Category: Adobe’s Technical Communication Suite

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Adobe Captivate: Nudge the Screen Area

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

When creating a new Software Simulation in Adobe Captivate, the red box that you can drag to any area of your screen display is known as the Screen Area.

Anyone who has tried dragging the pesky screen area from one part of the screen display to another knows that grabbing the screen area's border can get a bit tricky. I don't know about you but I am rarely able to grab the edge of the screen area the first time. And I'll readily admit that it sometimes takes me two or three attempts before I am successful in moving the thing where I need it.

During my most recent online Captivate class, one of my students asked if it was possible to move the screen area without using the mouse. Specifically, he wanted to use the arrow keys on his keyboard to nudge the screen area this way or that.

I told the student that he had made a perfectly reasonable request, but the ability to nudge the screen area with the keyboard wasn't a feature found in the current version of Captivate.

A few minutes later, the student, Timothy Matthews, informed me that he had found a way to do it. I hate to admit it when I'm wrong… but kudos to Timothy. He did indeed, find a way. Here is what he discovered:

With the red-bordered screen area on the display selected, he clicked and held the border of the screen area (don't let go of the mouse clicker or the trick won't work). 

Four-headed arrow on the screen area border. 
 
Next, Timothy pressed the arrow keys on his keyboard to nudge the screen area box. He also found that he could nudge in smaller increments by pressing the [Ctrl] key and the arrow keys.

While I think the ability to nudge the screen area with the keyboard is great, it would be even better if you didn't have to keep your mouse clicker pressed the whole time… that just seems like too many contortions to go through or remember. I'd like it a whole lot better if you could just click on the edge of the red box to select it, release the clicker and then press the arrow keys. Perhaps Captivate 6? In any event, thanks to Timothy, you now know that there is a way to nudge that pesky screen area.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner andAdvanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.
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Adobe Captivate: Export Audio

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

You can import or record audio to just about anything in Adobe Captivate. Right-click a slide object and you'll find you can selectAudio > Import to (or Record to). Right-click a slide and you'll find the exact same menu items. And if you want to import or record background audio, you'll find that you can do so by choosing Audio > Import to (or Record to) Background.

Once you've successfully added audio to the object, slide or background, you can then choose Audio and Edit the attached audio file. However, once edited the imported audio clip will no longer match the original file that you imported.

Ever wondered how you can get the edited audio clip out of your project so it can be used in other applications that accept audio? You'll be happy to learn that you can easily export audio clips. Here's how:

While editing an audio clip, click the Podcast button (located in the lower left of the Edit tab).

The Podcast button. 

The Save dialog box will open where you can select from either WAVor MP3. When in doubt, I would suggest MP3. While MP3 files are not as high quality as WAV files, the smaller size of a typical MP3 will more than make up for what you might lose in sound quality.

Export audio format options. 

Looking for a more direct method of exporting project audio? Check out the Library (Window menu). You can right-click any sound file you see in the Library's Audio folder and choose Export. You'll have the same export options (WAV and MP3) as those found when using the Podcast option.

Exporting audio via the Library. 

If neither the Podcast or Library route is your cup of tea, then I've got one more method up my sleeve. Choose Audio > Audio Management to open the Advanced Audio Management dialog box.

From the lower left of the dialog box, select Include MP3 files in export, Include WAVE files in export (or both) and then click theExport button.

Exporting audio via the Audio Management dialog box.

Using any of the techniques above will result in external files that you can use in other applications or share with other Captivate developers.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.
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Adobe Captivate: Set a Master Movie

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

Last week I showed you how to remove the TOC from an Aggregated Captivate course. One reason that people elect to hide the TOC is that the TOC simply takes up too much space on the learner's screen.

One way to get around the space issue when it comes to the TOC is to create an overlay. Simply put, the overlay feature will keep the TOC hidden until the learner elects to expand (or show) it by clicking a button. If you've never used Captivate's Overlay feature, check out the TOC overlay article I wrote earlier this year.

While overlays are often desirable in a Captivate-published eLearning course, you may be surprised (bummed even) to learn that the feature simply does not exist within the Aggregator application. What's a developer to do?

  1. Create an overlay TOC in at least one of the lessons you plan to add to the aggregated course.
  2. Publish all of the Captivate lessons as SWFs.
  3. Add the published modules (SWFs) to the Aggregator project. (Note: Only SWFs can be aggregated.)

And now for a bit of magic…

  1. Select the module that contained the overlay TOC.
  2. From the top left of the Aggregator application window, select Set as Master Movie.

    Master Movie

    By setting the overlay TOC module as the Master Movie, the published Aggregator project will use the Skin (TOC overlay settings included) from the module. Nice!

  3. Publish the Aggregator project and you'll see that the TOC is hidden until the learner elects to click the TOC button on the playbar.
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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.
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Adobe FrameMaker: The Page Count Variable for Books (Part I)

FrameMaker's Page Count variable makes it easy to track (and reference) the page count of a single chapter. The Page Count variable, which ships with FrameMaker, makes it possible to set up page numbers that look like this: 1 of 10, 2 of 10, 3 of 10, etc. Here's how:

  1. Choose View > Master Pages.
  2. Click within the header or footer frame.
  3. Choose Special > Variable to open the Variables pod.
  4. Add the Current Page # variable (double click to insert, or click once on the name, and click the Insert button on the Variables pod toolbar).

    Page Count and Current Page # variables.

     

  5. Press the [spacebar], type the word of and press [spacebar] again.
  6. Finish by inserting the Page Count variable and return to the body pages. 

The Page Count variable works by inserting a reference to the last body page of the chapter. As you add and remove pages via editing, the variable updates.

Easy enough. But what about trying to keep track of the last page of a multi-chapter book? Tune in next week to learn more about that.

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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

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Looking to learn Adobe FrameMaker We offer Beginner and Advanced classes.

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Adobe Captivate: Aggregated? Go TOC-Less

by Kevin Siegel Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn

I covered the process of using Captivate's Aggregator utility some time ago. The Aggregator offers a quick way to combine multiple published SWFs into one, seamless lesson.

Once the lessons are aggregated, they will share a single TOC, allowing learners to jump from one lesson to another at will. During a recent advanced Captivate class, one of my students asked if it was possible to remove the TOC. He said that he wanted the lessons to play one after the other, and he did not want learners to be able to skip over any of the lessons. While my preference is to allow a learner to skip around a lesson as they see fit (see AJ's article), the ability to hide the TOC in an aggregated project is simple. From within the Aggregator project, click the Publish Settings command (located at the top of the Aggregator window).

From within the Aggregator Preferences dialog box, select Hide Table of Contents and then click the OK button.

There will not be any obvious changes to the Aggregator project at this point. However, when you publish the project the shared TOC will be removed and the combined lessons will play one after the other.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

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Adobe Captivate 5: Advanced Actions

So, you're pretty good with Adobe Captivate. But are you a bit worried about tackling Captivate's advanced actions feature? If so, this course is for you!

By the end of this highly-interactive, instructor-led class you will be able to create a Captivate project that contains actions and variables that will allow you to create this kind ofeLearning lesson.

Sprinkled throughout this advanced actions class will be best practices for creating actions, useful tips and tricks and pitfalls to avoid.

Instructor: Lori Smith

Click here to learn more or to sign up.