Presented by Neil Perlin at Documentation and Training West, May 6-9, 2008 in Vancouver, BC. For years, software training was largely text-based… add screen shots in a document, add some text with descriptions and instructions, and voila! The result worked, but how much more effective might it be if someone actually walked you through the steps on the screen? That’s where Adobe Captivate comes in, letting you create that someone. The primary use of Captivate is to help capture what’s on the screens as you perform a software-based task, such as using a feature in Word. That series of screen shots is effectively a set of frames that users can play back as a movie that shows how to perform the task. To make the movie more useful, you can add explanations and instructions in text or audio form, special effects, even interactivity features that let simulate real software operations. With these features, Captivate lets you create demonstrations, sales training simulations, marketing presentations, tutorials, even fairly sophisticated e-learning. With a few tweaks, you can even use Captivate as an ad hoc usability test recorder. Captivate movies are Flash-based, but you dont have to know Flash or touch any code. Better still, Captivate is quick and easy to learn compared to traditional CBT authoring tools—two days to get up and running, and cheap —US$700. This workshop presents a quick overview of Captivates basic features in order to provide an overview of the tool as a whole.

1. Captivate 3: Visual Help Authoring’s Swiss Army Knife

3. Section 1: Overview

7. The Main Captivate Screen

9. Section 2: Planning and Design

19. Main Screen – No Project Open

20. Main Screen - Storyboard Mode

22. Main Screen - Edit Mode

25. Main Screen - Branching Mode

29. New Project Options Dialog Box

33. Preferences Dialog Box – Settings Tab

35. The Recording Area Box

39. Exercise 1: Capture Frames

43. A “Comment” Caption

44. An “Instructional” Caption

45. New Caption Dialog Box – Text Caption Tab

49. New Caption Dialog Box – Options Tab

51. New Caption Dialog Box – Audio Tab

56. Exercise 2: Text Captions

59. New Highlight Box Dialog Box

61. Exercise 3: Add Highlight Boxes

68. New Image Dialog Box

71. Exercise 4: Work With Images

74. Text Animation Dialog Box

77. Exercise 5: Add Text Animation

78. Section 5: Timing Control

96. Exercise 6: Control Timing

100. Publish Dialog Box

103. Flash (SWF) Output Dialog Box

106. Exercise 7: Generate the Output

107. Thank you! Please fill out the evaluation before you leave!