As the user community for our products grows each day, more and more people find new ways of implementing our tools. If you have come up with nifty development techniques or clever workarounds, you now have the opportunity to share these with the rest of the community in our new Adobe Captivate Tips and Tricks section of the Adobe Captivate Developer Center.

Simply follow the steps outlined in this article to submit your tip or trick. If the product team accepts it, your demonstration could be posted in the Captivate Tips and Tricks section.

Note: Currently a Tips and Tricks section is available only in the Captivate Developer Center, although we are starting to collect tips for a section in the Director Developer Center. If you would like to see such a section added to other tools' developer centers, please let us know which ones using our feedback form.

Requirements

Adobe Captivate (to capture the application you are demoing)

• Try
• Buy

See additional Captivate requirements

Captivate demonstration requirements:

• Captivate demonstration size: 720 x 540 pixels
• Captivate demonstration length: 1–2 minutes or less of playback time (3 min. max.)

Prerequisite Knowledge

• Understanding of basic computer concepts such as bandwidth, file size, and so forth
• Profound knowledge of the application for which you develop the demonstration (please ensure that there is no easier way or feature to accomplish the same objective in the application)

Guidelines for Your Tip or Trick

A tip or trick could be anything that you believe other people could benefit from knowing. It could also be a demonstration that supplements a Developer Center article or TechNote. Simply use Captivate to capture your demo steps.

Getting Started

Download and install Captivate from the Requirements section.

Before you start developing your demonstration, plan ahead and determine which areas of the screen you need to capture, which sample content you will use (keep in mind that you cannot use copyrighted materials), and which audio files are necessary, if any.

Familiarize yourself with Captivate and the way it captures your screen. The easiest way to learn the basics about Captivate is to watch the built-in product tutorials and then simply try it out. Practice recording the steps with Captivate to see if you like the sequence and content you are capturing.

Preparation and Recording

Before capturing a demonstration, ensure that you select the correct size, caption type, and font. When you start recording, follow these steps:

1. On the Start page in Captivate, select Record or create a new movie.
2. Select the Custom size option and click OK.
3. Select the size 720 x 540 pixels, or Breeze Full Slide option.
4. Select the application you wish to record from the pop-up menu and press the Snap window to fit inside the red recording area button.
5. Open the Recording Options dialog box, which you can access through the Options menu or when you start a recording sessions.
6. Set the Recording Defaults for captions to the following standard:
• Text Caption: Captivate red
• Font: Myriad Pro (if the font is not available, our team will apply it for you, so keep the default font selection)
• Size: 12
• Color: Black
7. Set the Recording Defaults for highlight boxes to the following standard:
• Frame color: RGB 204, 0, 0 (set via Define Custom Colors)
• Frame width: 2
• Fill transparency: 100%
8. Select the Demonstration option for the Recording Mode and select the English option for Language.
9. Click OK.
10. Click Record to start capturing your screens. When you are finished recording, click the Captivate icon in the system tray or press the End key.

Note: To capture video segments or animations that are not recorded through the automatic event-based capture, you can manually start/stop the full-motion recording. Simply press F9 to start and F10 to stop full-motion recording during your capture session.

The screen area or recording size must be 720 x 540 pixels or Breeze Full Slide. Do not record a larger screen area and then resize it to meet submission requirements. In a case where the application you are planning to capture is designed for a larger area than 720 x 540, you can do any of the following:

• Hide all toolbars and windows that are not used in the demonstration (check the View menu in your application) and resize the application window
• Position the recording rectangle over the area of the application where all the action will occur
• Use a sample project that is small (200 x 300 is often sufficient for sample projects) and adjust the application window accordingly

If none of these options is feasible for the application you wish to capture, determine the smallest screen area you will need to demonstrate your technique effectively and capture the content. Our team will decide if we can approve the size you choose.

Note: If you capture a web application and don't hear the shutter sound even though content in the browser window has changed, simply press the Print Screen key to take additional screen shots.

Playtime Length

Your tip or trick should be a short demonstration with one to two minutes' worth of playtime. The maximum length we can accept for a demo is three minutes. If you cannot demonstrate your technique in less time than that, consider submitting an article to the Developer Center instead.

A Developer Center article can include multiple demonstrations or simulations, and it gives you the opportunity to provide additional source files or publish code samples. To write for the Developer Center, e-mail owner-dev-tutorialfeedback@adobe.com and use the subject Developer Center article proposal in your message.

Check the total playing time of your demo:

1. From the View menu, select Bandwidth Analysis.
2. Click the Movie Summary tab and check the Time Line item.

Captions and Writing Style Tips

Please observe the following tips for writing your demo's captions:

• Review the captions that Captivate automatically adds: Remove those that you believe are not crucial to follow the steps, and add new captions with additional explanations if necessary.
• Keep captions short and concise: If you find yourself wishing for a scrolling text feature, consider writing a Developer Center article instead. The demonstration should be short and easy to understand.
• Be direct: Address the developer directly as "you" ("You can start the program...") or indirectly as "you" ("To start the program, go to the..."). Use the active voice instead of the passive voice.
• Avoid "we": Unless you are referring to your own company or group, don't use "we", "let's", or "allows" to step users through the tutorial.

You might add optional information using rollover captions (please use the standard caption type, font, and text color) or click boxes that trigger messages.

File Size Considerations

Keep file size small by avoiding drag-and-drop actions (there are often ways to use mouse clicks or keyboard shortcuts instead), include audio only if absolutely required to demonstrate your technique, and remove background noise or color gradients. To learn more, read File-Size Considerations for Captivate Demonstrations and Simulations by David Mozealous. The maximum file size for submissions is 5 MB.

Spell Check Your Work

After you complete the demonstration, spell check your project by pressing the F7 function key.

How to Submit Your Captivate Demonstration

Send your project file (.CP file only, do not send as ZIP attachment) through e-mail attachment to sfleischer@adobe.com for Captivate tips and tricks. If you have tips for Director, send them to thiggins@adobe.com as we're starting to collect tips for a Tips and Tricks section in the Director Developer Center. The maximum file size for submissions is 5 MB.

Provide your name, a title for the tip or trick, and a short description of what viewers will learn.

Your project will be reviewed and, if considered for posting on our site, will be edited if necessary by our staff. We will add a template that includes a standard title and description slide.

If edits are made, we will send the project files back to you with comments or questions. You will have 2–3 days to reply to any questions and to send a revision. Once that is done, your project will be posted to the Tips and Tricks section of the appropriate Developer Center.

Where to Go from Here

We look forward to receiving many submissions for tips and tricks. Based on your requests and feedback, we may expand this idea to other products.

If you would like to learn more about the award-winning Captivate, visit the product website and the Adobe Captivate Developer Center. Also see the following books about using Captivate:

• Essentials of Macromedia Captivate: Skills and Drills Workbook by Kevin A. Siegel
• Macromedia Captivate for Windows : Visual QuickStart Guide by Tom Green
• Macromedia Captivate: The Definitive Guide by Brenda Huettner

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