Captivate Tip: Making a Zoom Area Zoom Out and Back in Again

One of the cool new features in Captivate 2.0 is the Zoom Area feature (Insert > Zoom Area). The basic idea of this feature is to draw the learner’s attention to a specific area of the screen by expanding a portion of the image.

"Zoom In" To Highlight Part of an Image

The Zoom Area feature can draw the learner’s eye to a particular part of an image. For instance, the following example zooms in on Australia.

Show Me This Example in Action

You could use the Zoom Area to highlight a particular part of a user interface. Remember, when you record a movie in Captivate, it records the user interface as a series of background images. You can zoom in on any part of these background images with the Zoom Area feature.

Show Me This Example in Action

Make the Zoom Area Zoom Back In

Unfortunately, you can’t just click a checkbox and make a Zoom Area zoom back in. However, you can create a workaround for this limitation by creating a second Zoom Area.

1. Insert the first Zoom Area (Insert > Zoom Area).

2. Resize and position the Zoom Area (the part of the image that you want to enlarge) and the Zoom Destination Area (the final location and size of the enlarged image).
   
   
3. Take a screen shot of the enlarged Zoom Destination Area and save it as a JPG or PNG file.
   
   
4. Create a second Zoom Area (Insert > Zoom Area). Before you click OK to create the Zoom Area, click Select Image. Locate the screen shot you made in Step 3 and select it for the Zoom Area. This will make it appear that the Zoom Area is still showing the enlarged portion of the image.
   
   
5. Place the second Zoom Area box over the first Zoom Destination Area.
   
   
6. Place the second Zoom Destination Area over the first Zoom Area box.

7. Adjust the timing so the second Zoom Area follows the first one. On the First Zoom Area, the timing before the divider indicates how long it takes to zoom out; the area after the divider is the duration that the enlarged Zoom Area stays on the screen after zooming out. On the Second Zoom Area, the timing before the divider indicates how long it takes to zoom back in; the area after the divider is very short to make the reduced image (and its border) disappear as soon as the image is back to its original size.

8. Now preview your slide. The first zoom area will enlarge the area and the second zoom area will reduce it to the original size.

Show Me This Example in Action