Blurring Screens in Captivate Simulations -- Step-by-Step
Let me start by announcing that I just got out of a meeting with a bunch of Subject Matter Experts, and one of them complained about how Ancile uPerform simulations always have the direction caption BELOW the image, rather than above it. I'm just pointing this out because I want it known that I'm not the only one who finds this annoying!
I will point out that the real reason it is a problem is because our template was set to generate boilerplate text as a step 1 with no accompanying image -- and the text appears above the image that is supposed to go with the text that is underneath it, which was causing confusion. See illustration below:
1. This text has no accompanying image.
2. This should be the text accompanying the above image.
Did your brain expect the step 1 text to accompany the image?
I went through all my job aids and put a page break after the 1. text, which seemed to clear up the problem entirely. This supports some stuff I've read in regards to caption text -- it's not whether it's above or below the image, it's the proximity to the image. I'll repeat that it seems best to put the caption text alongside the image, but if your tool doesn't allow for that, then you've just got to make sure your caption text is close enough to the desired image to coax the learner's brain into pairing up the image and the text.
Anyway, below the brief rant I'm about to write will be a tutorial for how to blur sensitive info out of Captivate screens. I made the tutorial in Ancile uPerform, output the tutorial as a Word doc, then saved the Word doc as a webpage so I could easily import all the images into this blog. I will have to type out all the captions by hand. Which is fine, I'm just sayin' that the reason I've been doing most of these blog posts in Captivate is because in Captivate, I can essentially attach the caption text to the image. This saves me the hassle of typing out the instruction text in this blog. The other thing I will have to do is delete every other image, since when I save an Ancile sim as a webpage, it generates two images; a full-res image and a low-res. No idea how to make it not do that.
Here's one more critique of Ancile uPerform: for whatever reason, when you publish a simulation as a Word doc, it does not include the very last screenshot. I kind of sort of know why it does this, and it's kind of sort of my fault in this case, but it's boring to explain, so I'll just complain about it instead. I fixed it via a dumb little hack that I figured out. I think if there's one thing an Instructional Designer has to accept (or probably anyone who works with computer applications), it's that figuring out dumb little hacks and workarounds are just part of the profession.
Lastly, note that my template settings have forced me to start my tutorial on step 2, as I already described above. Which I could probably change, but I'm not allowed to mess with the template settings for my current workproject... at least, not without a tooth-grinding ordeal.
WELL OKAY! So 1. here's how to blur stuff out of screens in a Captivate simulation file:
2. Locate the thumbnail of the screen on the left-hand sidebar navigation menu and right-click on it.
5. From the pop-out menu, select Edit With...
6. From the next window, choose your image editing application.
7. Click Open.
8. Choose your tool.
9. Make your edits.
10. Make still more edits as you deem necessary.
13. The edits have been automatically applied to the screen in your Captivate file.
...And that's it!
I will point out that the real reason it is a problem is because our template was set to generate boilerplate text as a step 1 with no accompanying image -- and the text appears above the image that is supposed to go with the text that is underneath it, which was causing confusion. See illustration below:
1. This text has no accompanying image.
2. This should be the text accompanying the above image.
Did your brain expect the step 1 text to accompany the image?
I went through all my job aids and put a page break after the 1. text, which seemed to clear up the problem entirely. This supports some stuff I've read in regards to caption text -- it's not whether it's above or below the image, it's the proximity to the image. I'll repeat that it seems best to put the caption text alongside the image, but if your tool doesn't allow for that, then you've just got to make sure your caption text is close enough to the desired image to coax the learner's brain into pairing up the image and the text.
Anyway, below the brief rant I'm about to write will be a tutorial for how to blur sensitive info out of Captivate screens. I made the tutorial in Ancile uPerform, output the tutorial as a Word doc, then saved the Word doc as a webpage so I could easily import all the images into this blog. I will have to type out all the captions by hand. Which is fine, I'm just sayin' that the reason I've been doing most of these blog posts in Captivate is because in Captivate, I can essentially attach the caption text to the image. This saves me the hassle of typing out the instruction text in this blog. The other thing I will have to do is delete every other image, since when I save an Ancile sim as a webpage, it generates two images; a full-res image and a low-res. No idea how to make it not do that.
Here's one more critique of Ancile uPerform: for whatever reason, when you publish a simulation as a Word doc, it does not include the very last screenshot. I kind of sort of know why it does this, and it's kind of sort of my fault in this case, but it's boring to explain, so I'll just complain about it instead. I fixed it via a dumb little hack that I figured out. I think if there's one thing an Instructional Designer has to accept (or probably anyone who works with computer applications), it's that figuring out dumb little hacks and workarounds are just part of the profession.
Lastly, note that my template settings have forced me to start my tutorial on step 2, as I already described above. Which I could probably change, but I'm not allowed to mess with the template settings for my current workproject... at least, not without a tooth-grinding ordeal.
WELL OKAY! So 1. here's how to blur stuff out of screens in a Captivate simulation file:
2. Locate the thumbnail of the screen on the left-hand sidebar navigation menu and right-click on it.
3. From the pop-out menu, select "Find Background in Library."
4. The Library window opens on the right-hand sidebar. The background filename is highlighted in the library list of background images. Right-click on it.
7. Click Open.
8. Choose your tool.
9. Make your edits.
11. Save the edits in the application either by choosing Save from the file menu or by clicking Cntrl+S
12. Navigate back to your Captivate file.
13. The edits have been automatically applied to the screen in your Captivate file.
...And that's it!
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