How to set defaults for highlight boxes?

[SRT14]

Hi there, I'm using the latest Captivate 4 trial version on Windows7.

How can I set appearance defaults for the highlight boxes?

I set them in Edit / Preferences / Recording, but I don't actually do any recording... my client does the raw recording (software simulations) and then sends the project files to me for adding captions, text boxes and so on. So when I add a highlight box in Edit mode, the prefs I set under Recording don't seem to apply.

I have tried the help file, but it recommends using "Apply to All" and says "Note: If you change the settings in this dialog box, they become the default settings, and new highlight boxes that you create use the new settings." This did not work. Every time I create a new highlight box (whether in the same project or a different one), it defaults to a 1pt blue frame with an 80% blue fill, and I have to change it again.

I have a lot of Captivate files to work on and a lot of highlight boxes to add, so having to change these values every single time is going to drive me nuts. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Lilybiri]

Hello,

For CP4 you could use a Design Template, in the upcoming CP5 this can be done more easily with the Object Style Manager. But to my experience, once you set up a first Highlight box in a project, it will keep those settngs for next Highlight boxes (if you do not want to go with the Design templateà. A project template is another solution, but perhaps overkill if you only want the settings for one standard object, the Highlight box.

Lilybiri

[SRT14]

Thanks Lilybiri. The colours and frame width are never saved once I've created a new highlight box, even within the same project or on the same slide... it always defaults back to a thin blue box (I need to use a thick yellow one).

Maybe I have a buggy version of C4, though I remember Captivate 2 never saving the appearance settings either.

Does anyone else know how I can set the global default appearance of all new highlight boxes, and have Captivate remember this between projects, without having to apply a template every time? Surely there must be a way...

[Lilybiri]

Hello,

Seems stupid, but why not copy the first Highlight box and paste it on every slide you need one? You can do that on several slides at once.

Because settings remain in my version, once I set up first HL, and am not able to test or search for the moment, can only offer you this. Perhaps will be back later on.

Lilybiri

[SRT14]

Yup, that's what I did a few years ago when using Captivate 2.

But this time I have over 50 project files to work through, so copy/pasting is going to get very tedious, very quickly. I was hoping Captivate would just save my settings and make them the new default... it seems so obvious.

Thanks for your help!

[SRT14]

Just did a quick test:

I started a new, blank project. I changed the highlight box appearance, and it did save those settings for the rest of that project, but did not save them once Captivate was closed.

If I change the settings while in an existing project, it does not save the settings at all, even when creating a second highlight box on the same slide or anywhere else in the project.

[Lilybiri]

Hello,

But in that case, really you should create a Design Template, it is worthwhile and not that difficult. Give it a try, if you have problems, just post and I'll try to answer ASAP. Am evaluating FInal projects for the moment but have a connection and between 2 students, will try to help.

We are all very glad about the new Object Styles in CP5, but that cannot help you for the moment,

Lilybiri

[SRT14]

Thanks. I've done a bit of testing with design templates and it wasn't good. I'm wary of using them since I'm working with existing project files that already have lots of other objects... I don't want to run the risk of overriding any of them (which happened during my testing).

Unfortunately I'm on a big deadline with this client, so I was hoping for an easy answer. Looks like there probably isn't one in Captivate 4. Thanks for your help Lilybiri, much appreciated.

[Guest]

HL also saves for me in CP4, make sure you have the latest version of 4.0.1 build 1658.  if you just downloaded the trail version it may not be the latest build.

http://blogs.adobe.com/captivate/2009/05/captvate_4_patch_update.html

http://www.adobe.com/support/captivate/downloads.html direct link to patch.

[SRT14]

Thanks Jimmy, I'd already installed the patch and still no luck unfortunately.

Captivate will save the appearance settings only within a new blank project, and for that project only. That doesn't help me because I'm adding boxes and captions to existing projects... the settings don't get saved at all if I change them in an existing project, even for a second highlight box on the same slide.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Have you tried blowing away the Captivate settings file? I believe this is where those relationships get saved. So it may be worth clobbering it to see.

Hmmm, in reading this thread from start to finish, I see you are using Windows 7. That could be the issue in a nutshell.

If you wish to try clobbering the preferences, close Captivate then open Windows Explorer and navigate to the following folder:

C:\Users\YourLoggedInUserID\AppData\Local\Adobe\Adobe Captivate

Delete or rename the captivate_v40.dat file you should find there. Then restart Captivate.

Personally, I don't hold much hope this will help. But it certainly can't hurt.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Adobe Certified Captivate Training SorcerStone Blog Captivate eBooks

[SRT14]

Good suggestion, Rick... tried it but it didn't make any difference. The new settings only get saved within a new, blank project... as soon as I open another new project or an existing one, the settings revert back to the original defaults.

Thanks anyway!

Looks like I'll be doing a lot of copy & pasting.

[Guest]

Want to make sure I understand your steps:

1. you get a cp4 recording/project file from your client

2. open the file

3. add new highlight box ( which has a blue lined box) to a slide

4. you make preference changes to that highlight box in step 3 above

5. on another slide of the same project you had another highlight box, which is also a blue box instead of the preferences changes you made

do you save the project during any of the steps above?

are these the steps you are sort of doing?

I agree that when you set the recording preferences that it will only take when you're are doing a *new* recording, since you are setting the recording defaults for Captivate's new recordings not *edits* of existing recordings.

I also get recordings from another person, which i edit the demo recordings. I also add or change an existing highlight box, which is blue lined, i make the change to orange with a 30% transparence of white on the 1st slide, when i add a HL to next slide it remembers what i changed minis the outer fill.

also note that i have to do the above for each recording/project file, captivate only keeps the changed preference for that project file and not for Captivate itself.

also i am using Windows 7 64bit with CP4 with out issues?  are you running CP4 with "run as administrator"?

is it possible for you to share a subset of the a project file, that includes 2-3 slides

[SRT14]

Thanks Jimmy. My steps are:

1. Get a cp4 recording/project file from my client.

2.  Open the file.

3. Add new highlight box to a slide, changing both default colours (blue) to yellow before applying & saving the box.

4. Add another new highlight box (either on the same slide or a different one). The colours have reverted to the default blue, so I have to change them again to yellow.

5. Repeat step 4 -- colours revert to default each time I add a new highlight box anywhere within that same project.

I save the project file repeatedly... every couple of minutes or so. Have tried saving right after applying the highlight box and then immediately closing & re-opening the project; no change.

I'm using Win7 32bit. C4 is running "as administrator". No issues other than this highlight box thing (and the error that others are experiencing where it takes two or three steps to convert a C2 or C3 file).

[Lilybiri]

Hello,

In CP4 one way to change the colours of existing objects in a project is by trying the Apply to all feature, but this is indeed not always working as it should. The other way is applying a design template, but in this template all the styles of all the objects have to be what you want, so I understand your reluctance to use this feature for changing only one style of one object. It is one of the reasons why in CP5 design templates have been replaced by the Object Style Manager. With this it is possible to change the default style of any object in a project at each moment.

Lilybiri

[Guest]

SRT14.  have 3 questions

1. can you expand on when you mean by "and the error that others are experiencing where it takes two or three steps to convert a C2 or C3 file"  Step 1 you day CP4, but then you state this.  are these files converted to cp4 from cp2 or cp3 first?  if yes can what is error that you get?

2. if you create a new project with HLs, save and close CP, open the file and add new HL and change the color prefs does that work?  if it does not i am starting to think that your install is corrupt, you may want to reinstall  with "as administrator".

3. would you be able to provide an untouched project file, maybe with one slide that contains an existing HL? just to check if i can reproduce or the issue is just isolated on your computer.

if question 3 is not an options, if you have a 2nd computer, you may want to install CP4 on that system to see if you have same issue.

[SRT14]

1. It's the conversion error described here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/1035009#1035009 .

2. Yes, but the new colour prefs appear only if I work with a new project file. Existing files or converted files = old defaults.

Pretty sure this is a conversion issue. I've converted about 40 CP3 projects so far and the HL prefs have been reset every single time... but if I work with a new blank project file, my new prefs are saved and appear just fine.

My deadline is tomorrow and I've still got several files left to finish, so I can't spend any more time on this issue. I'm almost done copying & pasting highlight boxes anyway.   Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and help!

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Not trying to be an Adobe apologist here, but when you think about it, copying and pasting a Highlight Box really is almost easier than inserting one via the menus or by clicking the toolbar.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Adobe Certified Captivate Training SorcerStone Blog Captivate eBooks

[Captive_ater]

Hey all!

So glad I found this thread, because I just thought I was insane!  

I am having the exact same problem - changes to defaults for new, manually created hightlight boxes via any method - do not stick.  Here is what I have tried:

Changed Global Defaults via  Edit/Preferences - Recording/Defaults - changing colors on highlight boxes settings

Changed Highlight Box attributes (colors) and using "Apply All" - changes are saved for current Captivate session, and new hightlight boxes use that setting.  However, closing/opening the PROJECT FILE (not Captivate) changes defaults back to blue.

Created a Project Template - then edited as above and created a new project based on the template.  New project has blue defaults.  DRAT.

Created a Design Template - then opened one new and one existing project (with existing highlight boxes), selected the design template and choose "Apply All".  Defaults do not transfer, either to existing highlight boxes, or to new ones.

I had a theory, which I have confirmed as true:  since this default is listed under "Recording", is it possible that only highlight boxes created during the recording process will use that default setting??  I am documenting non-windows content, so I don't use many of the recording features. However, I just turned on the "Add hightlight boxes on click" option under Preferences/Recording/Mode(s) in the MOUSE settings.  I took a brief recording of a Windows application (Word) where I clicked on menu options and, VIOLA, my output slides contain hightlight boxes in my preferred color.

I don't really think it matters, as I now believe this to be an issue with embedded functionality, but I'm running Captivate 4.0.0 build 1596.

LOOKS TO ME like Captivate does not HAVE a global setting for text boxes that are created MANUALLY, only those that are created during the recording process. 

UM, this seems like a huge oversight, in my humble opinion, and I suspect that others who are vastly confused by this setting would agree.

How do we add this as an enhancement request??? 

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Believe me, we do try and obfuscate the Feature Request link so it's really difficult to locate. After all, if Adobe sees too many Feature Requests, they may feel the product needs improving! (Just kidding of course)

In my signature line is a link that will open the Enhancement Request form. Additionally, you have a link on all of the Forum pages as shown below:

As for the behavior of the Highlight Boxes and Captions, indeed what you see in the "Recording Defaults" does only apply to what gets inserted when recording. So I'm assuming that's why you see those settings in an area labeled "Recording Defaults".

The typical behavior of object insertion is to generally store whatever was used last. Then present the same option again until it is changed. This information is normally stored in the Captivate_40.dat file out in the Documents area. But, like anything else, there are always deviations from the norm. For example, projects that were upgraded from an older version may behave a bit differently than projects that were created from scratch. And the dat file I mentioned earlier may actually exist in a location so it becomes write protected. And in that case Captivate won't be able to make updates to it. Things like that.

Hopefully this helps... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Adobe Certified Captivate Training SorcererStone Blog Captivate eBooks

[Captive_ater]

Thanks for the great info!

I'll check my .dat file to see if it is write protected, and if so, I'll ask for a change (I'm at a gvt site, so maybe I'll get permission in the next administration - who knows. Hahahah!)

Seems like a default in the design template should work for manual highlight boxes though, since the captivate user sets those using the properties box, not the "default" colors under recording settings. +ne would presume that behavior attributes would be set that way as well, but I don't see those changes either. Not sure if the inability to set these color and behavior attribute defaults using a design template is functionality or .dat file issue - do you have an idea?