Our favourite ‘new and improved’ features in Adobe Captivate 2017.
Adobe Captivate is the development tool of choice for the in-house eLearning production team at GuyKat. Whilst at Learning DevCamp 2017 in Salt Lake City earlier this month, our team reviewed the new features in the latest release (Adobe Captivate 2017) with other industry experts.
Our eLearning Developer, Zoe Hall, shares her favourite features of the new update:
1) Retina screen software recording
Whilst you could record a Video Demo or Software Simulation using Captivate 9, the 2017 update has resolved the need to edit the AdobeCaptivate.ini file. We have have found this improvement really useful, especially for cutting down development time and simplifying our internal processes.
2) Multi-state buttons
The ability to use buttons with multiple states (e.g. Normal, Hover, Down) on Master Slides, Quiz Slides, Quiz Results Slides and Drag and Drop Slides is an excellent update that can streamline our workflow and improve the UX throughout our projects.
3) Typekit Integration
Adobe Typekit is now integrated with Adobe Captivate. This allows developers with a Creative Cloud account to use fonts from the Typekit library within Captivate projects. Not being limited to websafe fonts for HTML5 projects now allows for consistent design across all devices. This enables us to align with the brand guidelines of our varied clients that require eLearning for multiple devices.
4) Conditional ‘While’ loop within Advanced Actions
We love the new ‘Conditional Tab’ check box within Advanced Actions, but we’re even more excited by the possibilities of the ‘While’ loop to enhance quizzing, gaming and general UX!
The ‘While’ action can be used to shorten our workflow to create simple GIF style animations within Captivate, as well as more interactive games using variables to create timers, change states and assign points.
Having taken some time to explore the ‘While’ action at Learning DevCamp, this feature will allow our team to push the boundaries to create engaging and interactive eLearning.
5) Fluid Boxes
The release of Fluid Boxes has coincided well with the rising demand for fully responsive design in our daily digital experiences – including responsive eLearning.
Captivate 2017 Fluid Boxes are a development on the previous breakpoints used in Captivate 8 and 9. Objects within Fluid Boxes align and resize automatically on different devices, creating a course that isn’t just optimised for one screen. There are many powerful, hidden tools and options within Captivate 2017 to tailor the Fluid Boxes to each developer’s needs. This higher level of flexibility and control, along with the ability to preview multiple device resolutions within Captivate, is another way that the update has reduced the development time for a responsive project and has created a better experience for the learner, regardless of the device they are using.
We are already utilising some of these features in current client projects.
If you’re looking for Adobe Captivate experts who can create bespoke eLearning, then feel free to get in touch.
Take a look at what else we got up to at Learning DevCamp 2017.