Adjusting Sizes to Specific Values

[shaunt93879734]

Hi there,

I'm fairly new to Adobe Captivate and i'm understanding that there are quite a few quirks that you have to get used to, coming from using other Adobe programs regularly.

One thing that I've found frustrating and feel that i'm probably missing something, is adjusting sizes of numerous things (fluid boxes, object and images) to specific dimension values.

For example i have 3 rows of vertical fluid boxes and i want to adjust the top box to be a height of 75px. Sometimes i can slide the adjustment bar to the correct location by hand but other times it will go from 74 to 76 and i can never actually get it to the right value.

I've tried creating a guide at the correct location and then snapping to that, but setting this guide location is hard to get right as well and once it is positioned, the fluid box will not always snap to the guide. I also tried lowering the grid size in preferences and zooming in and then adjusting.

Is there a way for me to select the fluid box and to enter the height value?

I am able to click on the properties position menu and view the dimensions but you cannot select or adjust these values.

I'd really appreciate any help

Kind Regards,

Shaun

[Lilybiri · Accepted solution]

You should upgrade to CP2019, it has more sizing options for fluid boxes. However I don't see rarely sesne in having a fluid box with a specific size in pixels, I always use % for them.

My approach in CP2017 was indeed using guides, eventually setting up a grid with those guides because the old 'grid' is IMO pretty useless, almost invisible certainly when using a dark background.

Maybe you did see my blog post about using guides to set up master slides in a fluid boxes project?

Guides and Fluid Boxes: Best Buddies! - Captivate blog

You can set a guide to a specific location, but indeed the snapping is not always working seamlessly, have logged a bug report about that. Same for snapping of points in a motion path to guide intersections.

If you ever use a non-responsive project (which I do in 90% of the client jobs) and publish to rescalable HTML the size and exact location of an object can be found under the Options tab in the Properties panel (not very intuitive, I know). For a responsive project with Breakpoint Views you have a dedicated Position Properties panel, which is also used now in the new version (CP2019) for Fluid Boxes.

As an ACP, using a lot of Adobe applications, I totally understand your pain with the UI of Captivate. I deeply regret that it moved away fro the branded Adobe interfaces since Captivate 8. Just another tip: switch immediately to the Expert UI in Captivate by checking the option 'Enable custom worksapces....' in Preferences, General Settings. At least that will enable you to make panels floating and to set up some custom workspaces, instead of panels showing up being controlled by Captivate.

[shaunt93879734]

Thanks very much for the quick reply and helpful info!

I'll download the new version now and let you know how i go.

I was really hoping this program was similar to Dreamweaver since they are both basically html creators. There are many similarities in the features (for example responsive design) but to achieve the same result in Captivate is much more difficult.

I'll definitely try the Expert UI, hopefully that helps.

Based on your comment regarding Captivate 8, Is this program not supported by Adobe anymore?

[Lilybiri]

Try out the Breakpoint views if you need more control. I once wrote a post comparing Fluid Boxes and Breakpoints:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/fluid-boxes-or-breakpoint-views

It was written for CP2017, have to update for the new version but I never blog before having explored a feature in depth. Too perfectionist maybe?

Captivate is supported by Adobe, but it is a different business unit (eLearning) and is not in the Creative Cloud. It had a UI that was similar to the default Adobe look in version 5-7. But then they switched with 8 to this UI, which should be more intuitive and better suited for Newbies. I totally disagree, and did see only my workflow slow down a lot because customisation was decreased, more clicks and mouse movements are needed, less shortcut keys. Most users do disagree with me, but I have lived with Photoshop and other Adobe apps since more than 20 years.

[shaunt93879734]

I have started using the new 2019 Captivate and it is much better in regards to this topic of resizing objects and fluid boxes to specific dimensions. Great to see some other new features too.

I completely agree with you; the UI doesn't seem very intuitive, but i have also spent years in Adobe software such as Photoshop and Illustrator.

In your experience as an ACP, do Adobe listen to user reported bugs or suggested improvements? And are they fairly prompt with software updates?

Thanks again for the help!

[Lilybiri]

Have a look at my testimonial:

Congratulations! - Prerelease Experience - eLearning