Bad Timing

This may be a result of using Enable auto recording from the Options/Recording Options... window. Captivate captures screens via event triggers. In other words, click the mouse and snap a picture...press a button and snap a picture, etc. The issue that often arises is that the capture process is quicker than the screen render so you start to see oddities like those you describe. If you are hearing the camera click sound before the screen fully renders, then this more than likely what is happening.

I use two options to counter this.

1. Turn off Enable auto recording and go the manual route by click Print Screen when you want a screen shot. The disadvantage of this is that you have to manually enter all the functionality, captions, etc. rather than having Captivate help. The advantage is that you have a great deal more control over the capture process.

2. Another method is to continue using auto recording, but to make liberal use of the Print Screen key to capture additional screens as you go. For example, click on an icon and Captivate takes a screen capture....now click Print Screen to take an extra screen after you are the screen has fully rendered. Just be sure not to move your mouse before taking the extra screen shot. In the Edit environment, you can simply delete any extra screens that you find you don't need.