• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
0

Question on merge with background function

New Here ,
Apr 11, 2014 Apr 11, 2014

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hello, I was wondering if anyone can tell me when it is useful to use the merge with background function.  I did not see anything in the documentation about it. It seems to me that you can just do your edits on the master slide, and you would not need the feature.  If I am misunderstanding please let me know, thanks.

TOPICS
Getting started

Views

1.2K

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines

correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Apr 13, 2014 Apr 13, 2014

Hello,

Not sure to be complete here, just my ideas. If you merge objects with the background on a master slide, you'll save on file size because the background will be one image, compared to several objects. You will not be able to edit those objects anymore. Moreover the background of the master slide will always be behind any object. For master slide objects you can have them either on top, where they'll sit on top of the stack, or not. If you have objects timed for the rest of the project, the

...

Votes

Translate

Translate
Community Expert ,
Apr 13, 2014 Apr 13, 2014

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hello,

Not sure to be complete here, just my ideas. If you merge objects with the background on a master slide, you'll save on file size because the background will be one image, compared to several objects. You will not be able to edit those objects anymore. Moreover the background of the master slide will always be behind any object. For master slide objects you can have them either on top, where they'll sit on top of the stack, or not. If you have objects timed for the rest of the project, they'll always be on top of the master slide background, but if you have master slide objects, they'll be on top of the object timed for the rest of the project, unless you put that one also always on top. You can turn off to show master slide objects on normal slides, separately from turning off the master slide background. Just some of my ideas. For objects that I want always to be with the background, I will prefer to merge them. For objects that I don't always want, I'll keep the separately, and that is of course always the case for the interactive shape button that you cannot merge with the background (which is just an image, not interactive).

Lilybiri

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Apr 13, 2014 Apr 13, 2014

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thank you as always, that is the best summary of the merge feature I've seen.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Apr 13, 2014 Apr 13, 2014

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I'm not sure at all as I mentioned that it is complete, but it is based on my experience (with my exploring attitude). Maybe someone else will pop in to add other ideas.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
LEGEND ,
Apr 13, 2014 Apr 13, 2014

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hello, just offering one of my own observations here.

When you use Captivate to record the process of using a software application, you are essentially creating a "stop motion" animation movie. Each slide contains a screen capture that is assigned to be the background image.

Imagine you are recording a software application that contains sensitive information. Information such as a credit card number, customer ID or anything else that really shouldn't be visible in the output.

Sure, you could cover it up with something such as a Highlight Box, Image or other item, but if you really wanted to ensure that the "real" information would never be revealed, then you would superimpose an object such as a Highlight Box over the area and tell it to be merged with the background. At that point, the background image has been modified exactly as if you had opened it with Microsoft Paint, Photoshop or other image editing software, erased that area and saved it back out.

A similar situation would occur if perhaps you had recorded an application and its interface later becomes modified. Perhaps there is a new field, button or other object. So instead of re-recording the actions, you are able to simply capture the image of the modified area, paste it in and precisely align it, then merge it with the background to "bake it in" and make it permanent.

Cheers... Rick

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Apr 14, 2014 Apr 14, 2014

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Thanks for the idea Rick.  I would not have thought of that one myself

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 04, 2015 Mar 04, 2015

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I have found in Captivate 6 that when merging objects into a recording of software, it works fine... for one object one time. When I want to merge a second object, it seems not to merge into the movie as background but into the slide background behind the movie, effectively disappearing.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
LEGEND ,
Mar 04, 2015 Mar 04, 2015

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Whatever the background image is should contain what you merged. This would mean that you have objects on the slide that are essentially covering that area of the slide background.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 04, 2015 Mar 04, 2015

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

LATEST

I have a mask covering an email address that indicates the client name and a menu item just below it that also reveals a location that is associated with the client. But this covers the mouse motion and the highlighting of the menu item. So I want to add a mask that covers the menu item that highlights with a different name than one that indicates who the client is. After that, I have another mask that shows the mouse on top of that menu item just long enough to simulate the click. What it appears is happening in this case is that when I merge the second object into the background, both objects disappear and there is no option I can find to change the layering positions of them before merging. I can't drag them up or down on the timeline and I can not find any way that I am used to seeing to bring one to the front. So then I delete both to try again and delete both objects from the library. Then when I try to import the first object a second time, it just disappears as soon as I merge. The only way I can keep both objects visible is not to merge them with the background, or so it seems. I can make this work but was hoping to minimize the number of layers and graphics I am managing in order to conceal the client's information.

Have I corrupted the video clip?

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Resources
Help resources