Tag: adobe captivate

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ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: Three Cheers for Improved Assets in Version 11.5
Adobe recently released a significant, and free, update to Captivate 2019, its flagship eLearning development tool. The updated version of the software is 11.5 (11.5.0.476 to be precise).
 
Over the coming weeks, I'll highlight the biggest improvements/enhancements. This time, it's all about the awesome new assets.
 
If you're a veteran Captivate developer, you'll see that the interface remains mostly unchanged. However, notice that the Assets tool has been moved to the right (and is now grouped with Library and Properties).
 
In the previous version of Captivate, clicking Assets opened a dialog box where you'd find find some free Characters and other assets (most of the cool stuff was provided by the eLearning Brothers).
 
In Captivate 2019 (11.5), clicking Assets still opens the Assets dialog box, but wow-oh-wow will you find some wonderful new stuff here.
 
There are still Characters, and lots of them, so definitely check them out. However, what I'm loving is the addition of Icons, more 360 Assets, Images, Videos, Audio, and Buttons.
 
In the image below, I searched for "checkmark" and was presented with two options.

 
I selected the image I wanted, clicked the Insert button and the image appeared on my slide. All of the images are SVGs so you can scale them up or down without fear of losing any quality. I love that. And if you double-click the SVGs you can change the color on the Properties Inspector. (Note that it will actually take three clicks to change the icon's color. Two clicks to get to edit mode, one more click on the existing color to modify it.)
 
Back with the Assets dialog box, I played around with the Videos and Audio options and found plenty of potential here. Keep in mind that after inserting these assets, you can still edit them within Captivate just like always.
 
Speaking of buttons (were we speaking about buttons?), I think we can all agree that the buttons provided in every version of Captivate, back to the beginning of time, left much to be desired. It's time to rejoice. To be clear, if you add a button to a slide via the Interactions tool you'll end up with the same boring button as always. And if you switch to an Image button the same ghastly images are available (all the more reason to use Shapes as buttons). Nevertheless, the button Assets in Captivate 11.5 can be added to your project in seconds and are a welcome upgrade.
 
In the image below, I've selected the Play button.
 
After inserting the button Asset onto a slide, the button behaves like any button (you'll find Actions you can modify on the Properties inspector). What I'd love to see down the road are either buttons as Shapes available in the Assets area or some way to modify the button images that are currently available without having to leave Captivate.
 
Note: If you'd like to see a video where I demonstrate the concepts detailed in this article, visit the IconLogic YouTube channel.
 
Next time: Project and Slide Assets (both of which are game changers and worth a deep dive).

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Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions. 
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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Adding Text Hyperlinks

Adding a hyperlink to an interactive object in Adobe Captivate has never been a problem. Select the object (click box, button, or text entry box) and, on the Properties Inspector, Actions tab, change the On Success to Open URL or file.
 
 
Type the web page address into the URL area and that's it.
 
 
Hyperlinking text within a text caption isn't quite as straight forward. After adding text to a caption, there isn't an Action tab on the inspector (therefore, no apparent way to create a hyperlink).
 
There is a way to accomplish the task, however. From within the caption, select the text you'd like to be clickable (you have to highlight the text, not just select the caption) and then, on the Properties Inspector, Character area, locate and click the Insert HyperLink icon.
 
 
From the Link To drop-down menu, choose Web Page and then, in the field below, type the web address you'd like to use.
 
 
In the image below, I've linked a single word to the IconLogic website. The appearance of the text can easily be changed via the Character options on the Properties Inspector.
 
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If you need to learn Adobe Captivate, we've got you covered with an awesome number of live, online classes. If you need help developing your next eLearning project, or if you just need some quick one-on-one mentoring, we've got you covered there too.
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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Getting Past the DPI Awareness Error

Creating software simulations has always been one of Captivate's core strengths. From the Home screen, double-click Software Simulation, select the area of the screen or application to record, select your mode (or modes), click the Record button, and away you go.
 
The recording process is seamless, except when it's not. These days I'm seeing a particularly frustrating error appear for more and more of my students. After double-clicking Software Simulation, instead of seeing a Recording Area and a control panel, users are seeing an error message about DPI Awareness. Specifically, the message says "Capture is disallowed since High-density displaying was detected. Please set 'DPIAwareness = 1' in AdobeCaptivate.ini and restart the application."
 
 
Fortunately, the error only seems to affect people running a recent version of Windows 10 and only developers who are using a PC with a Retina display (such as a Microsoft Surface Pro). Unfortunately, there are more and more people with Retina displays who are reporting the error.
 
You can manually locate the AdobeCaptivate.ini file mentioned in the message by looking in the Adobe Captivate application folder. You can then edit the file in Notepad and change the DPI Awareness from 0 to 1 (and then restart Captivate).
 

 
After changing the DPI Awareness and restarting Captivate, the Captivate software will be pretty small. However, you'll be able to move forward with recording the software simulation.
 
While it's not difficult to edit the ini file, I'm betting if you're like most people, editing a support file in Notepad isn't something you're anxious to do. If so, I have a few alternatives for you.
 
First, close Captivate. Then right-click your desktop and choose Display settings. From the Scale and layout area, choose 100% from the Change the size of text, apps, and other items drop-down menu.
 
 
Return to Captivate and try to create a software simulation. If the DPI Awareness issue is gone, great. If not, exit Captivate, right-click your desktop and choose Display settings again. From the Scale and layout area, click Advanced scaling settings.
 
 
From the Fix scaling for apps area, turn off the option that allows Windows to try to fix apps so they're not blurry.
 
 
Return to Captivate and try again to create a software simulation. If things still aren't working, don't panic… I've got one more trick up my sleeve. With Captivate once again closed, right-click the AdobeCaptivate.exe file (located in the Adobe Captivate application folder) and choose Properties.
 
 
On the Compatibility tab, select Run this program in compatibility mode and choose Windows 8 from the drop-down menu.
 
 
Click the OK button and restart Captivate. While the program itself may look tiny, you'll be able to move forward with your software simulation.
 
Until a better solution is made available from either Adobe, Microsoft, or both, one or a combination of the steps above will likely work for you. If you have a better workaround, please share via a comment.
 
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eLearning Development: Hide desktop icons while recording software simulations

When recording software simulations or video demos using Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or TechSmith Camtasia, you might need to record something that includes your desktop. Of course, that begs the question: how cluttered is your desktop?

Does the image below remind you of a desktop of someone near and dear to your heart? 

Look, your desktop is your desktop, so clutter away. However, including the clutter–the icons–in your eLearning project is not a good idea. Besides being a security risk, nobody wants to see your desktop icons.
 
Fortunately, you don't have to clean up your desktop before recording your screen. All you need to do is right-click your desktop and choose View > Show desktop icons. 
 
 
If the icons were there, they are gone. If they were hidden, they're back.
 
Remember this little gem the next time you're getting ready to click the Record option on your eLearning tool of choice, and you'll save yourself a bunch of work de-cluttering.
 
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