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Anonymous
December 2, 2014
Question

Options missing from Properties window for smart shape

  • December 2, 2014
  • 20 replies
  • 13887 views

I feel really stupid. I recently updated my Captivate 8 to 8.0.1.242 and now I can't figure out how to change the color of my smart shapes. I don't see the fill or stroke settings. Is there somewhere new I should be looking? Shouldn't they be under the "State" area? All is see is the opacity setting.

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20 replies

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P
PKPrice
New Participant
February 14, 2018

Same issue in Captivate 2017. For any smartshape (newly added or preexisting) there was no option for fill color or stroke, only opacity. These properties returned after closing and restarting Captivate.

Gray Susan
Gray Susan
Inspiring
August 15, 2017

Here I am in Captivate 9 in 2017 and I'm experiencing this problem.  It was working fine and now today no options for fill,etc.  I'll try the suggestions above and hope it works.

ESLTeacher1
ESLTeacher1
Inspiring
October 31, 2016

Same issues as everyone else v9.0.1.2

>previously on laptop (Windows 8.1)

v9.0.1.421

>Just happened 10/31/16 on PC (Windows 10) (Halloween, so it could be a ghost)

On laptop (Windows 8.1) opened New Project fixed the issue.

On PC (Windows 10) clearing cache crashed Cp twice. New Project didn't work. BUT New Video Demo fixed the issue.

Thanks to all for suggestions!

RobTalbertArt
RobTalbertArt
New Participant
December 29, 2016

I have this issue (with respect to buttons) on Windows version 9.0.0.223 and OSX version 9.0.2.437.  (Firewall prevents the Windows version from updating at work and I do not have an Administrator Elevate pswd).

A month or so ago I did not have this problem.  Consequently I can copy a button I created several weeks ago and both the Fill and Stroke subpanels appears in the Properties window.  However, if I create a new button, the Fill and Stroke subpanels do not appear.

Again, the same behavior is happening on both PC and Mac. And, it continues to occur with any new project.  I have tried clearing the cache and restarting, but this has not worked.

M
mgeorghiou
New Participant
October 9, 2016

NEW FIX:  I had same problem many times with Captivate 8.0.3.290. Restart worked sometimes but not always.  Creating new object did not work.  I was reluctant to reset preferences since many people said it did not work for them.  This worked for me today (Oct 2016):  

  1. Quit Captivate. 
  2. Start Captivate but RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR
  3. New Blank Project
  4. Create New Smart Object
  5. Works!
  6. Back to my main Captivate project.
  7. Works!

I don't know if steps 3 to 5 are necessary or not.

    T
    tmhwrite
    Participating Frequently
    October 10, 2016

    I finally got it resolved by uninstalling and reinstalling Captivate.

    X
    xjaymanx
    New Participant
    April 28, 2016

    Yup, same here, same thing is happening to me.

    This week, I noticed my Adobe Captivate 9 subscription edition (home PC) is missing the same Smart Shape Fill options and Stroke options that jordan.perry posted above. Meanwhile, by comparison, my AC9 full license version (work PC) is fine, showing the full set of Smart Shape Fill and Stroke options.

    Needless to say, the subscription version needs to be fixed.

    Lilybiri
    Lilybiri
    Brainiac
    April 28, 2016

    Meanwhile, since the last release, I did have the same issue myself a couple of time. And I have a full license version, so it is not due to the type of license at all. I tried resetting the workspace, but had to close Captivate, clear the cache, then restart and the full properties reappeared. It is certainly a bug, which appeared for me only with the last release to 9.0.1.320

      X
      xjaymanx
      New Participant
      April 28, 2016

      Awesome, the "close-clear-cache-close" workaround worked like a charm! Sorry, if I missed it earlier. Yeah, definitely an annoying bug in either version. We shouldn't have to do this "close-clear-cache-close" dance whenever this issue appears. Many thanks!

      J
      jordan_perry
      New Participant
      April 18, 2016

      This has happened to me too... I was working on a project in C9 this morning, closed it down for lunch, relaunched on return and it didn't show caption colour options on an existing text box. A few clicks around from style to options then back again did the trick.

      Now, I am still able to change text colour in properties, but smartshapes is a no go!

      I have also tried closing down C9 again and created a new project etc. but it hasn't changed yet. I shouldn't have to wiped my preferences and cache... it should just work, like you'd expect a £1k piece of software to work.

        jon_collins10
        jon_collins10
        Participating Frequently
        February 8, 2016

        I have had the exact same issue this morning - working fine last week and now monday morning comes and it doesn't work! can't adjust properties of smartshapes - after wondering for a while if I'd done something wrong I thought I would see if anyone else was experiencing this issue.

        Luckily for me a system reboot seemed to "magically" fix it but I would suggest as a number of users are experiencing it there needs to be a more effective solution provided. Especially as for some the reboot only fixed it once...

        richardr76171906
        richardr76171906
        New Participant
        February 5, 2016

        Agree with Stimpski and NeilHoskins - this question is NOT answered. This is an annoying software bug that definitely requires a software patch from Adobe ASAP. Software that costs $1100 a copy shouldn't behave this way. 

          Captiv8r
          Captiv8r
          Brainiac
          February 5, 2016

          Hi folks

          I've unmarked the "correct answer" for this thread as requested.

          One thing I'm wondering. And this is more of a work-around than a true "solution". If you create a totally new blank project, do the properties then appear for a smart shape in the new project?

          My thought is that it's possibly something specific to the project and maybe a totally fresh one will offer the settings. And if so, you could work past it by configuring the shape in the new project, then copying from the new to the existing project.

          Yeah, I know it shouldn't happen in a perfect world. But sometimes all we can do is help one another find ways past the obstacles!

          Cheers... Rick

          Lilybiri
          Lilybiri
          Brainiac
          February 5, 2016

          Rick if it is a bug, it is very strange that I was never able to reproduce it at all, and I spent a lot of time trying to repro each issue. It looks more linked with something on the systems.

          S
          Stimpski
          Known Participant
          February 3, 2015

          Hi all,

          I've been having the same problem. Clearing the cache and restarting Captivate and computer did not work for me.

          I managed to get back the full fill and stroke properties by creating a new smart shape on a slide. That seemed to 'jog the Property panels memory.'

          Captivate 8.0.1.242

          Mac OS X 10.10.2

          Lilybiri
          Lilybiri
          Brainiac
          February 3, 2015

          And what about refreshing the Preferences?

          Captiv8r
          Captiv8r
          Brainiac
          December 2, 2014

          Hi there

          Maybe you need to reset your preferences.

          If you are using PC, Close Captivate.

          Right-Click the shortcut you use to start Captivate and choose Properties.

          Click the Open Folder Location button.

          Find and open the Utils folder,

          Run the CleanPreferencesWin file.

          Restart Captivate, open the project and see if the issue is resolved.

          Cheers... Rick

            Lilybiri
            Lilybiri
            Brainiac
            December 3, 2014

            Rick, I would have started with clearing the cache, and restarting CP and PC, it sometimes helps as well and you don't lose all customization. Maybe that is not important, but for me it takes at least half an hour to reset everything, so I avoid to clean preferences until I have tried all other techniques.

              A
              Anonymous
              January 12, 2015

              Oh, what was I thinking, not doing a restart. Tech support 101---turn it off and turn it back on. Restarting did the trick.

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