Adobe Captivate 6: Become a Groupie!

It's such a small thing, but as a long-time Captivate user I have always been disappointed with the fact that there was no way to group slide objects. Sure, you can select multiple objects by [Shift]-clicking, but you have to repeat the selection process every time you want to do something to related objects. In a word, that's annoying!

As with many Captivate shortcomings, grouping is now available in Adobe Captivate 6. And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you can do with grouped objects.

Creating a group is simple. All you need to do is select two or more slide objects and choose Edit > Group. (Note: You can create multiple groups on a slide.)

Once you've created a group, take a look at the Propertiespanel and you will see a new Group area. Use the Name field to give your group a name. 

  

My favorite thing about creating groups is the ability to quickly update all of the objects in the group. For instance, if you select a group on the Timeline and use the Properties panel to apply a different Style, every object in the group will take on the new style. Need to change the Timing for multiple objects? No problem. Group the objects and then, using the Timing group on the Properties panel, change the Timing as needed for the group.

Are you a grouping groupie yet? No? Okay...  there's more. If you've got multiple groups on a slide, you can send one group behind (or in front of) another group by right-clicking (or dragging one group above another on the Timeline). You can make entire groups hidden on a slide by default and then, using Actions, make all kinds of objects appear (or disappear) on a slide. 

You can duplicate groups, copy/paste groups to multiple slides, merge a group with a slide's background and even rotate groups. And if you get tired of the group, sure you can delete it, but you can Ungroup too (Edit > Ungroup).

I admit it, I'm a Captivate group groupie. Go ahead and give groups a whirl. I predict that you'll be a groupie too!

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Looking to learn Captivate quickly? We offer two live, online Captivate 5 classes. Adobe Captivate Essentials and Adobe Captivate Beyond the Essentials (Advanced). Our Captivate 6 classes will ramp up in August.

Comments

[Tweetertin]

Thanks for this post! I've been trying my hand at grouping objects lately, but I can't seem to change the timing of grouped objects the way you described it. I don't see a Timing section in the Properties panel when I select the grouped objects. Other than add a shadow or reflection, and tilt the angle, I haven't been able to do much with grouped objects. Would appreciate it if you could share how exactly you were able to do this: 'Group the objects and then, using the Timing group on the Properties panel, change the Timing as needed for the group.'