

• To remove a panel or panel group from the stack, so that it floats by itself, drag it out by its tab or title bar.

Resize panels

• To minimize or maximize a panel, panel group, or stack of panels, double-click a tab. You can also single-click the

tab area (the empty space next to the tabs).

• To resize a panel, drag any side of the panel when the mouse cursor turns into an arrow.

Collapse and expand panel icons

You can collapse panels to icons to reduce clutter on the workspace. In some cases, panels are collapsed to icons in the default workspace.

• To collapse or expand all panel icons in a column, click the double arrow at the top of the dock.

• To expand a single panel icon, click it.

• To resize panel icons so that you see only the icons (and not the labels), adjust the width of the dock until the text

disappears. To display the icon text again, make the dock wider.

• To collapse an expanded panel back to its icon, click its tab, its icon, or the double arrow in the panel’s title bar.

• To add a floating panel or panel group to an icon dock, drag it in by its tab or title bar. (Panels are automatically

collapsed to icons when added to an icon dock.)

• To move a panel icon (or panel icon group), drag the icon. You can drag panel icons up and down in the dock, into

other docks (where they appear in the panel style of that dock), or outside the dock (where they appear as floating, expanded panels).

Save customized workspaces

By saving the current size and position of panels as a named workspace, you can restore that workspace even if you move or close a panel. The names of saved workspaces appear in the workspace switcher in the Application bar.

1 Go to Window > Workspace > New Workspace.

2 Type a name for the new workspace, and click OK.

Any changes that are made to the workspace are saved automatically. To revert to the default state of a workspace, select Window > Worksp a c e > Res e t [Workspace Name].

Switch workspaces

Select a workspace from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.

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Workspace

Rename and delete workspaces

Se l ec t Win d ow > Wo r ksp ace > Mana g e Wor k spa c e.

• To rename a workspace, select the workspace and click Rename.

• To delete a workspace, select the workspace and click Delete.

Branching panel

The Branching panel (Window > Branching View) provides a visual representation of all links between the slides in a project and lets you quickly edit those links. Using this panel, you can analyze and interpret how the slides in a project are interlinked.

The Branching panel is particularly helpful when creating instructional materials containing question slides and specifying different paths for right and wrong answers. For example, you can set one action (such as “Go to the next slide”) when a user supplies a correct answer, and you can set a different action (such as “Jump To Slide”) when a user supplies an incorrect answer. Using the Branching view, you can easily make changes to the branching design.

You can also export the Branching view of an existing Adobe Captivate project into a BMP, JPEG/JPG, PNG, or a GIF file.

Panes in the Branching panel

Preview pane

This pane is at the bottom of the panel and displays all the slides in the project. If the pane is not visible, click the arrow at the bottom of the panel.

The rectangle in the pane indicates the slides that are currently displayed in the main pane. To bring a different set of slides into the main pane, click and move the rectangle to the required area.

Main pane

This pane is at the center of the panel and is the main area where you interpret and edit the branches in your project. The arrows between the slides indicate how they are related to each other.

Black Arrow Indicates that the slide from which the arrow originates does not have any interactive object. During

runtime, after this slide's duration elapses, the next slide (to which the arrowhead points) appears.

Green Arrow Indicates that the slide from which the arrow originates contains an interactive object. When users click

this object during runtime, the slide to which the arrowhead points appears.

Red Arrow Points to the slide that appears when users fail to click an interactive object on the slide from which the

arrow originates.

When you click an arrow, a pop-up appears and shows the name of the object that links the slides.

Options in this pane:

Create Slide Group Combines the selected slides into a single group. For more information on grouping slides, see

Grouping slides using the Branching view.

Expand Slide Group Displays all the slides belonging to the selected group. The slides in a group are by default in a

collapsed state.

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Workspace

Collapse Slide Group Combines the expanded slides of a group back into a group.

Remove Slide Group Ungroups the grouped slides.

Export Branching View Export the Branching view as a BMP, JPEG/JPG, PNG, or a GIF file using the dialog box that

appears.

Zoom Zooms the main view in or out based on the value selected in the list or the slider.

For more information on using this pane for editing the slide links, see Editing the links between slides.

Unlinked slides pane

This pane lists all the slides that are not linked to any slide in the project. If this pane is not visible, click the arrow on the left of the panel.

Editing the links between slides

To change the linkage of a slide, double-click the thumbnail of the slide, and in the pop-up that appears, choose an option in the Action (Success) list.

To change the linkage of an interactive object, double-click the thumbnail of the slide, and click the object. In the popup that appears, choose an option from the Action (Success) and Action (Failure) lists, and click the Save icon.

For example, consider Slide 1 has a button. When users click the button, Slide 4 must appear and when the button is not clicked (Failure), Slide 23 must appear. Using the pop-up box, you can specify the slides for success and failure events accordingly. If the target slide (Slide 23) contains an interactive object that brings the users back to Slide 1, a reverse-link to Slide 1 appears below the slide.

The Action (Success) and Action (Failure) lists show the following options:

• Go to the Next Slide

• Go to the Previous Slide

• Jump to Slide

To assign other actions such as send an email or open a URL or a file, use the Property Inspector of the slide. The Advanced Interaction panel (Project > Advanced Interaction) helps you view all the interactions in the project.

Grouping slides using the Branching view

1 Click in the panel (not on any slide), hold down the mouse button, and move the mouse over the slides you want to

group.

A rectangular marquee appears and the selected slides are highlighted with a bold border around them.

2 Click the Create Slide Group icon. A single group slide appears in the panel.

• To expand the group, click the arrow on the group slide, or select the group slide and click the Expand Slide

Group icon.

• To ungroup the slides, select the group slide and click the Remove Slide Group icon.

Note: Use the Property Inspector to name the group slide. For more information, see Name slide groups and mark them.

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Chapter 3: Creating Projects

Create projects

Create a project to include software simulation

You can create an Adobe Captivate project by recording events in an application or screen area on your computer. The following modes of recording are available.

Automatic Recording

Adobe Captivate 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

For more information, see Record video demonstrations.

Manual recording.

Create a project from PowerPoint presentations

You can import an entire PowerPoint presentation, or only selected slides into an Adobe Captivate project. Each PowerPoint slide is imported as a separate slide in the Adobe Captivate project. You can later edit the PowerPoint presentations from within Adobe Captivate.

Create a project from images

Projects created from images can be viewed as a slideshow. Each image is imported into a separate slide.

1 Select File > New Project > Image Slideshow.

2 In the New Image Slideshow dialog box, set the dimensions of the project.

3 Click OK, and select the images that you want to add to your project.

4 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 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.

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Creating Projects

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.

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 projects. You can also add a software demonstration, or interactive simulation by recording additional slides.

1 Select File > New Project > Blank Project.

2 Select a preset size in the Select list, or specify a custom width and height for the project.

3 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.

Create template-based projects

Adobe Captivate 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 projects.

• Reduced development time for multiple projects due to reuse of design.

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+ 313 hidden pages

Macromedia Captivate - 8.0.1 User Manual

Legal notices

Contents

Chapter 1: What’s new

What's New in Adobe Captivate 8.0.1

What's new and changed

App packager integration

Convert captions to smart shapes

Responsive drag & drop

Custom shapes & line support

Publish projects as exe files

Other enhancements

Symmetrical editing

Apply position properties across all views

Apply text and text properties across all views

Color coding

Project size

Smart positioning between breakpoints

Export responsive views captions to single Word or xml file

Autoscaling of interactions in responsive project views

Automatic linked files inclusion in output

Swatch manager

Lock individual objects

fx symbol for objects in timeline

Color tool tip

Chapter 2: Workspace

Undoing and redoing actions

Toolbars

Rearranging the Object Toolbar

Timeline

Show or hide the Timeline

Rearrange the Timeline panel

Change the zoom level of the Timeline panel

Change the order of object layers

Hide objects during editing

Timeline for slidelets

Lock objects

Set time for objects and slides using the Timeline

Preview a slide using the playhead

Shortcut keys

Magnification shortcuts

Shortcut keys for recording

Change shortcut keys for recording

Panels

Grids

Work with grids

Change the dimensions of a grid

Filmstrip

Disable confirmation messages

Customizing the workspace

Rearrange document windows

Move panels

Dock and undock panels

Add and remove panels from docks

Stack floating panels

Resize panels

Collapse and expand panel icons

Save customized workspaces

Switch workspaces

Rename and delete workspaces

Branching panel

Panes in the Branching panel

Preview pane

Main pane

Unlinked slides pane

Editing the links between slides

Grouping slides using the Branching view

Chapter 3: Creating Projects

Create projects

Create a project to include software simulation

Create a project from PowerPoint presentations

Create a project from images

Create a project starting with blank slides

Create template-based projects

Create a storyboard and workflow

Create project templates