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peijipie
Participating Frequently
June 24, 2022
Answered

Image Masking/Clipping Masking in 11.8

  • June 24, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 528 views

Hi all,

 

New Captivate user (as necessitated by a work contract), 10+ Creative Suite user....

 

I am wondering if I'm doing something wrong - trying to create a Master Slides template for a contract so that they can re-use it without a designer on board. I added placeholder images here and there throughout a my 50+ wireframe template...and realized when I was in Filmstrip view that if I added an image to the placeholder image it squashes/stretches said image. This is highly unusal, right? Is there a button I'm not toggling or something to get the image to stay in place, but not automatically conform/stretch an image to whatever shape it gets framed in?

 

Also I am coming from Adobe products, as an experienced PPT user point of view if that helps anyone find mental equivalents to make explanation easier. So far my work-around has been to screenshot my Captivate screens and place them into PPT, then go into master slides and add Placeholder Images, then exit to main view and have users import an image into the placeholder object, then save it to their computer, then put it back into Captivate. Would be pretty embarassing for adobe if that's really the workflow they're expecting people to use for $33 a month that involves using a competitor program to achieve something basic, LOL! Please help me ! 

 

Thanks all. 

(captivate 11.8 btw)

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Lilybiri

If you need an image in a circle, use a shape circle and fill it with the image. Depending on the size of the image you have to play with the settings.

Because of the background of the image I gave a stroke to the shape. It works like a clipping mask, but you don't have all the features like in Photoshop or Illustrator. Bit different but rather easy... IMO

2 replies

Lilybiri
Lilybiri
Legend
June 25, 2022

@RodWard Thanks Rod, was counting on you to give such an elaborate explanation. Allow me to add some tips as well.

 

@peijipie You want to create a custom Theme (cptm), please do not use a template (cptl file). Themes in Captivate are bit similar to those in PPT but they have more features. See:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/themes-are-time-savers-what-is-new-in-11-dot-5

This is only one link, you can find multiple blogs using the tag 'theme'.

 

Image placeholders are indeed configured like you experienced, and I don't like that neither especially since you probably want less experienced user to apply your theme. Moreover they allow only bitmap images, not SVGs. Text placeholders are useful, don't forget to define the object styles in the theme. For bitmap images the roundtripping with Photoshop is working fine:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/roundtripping-with-adobe-photoshop-in-2020

 

Something I regret a lot is the inability to save a grid setup with a project, which could be useful using the Guides menu. Feature requests didn't result to a response.

 

Last pleading: do not use PPT, certainly not the import of PPT slides into Captivate. 

 

P
peijipieAuthor
Participating Frequently
June 27, 2022

Thank you for the info and helpful tips as well!! I ended up creating a theme 🙂 

The intended users are not graphic designers, but they are instructional designers with a higher degree of knowledge of the program (captivate)! They do not have Photoshop, which is why I resorted to Powerpoint which all of them have!

Lilybiri
LilybiriCorrect answer
Legend
June 27, 2022

If you need an image in a circle, use a shape circle and fill it with the image. Depending on the size of the image you have to play with the settings.

Because of the background of the image I gave a stroke to the shape. It works like a clipping mask, but you don't have all the features like in Photoshop or Illustrator. Bit different but rather easy... IMO

    RodWard
    Community Expert
    RodWardCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 25, 2022

    I think the main "issue" you may be facing is that you are just not yet familiar with the way Captivate works, and your previous experience with PowerPoint and its approach is now working against you because Captivate and PowerPoint are totally different beasts. 

     

    Additionally, Captivate might technically belong to the Adobe stable, but it's also often found to take a slightly different approach to other Adobe apps.  No assumptions are safe their either.  For example, inserting an image into a placeholder in Captivate does not work the same way as inserting an image into something similar in PhotoShop (where the image is initially reduced in size so that it fits entirely within the placeholder while maintaining Aspect Ratio.

     

    With regard to the images you intend to use in your Captivate project, you need to remember that HTML5 web-based e-learning needs to be light and fast-loading to give end users the best experience.  You should never just dump full resolution images into Captivate and expect that the final output will have optimised those images for you so that their final file-sizes are minimal.

     

    In Captivate, you are correct that when you insert an image into an image placeholder, the image is resized to the dimensions of the placeholder.  Captivate assumes that you designed your image placeholder aspect ratio and size that way because those considerations are more important than whether or not the image you inserted is stretched.  That means all images should ideally be resized to 100% of their intended final display size BEFORE inserting them in Captivate.  Since you have experience with Adobe Creative Cloud apps the best app for this would be Photoshop, not PowerPoint.

     

    You are correct that Adobe would never be fooling enough to expect Captivate users to be reliant on PowerPoint just to create screencasting content.  That would be absolutely ridiculous.   As you continue to learn and understand Captivate better I am certain you will find that there are other workflows that make much better sense.

     

    So the bottom line is that you really need to get some training in Captivate and find out exactly how it does work. That will help reduce some (but not all) frustration about the way Captivate works.

    P
    peijipieAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    June 27, 2022

    Thank you for your detailed explanation, Rod!
    However, correct me if I am wrong, but it does look like you confirmed that my work-around might be the only way to do it? 

    If I need an image to be framed within a circle for example, I would need to use an additional program to make the desired image, and then import it in, correct? 

    Thanks again!

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