December 8, 2020
Tips for Your First Adobe Captivate Experience
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December 8, 2020
Tips for Your First Adobe Captivate Experience
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As a freelance graphics designer I recently found myself looking for a more permanent position in the design world. Being the first time in a long while, I did the usual portfolio and resume updates. I also found myself skimming through many employment platforms where I noticed a major uptick in e-learning and instructional design experience needed posts. I’ve always had some interest in this particular part of design as I’ve been a substitute teacher and before all this COVID-19 craziness began I had been working on a teaching certification.

That being said I began to do some research into what programs are used for instructional design and found myself signing up for a free month of Adobe Captivate.

At first sight I have to admit the interface felt clunky and outdated, but after becoming more familiar with fluid boxes and adding audio I was up and running in no time. While I know I have much to learn in order to reach this program’s potential I was able to create a slide presentation with audio and quiz reasonably quickly. (with some trouble shooting  and a glass of wine here and there)

I have to admit I was still in the middle of completing a graphics design portfolio course at the time so I wasn’t able to take full advantage of my month with Captivate, but here are a few tips to help you avoid doing the same.

1. Check your software compatibilities

Yes, do this first and possibly save yourself some ibuprofen. Adobe has a page that lists all the specs needed for things to run smoothly here https://helpx.adobe.com/it/captivate/user-guide.html/it/captivate/system-requirements.ug.html

While you’re at it do some recon into possible problems you may encounter while using the software. There’s a plethora of frustrated reviewers usually complaining about a common issue.

2. Don’t be a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy

I say this because that is exactly what I did. Believe me when I say I wasted lots of precious life trouble shooting and just trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to create for my first project. If you are planning on trying out any software, have your assets together. Organize yourself and have a folder ready to go so you can take full advantage of the time given to try out the product.

3. Choose Your Player

This goes along with tip two, but I felt it was worth mentioning. Have a tutorial of the things you want to learn ready. Googling “free captivate tutorials” will only frustrate you when all you want to do is get started. Also, finding a legit tutorial is hard to come by. Try Udemy, Coursera, or any of the other e-learning platforms available. They often offer great courses for free or very reasonable prices.

All of this to basically say be prepared! Captivate is a pretty awesome tool and if you really want to try it out be ready, so you don’t waste  precious demo time. These few tips could be the deciding factor of whether a particular software is right for you.

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