In Photoshop I created images on two layers: the first one (FullTexture’ will be used for normal content slides, the second one is the ‘Knockout’ image which has a transparent part.  Size of the file is same as the end resolution (1280×720). I used one of the provided textures in Photoshop as Fill. In the second layer I deleted a rectangle of 1066x600px to create a ‘knockout’ part in which the sim slides would fit. You see the size of the margins (with texture) in the screenshot: to the left – a vertical bar with a width of 200pixels, to the right one with a width of 14px; at the top another with a height of 90 pixels and a the bottom a bar with a height of 30 pixels.

You can import the Photoshop file, and will have both layers as PNG images. See ‘Roundtripping with Photoshop‘.

You can use another graphics application if you cannot use Photoshop. You could also create a freeform filled shape in Captivate, start with the hexagon, which has 6 points.

Step 2 (in Captivate)

1. calculate the difference between the widths of the vertical bars:     200 – 14 = 186 pixels
2. new width project will be 1066 + 186 = 1252 pixels
3. calculate the difference between the heights of the horizontal bars:   90 – 30 = 60 pixels
4. new height project will be 600+ 60 = 660 pixels

• deselect ‘Maintain aspect ratio’ and introduce the new dimensions
• under ‘New Size is Larger’, select ‘Keep project the same size and position project Bottom Right; I choose this because the bottom bar and the right bar have the smallest dimension; you can choose another option if your smallest margins are elsewhere.

Step 3 (in Captivate)

•  deselect ‘Maintain aspect ratio’ and introduce the final dimensions
• under ‘New Size is Larger’, select ‘Keep project the same size and position project Center

Step 4 (in Captivate): Master slides

 In the original blog post it was possible to create a master slide which is partially transparent, but that is no longer possible in the present versions with the Themes (new since Captivate 6).  Here is the master slide panel, where you see some master slides of the custom Theme ‘Knockout’ which I created:

I used the two imported PNGs from the Photoshop file to create:

1. The Main master slide, where the FullTexture image is set as background image. You see the setup in the Properties panel:

   

2. Based on that Main master slide, I created some content master slides. You see acouple of them in the master slide panel above (Title, Light). The Blank master slide always has to remain Blank, it is not using the Main master slide.
3. The Knockout master slide. You cannot use the KnockoutTexture image as was done in the Main master slide, it needs to be a separate image as you can see in the Timeline and in the Properties panel. I added some objects and placeholders:

   

Step 5: Apply Knockout to simulation slides

Up till now the simulation slides used the Blank master slide. Change the master slide to the Knockout Master slide. It is very important that you do NOT check the option ‘Master slide objects on top’, because you’ll lose the textured parts of the image

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