Macromedia captivate 2 User Manual

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Chapter 2:  Exploring the Workspace

Using the Library

The Library, which is available in Edit view, lists media items in a project, and lets you easily view 
and reuse the images, backgrounds, audio, and animation in your project.

You can also open items for edit from the Library. For example, you can right-click an image in 
the Library, select Edit With from the menu, and browse to your favorite image editing program. 
The image opens in the program, and you can edit and save the updated image in the project.

You can float the Library outside the program window, or move it to a different location in the 
window. To do so, rest the pointer over the top left corner of the Library pane until a four-point 
arrow appears; then drag the Library to an edge of the program window where it can dock, or to 
the middle of the program window where it can float. (If you want, you can always drag the 
Library back.) 

For each item, the Library displays the following columns: Name, Type, Size (in kilobytes), Use 
Count, and Date Modified. (Use Count is the number of times the item is used in the project.) 
Click the title of any of these columns to sort the list of items within each item category folder.

Note: You can only see the Library location when you’re in Edit view. If you switch to a different view, 
you cannot see the Library. When you move back to Edit view, the Library reappears in the same 
location.

New items appear in the Library whenever you add an item to the project. An item remains in the 
Library and is available for reuse even if you delete the slide in which that item was originally 
located.

If you use an item in one slide and then drag it from the Library to another slide, you can alter the 
item properties in the subsequent slide without affecting the first instance of the item.

Library toolbar

The Library toolbar appears at the top of the main Library pane, below the Library preview pane. 
The toolbar contains the following options:

Open Library

  Select this option to open another Adobe Captivate project’s Library. This allows 

you to reuse any item from that project’s Library in your current project.

Export

  Select this option to save a copy of an item to a location outside of the project.

Edit

  Select this option to open an item in the editing application you previously selected for the 

file type. This option is not enabled until you select an editing application for the specific file type 
through the Edit with option in a Library item’s right-click menu.

Properties

  Select this option to open the properties dialog box for the selected item.

Usage

  Select this option to view the list of slides on which the selected item is used.

Update

  Select this option to update Library items that have been edited outside of the project.

Select unused items

  Select this option to highlight all items in the Library that are not 

currently used in the project.

Delete

  Select this option to delete the selected item(s) from the project.