# Setting the capture area

The screen capture area is the area on your screen that Captivate uses to create slides. For example, your monitor is set to 1024 x 768 pixels and you select a screen capture area of 800 x 600 pixels. Captivate captures 800 x 600 pixels of the 1024 x 768 pixels on your screen.

Captivate uses a default screen capture area of 640 x 480 pixels for all recording options. Captivate uses this default because movies larger than 800 x 600 pixels may not stream well over dial-up Internet connections. If your users can view larger areas, you can resize the screen capture area in Captivate. (Once you resize the capture area, the new size becomes the default.)

As a general rule, use these capture settings to provide your users with the best performance:

- 28.8K modem: 640 x 480 or lower

- 33.6K modem: 800 x 600 or lower

- 56K modem: 800 x 600 or lower

- Cable/ DSL /T1: 1024 x 768 or lower

#### To set the capture area:

1. Open Captivate.

2. On the Start Page, click Record or create a new movie.

3. Select one of the recording options and click OK.

4. If you selected Application, resize the window by selecting one of the sizing handles on the red frame and dragging it to a larger or smaller size. To change the location of the window, move the mouse over the red frame until a four-point arrow appears, and then drag the entire window to a new position. You can also click Snap red recording area to fit selected window to quickly change the size of the recording area to match the size of the application.

5. If you selected Custom, change the size of the capture window by typing new numbers in the Width and Height text boxes, or use the arrows to enter new numbers. You can also click Preset sizes and select a commonly used size from the pop-up menu.

6. If you selected Full screen, you do not need to change the size of the capture area, because everything on the screen will be captured by Captivate.

7. If you selected Blank, change the size of the capture window by selecting User defined (custom) and typing new numbers in the Width and Height text boxes, or use the arrows to specify new numbers. You can also select Preset size, and then select a commonly used size from the pop-up menu.

8. If you selected Image Movie, change the size of the capture window by selecting User defined (custom) and typing new numbers in the Width and Height text boxes, or use the arrows to enter new numbers. You can also select Preset size, and then select a commonly used size from the pop-up menu.

4. Click Record to begin recording a new movie in the size you specified.