How to restore Original Default Themes/Slide Masters

[Guest]

I messed up my slide masters and themes.

AND I deleted placeholders too.

How can I restore my original slide masters/themes and placeholders?

I went to the control panel and the only option is to UNINSTALL.

I want to "re-install" perhaps?  Or "repair"

But that setting is not there.

[Lilybiri]

Maybe you could have a look at:

What's in a Theme - a Template? - Captivate blog

Master slides are part of the theme, not something separate.

The quickest way to restore all the default themes:

Go into Public Documents\Adobe\eLearning Assets\Layouts

I don't know if you have only one version of Captivate installed? If that is the case you'll see only one folder in Layouts. Delete that folder, while Captivate is closed. Content is both Themes for the language you installed (for me that is en_US) and the Theme Color Palettes. Do not be afraid: those are duplicate folders from the originals in the Gallery. When you restart Captivate a fresh duplicate folder will be created in Public Documents.

If you want to restore the theme in an existing project another step is needed after having refreshed the duplicate Layouts folder.

You have to re-apply the theme (will have the same name as the previous one which was messed up) with the big button Themes. Normally this will restore all components of the theme: theme colors palette, object styles, master slides, skin, Recording defaults. Maybe you'll need to use 'Reset Master slide' for those slides that still do not look OK. However if you had overridden object styles (they have a + sign before the Style name in the Properties panel), they will keep the settings. That is one of the reasons why it is recommended never to override object styles.

[Guest]

I only have one version of Captivate installed 9.0.2.437

I will follow your steps.

Thanks!

[Guest]

Didn't restore to the original settings. My original placeholders are gone in my default master slides.

There's got to be a way to repair this.

[Lilybiri]

Did you follow my instructions, really? This is the only way to repair. Do you have administrator rights?

Be careful: if you had changed a theme IN a project, it will still be saved with that project. But if you apply the original theme again, it will be restored.

To test my credibility: create a new project, and apply the theme you used for that project where you messed up the master slides.

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

If the themes are not being reinstated from the original copies, it may be best to uninstall and reinstall the software from scratch.

[Lilybiri]

Uninstalling/reinstalling is not a solution at all. The original themes are in the Gallery, they are never used for a project, you only can mess up the copies in the Public (or Shared for Mac) documents.

Existing projects have the used theme (object styles, master slides, skin, Recording Defaults) built in. When the duplicate folder in the Public documents is refreshed, this will not update existing project files. You have to re-apply the theme. The restored master slides will be applied immediately. Biggest problem are the object styles: too many CP-users don't mind to override object styles, and overridden styles will not be reset when you re-apply a new, fresh default theme. 

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

Uninstalling and reinstalling is the solution if the theme masters are not the only thing damaged. Don't waste your valuable time trying to fix a messed up installation.

Lilybiri, I'm certain your solution is correct, however when the user is having trouble following your directions, and perhaps has further damaged files beyond what you're reading here, the shortest path to resolution may be the better one in this case.

I myself have uninstalled Captivate to fix it when it begins to act erratically. I suspect the OP doesn't have time to waste trying to get items to reinstate themselves, or hours troubleshooting settings and so on.

[Lilybiri]

Paul, what I tried to explain is that reinstalling has no effect whatsoever on the theme used in an existing project!  That seems to be the issue here. The user has to reapply the new default copy of the theme to the project. That will restore the master slides (reset master slide will be needed), that will restore the object styles but that will not replace overridden object styles. That is why uninstalling/reinstalling in this case will probably lead to the same result as with just deleting the Public Layouts folder. That has to be done anyway when reinstalling as well.

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

I think that you are making this more complicated than it needs to be.

[Lilybiri]

OK, check it. Create a project, mess up the theme by deleting placeholders, changing colors and styles etc. Save the project. Reset the default theme by your uninstall/reinstall work flow or by deleting the Layouts folder. Reopen Captivate and that project, you'll see that nothing has changed. Sorry about insisting, this is a Public forum. Any answer I post has been double-checked and I will never complicate work flows if it can be made simple. Understanding themes and their content is lacking for many users.

There will be no problems with a new project, only with existing projects because the design (which includes the changes to the theme) is saved with the project.

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

I was proceeding from the assumption that he or she had quite possibly deleted the theme files located in the Adobe Captivate 9 x64\Gallery\Layouts\9_0\en_US, in an attempt to correct this situation on his or her own. If this was the case, then deleting the layouts folder in the public user account won't restore the themes, which might be why he or she was saying this step wasn't working for him or her.

Reinstalling the software would reset everything back to normal. Yes if they have made changes to the layouts of a specific project file, those changes will remain and he or she will have their work cut out for them, but there was no mention of a specific project file. 

By all means proceed with your assistance.

[Guest]

It's not my current project that I'm having a problem with.

If I create a new responsive project and I use the default slides in the white theme, I do not get the slides I'm supposed to get. (i.e. the slides I used to get when Captivate was brand new.) Apparently I accidentally deleted some of the placeholders or other elements in the slide layouts in the "white" theme. (Captivate v8.0.3.290)

[Lilybiri]

This is very weird, if you have followed the guidelines I offered, you should have the original theme back for use. Do you remember ever having used Themes, Save Theme command?  I don't have CP8 installed on this system, have no access for the moment at my desktop which still has CP8. Can you check the date of the White theme, in the Gallery, not in the Public folder? Is is similar to the date of the other themes? There is no default way to overwrite the Themes in the Gallery, because they are not directly used,  but doesn't hurt to check.

[joriew58033387]

Updating how to add back in placeholder objects that were deleted from Master Slides in version 2019. I accidentally deleted a Question Title placeholder and it took me way to long to figure out how to do this even though it's really simple.

For a content master slide: Insert > Placeholder Objects > Select the object that was deleted

For a Quiz master slide: Quiz > Question Placeholder Objects > Select the object that was deleted