ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: Free Assets Make New Projects a Snap to Create

In a previous article, I showed you the hot new assets that are available in Adobe Captivate 2019 (update 11.5). This update, which is free to current Captivate 2019 users, really does fill a void found in older versions of the software: a lack of quality templates to use as the starting point for new projects.   In previous versions of Captivate, blank projects weren't the most attractive things to look at. Sure, there were (and are) themes that quickly allow you to change the look of a project in mere seconds. However, many people have complained that the default themes are hardly a visual party nor do the themes add new slides to your project with usable placeholder objects. If you are not a content person or a designer, you are pretty much on your own.   Adobe Captivate 11.5 offers several project assets that will help both the non-designer and non-content expert get off to an awesome start.   To begin, create a blank project. Locate the Assets icon in the upper right of the Captivate 11.5 window.

From the left side of the Assets dialog box, select Projects. There are two project options: Projects and Slides. Projects will create a complete project with wonderful placeholders. Slides will add slides to existing projects.

Select Slides and then select Intro.   Select Title 01 and then click the Insert (1) slide button.

A single slide is added to your blank project. You can now edit the placeholder content as appropriate. (I love that the slide already contains an interactive button and that is preset to go to the next slide when clicked.)

As cool as the slide assets are, and as nice as they look, things are about to get crazy. Go back and click Assets, and then select Projects (instead of Slides).   Select one of the project templates (I selected Rhapsody) and then click the Open as New Project button.

I ended up with a new, 44-slide project. (That's right... 44 ready-to-use content slides.) And the slides look awesome! Kudos to Adobe for doing these Assets right!

All that I needed to do was replace the placeholder text with my content, perhaps add a few slides here or there, and maybe swap out some of the images... and that was that. Spend some time with the Project and Slide assets. I'd love to hear your thoughts about them. Cool? Lame? What do you think?

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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.