Tag: techcomm

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TechSmith Camtasia: A favorite new feature

 
While there's plenty to love about Camtasia 2020, the feature I'm highlighting this time is Favorites.
 
Camtasia is loaded with tools. If you think I'm exaggerating, here's a list of the tools available in Camtasia 2020, Mac:
 
There are so many tools, you might need to click "More" to see all of them (the "More" option automatically appears if your window size is too small to display all of the tools or your screen resolution is low).
 
And clicking a tool, such as Annotations, often leads to multiple categories leading to even more tools. In the image below you can see what I'm talking about when it comes to the Annotations tool. There are 6 related tools (Callouts) grouped with the main Annotations tool.
 
I am not suggesting that TechSmith should remove tools from Camtasia. I say bring on more tools, TechSmith (I look forward to seeing a dozen more tools in Camtasia 2021). However, if you're like me and you use several eLearning development tools, remembering where your "go-to" Camtasia tools are located can be a challenge.
 
Which brings me to Favorites.
 
Find a tool you use frequently (any tool). Right-click the tool and choose Add to Favorites.
 
Once a tool has been added as a Favorite, the tool gets a gold star. And from now on, the tool will be shown in the Favorites area of the toolbar.
 
 
Right-clicking a Favorite is going to be the easiest and fastest way to work with the tool. And should you no longer want a tool as a Favorite, a quick right-click allows you to delete the tool as a Favorite (but does not remove the tool from Camtasia).
 
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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Recording Screen Actions on a PC with a High-Density Screen

So, you got a fabulous new Windows laptop. It’s light! It’s compact! And it has a beautiful High-Density screen. The screen’s resolution is so sharp that you’ve got it set up to display at 150% or 200%, because otherwise the icons and text are so tiny and sharp that you can barely read them.
 
Then you try to do some screen-capture work in Adobe Captivate, and you are hit with an error message: Screen capture with high density monitor not allowed or perhaps something about DpiAwareness. The net result is that you cannot record the screen, either in software simulation or in video demo recording mode.
 
 
In the past, the fix was to manually update the AdobeCaptivate.ini file. You had to venture deep into the Adobe Captivate program files and find that .ini file. Then you had to edit it with a text editor and change the DPI setting to 1. Then you had to battle your Windows setup about permissions and file names and passwords even just to save your changes to the .ini file. Even after all that, many developers report that while recording works, the Captivate software itself becomes so teeny-tiny that it's impossible to use.
 
As an alternative to fighting with the .ini file, I've got two easy plans of attack for you (neither involve editing any sort of support file):
 
Plan A: Right-click your desktop and choose Display Settings. Change the size of text, apps, and other items to 100% (even if not recommended) and then close the Display Settings.
 
 
Restart Captivate and see if you can record a software simulation. If yes, all is right with the world. If you still cannot record the screen, it's time for plan B.
 
Plan B: Find the Captivate.exe file (it's usually in Program Files > Adobe > Adobe Captivate 2019), right-click and choose Properties.
 
 
 
From the Compatibility tab, click the Change high DPI settings button.
 
 
Check the checkbox for Override high DPI scaling behavior. Ensure that Application is selected in the Scaling performed by drop-down.
 
 
Click OK to each of the two dialog boxes to confirm your changes.
 
And that’s it. You should now be able to record screen actions on your high-density monitor with no problems.
***
 
Jennie Ruby, CMT, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, trainer, and author. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer and Certified Online Training Professional. She teaches both classroom and online courses, and has authored courseware, published training books, and developed content for countless eLearning projects. She is also a publishing professional with more than 30 years of experience in writing, editing, print publishing, and eLearning.
***
 
Looking for Adobe Captivate training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more about our Captivate classes on the IconLogic website.
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ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: Copy/Paste Appearance
I've long trumpeted the benefits of using Object Styles in Adobe Captivate. However, there may be times when you don't want to work with styles but still want to quickly apply an object's formatting to other objects. In that case, you'll love Captivate's copy and paste appearance feature.
 
Before I show you how to use the copy/paste appearance feature, let me review Object Styles (using styles is truly the most efficient way to work in Captivate). If you'd like to follow along with the steps below, create a blank project in Captivate 2019 (update 11.5) and draw a few shapes similar to the image below.
 
 
On the Properties Inspector, notice that the shapes are all using the Default Smart Shape Style.
 
 
Using the Properties Inspector, change the appearance of one of your shapes (for instance, change the fill color).
 
 
On the Properties Inspector, notice the plus sign to the left of the style name. The plus sign indicates a formatting override. The change you made to the object is not part of the object style and the formatting was not applied to any other objects using the same style.
 
To update the style, go to the menu across from Style Name on the inspector and choose Save changes to Existing style.
 
 
Every object on every slide using the style gets updated instantly. That's cool stuff. However, if you want to format multiple objects and you don't want to use Object Styles, this next technique is for you.
 
Select and format a shape (use the Properties inspector to change the fill, color, stroke, etc).
 
 
Select the shape you just formatted and choose Edit > Copy Appearance (or right-click and choose Copy Appearance).
 
 
Select another shape and choose Edit > Paste Appearance (or right-click and choose Paste Appearance).
 
The selected shape is instantly formatted to match the previous object. You can use this technique to format multiple slide objects, even across project slides. If you'd like to see a video demo of this process, you'll find it on my YouTube channel.
 
***
 
Looking for Captivate training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes.
***

 
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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ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: The Awesomeness of the Media Library
Have you ever had this happen to you? You insert an image into your Storyline project and then sometime later you decide to use the image on another slide. However, your project is large (multiple scenes and slides) and you're having a hard time finding that pesky image. How about this one? You're making your project accessible for learners with disabilities. You're pretty sure you added alternative text to a specific image but now you're doubting yourself. Is there a quick way to check? Or perhaps you've used an image in a project and someone on the team wants to use it too. Is there a quick way to share the image?
 
If you add images, characters, audio, or video to your projects (I think that covers all eLearning developers, everywhere), you'll love Articulate Storyline 360's Media Library (View tab > Views group).
 
 
The Media Library displays a list of all of the project's assets grouped on tabs for Images, Characters, Audio, and Video.
 
 
I love the ability to select an image and, from the right of the Media Library, add Alt text (for accessibility) and notes. You can also see where the image has been used throughout the project and add the same accessibility text to all instances of the image.
 
 
 
You can also import assets directly into the Media Library and export any asset (so it can be shared with team members).
 
 
 
***
 
Looking for Storyline training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes.
***
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 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).

***
 
Looking for Captivate training? Check out these live, instructor-led classes.

***
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.
 
***
 
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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TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

How often have you had multiple objects on the Camtasia canvas and found yourself moving one object out of the way so you could work with another object? If you're like most developers, I'm thinking it's a common occurrence. And while it's not difficult to move an object (just drag and drop), you'll likely have to put the misplaced object back where you found it.
 
In the image below, I've positioned four objects on the canvas (each of the objects shown below are available for free via Camtasia's Library).
 
 
I'd like to change the behavior of the two people on the canvas. However, I consistently found myself selecting the house by mistake and either moving it or accidentally applying behaviors to the wrong object. Also, when previewing the video, I wanted to hide the house and focus instead on the two characters.
 
Fortunately, the solution to both problems is incredibly simple. On the Timeline, click the Disable Track icon (the eyeball) for the Track containing the item that's in the way.
 
 
 
Not only are the items on the disabled track hidden from view on the Canvas, they won't preview nor will they publish.
 
 
If you'd like the hidden objects back, simply Enable the track.
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Looking to learn how to develop eLearning in Camtasia like a pro? Check out our live, online Camtasia classes and one-on-one mentoring sessions.