Adobe in Technical Communication and eLearning

In my spare time I often develop eLearning modules — highlighting
ways to use our own Adobe Technologies more effectively — and then
share these with my internal teams.

A couple of weeks ago, I
developed a brief eLeaning module on how to use the Acrobat.com
Outlook plug-in for sharing large files.

The module was
included in last week’s internal newsletter! I’d like to share it with
you here, since you too have access to this plug-in, and other
Acrobat.com services.

I’d also like to share the specific Adobe eLearning
Suite tools I used to put the module together:

• Adobe Soundbooth (SB). I use SB
  all the time for all things audio recording and editing. For this
  particular project I used SB to record the audio files for slides
  1, 2, 4 and 5, which I then imported into Adobe Presenter. For
  the background audio you hear throughout, I used one of the
  included scores in SB. Even though Captivate has audio editing
  capabilities, I prefer to edit Captivate’s audio in SB. To do
  this, I navigate to the Captivate slide that needs editing, select
  the audio in the Library, and then select Edit with Soundbooth.
  There, I do all required editing and select File > Save. Then
  the updated version is sent directly back to Captivate.
• Adobe Captivate. Captivate is
  my baby! I do all of my software simulations using Adobe Captivate
  and then share them on Twitter and on my blog. I really like
  using Captivate and Adobe Presenter together and I have been
  looking for an opportunity to embed a Captivate simulation in an
  Adobe Presenter slide (which I’ve done here on slide 3).
• Adobe Flash. I’m by no means a
  Flash expert, but I use Flash as a way to supplement my Captivate
  work with short animations. For this module I only used it briefly
  to add a short animation on the first slide of Captivate to
  display a keyboard shortcut for creating a new email. You can see
  this at the beginning of the Simulation on slide 3.
• Adobe Presenter. While some
  people might think that Adobe Presenter and Captivate compete,
  they actual complement each other, and I use both tools in most of
  the projects I develop. I really like Presenter because it
  enables me to stay in PowerPoint and add audio to my slides and
  sync the audio to the animations I include. Presenter also enables
  me to easily choose a skin for the navigation, along with a
  picture, bio, outline and a thumbnail view of my slides for easy
  navigation.  What I like the most, however, is how easy it is for
  me to insert Captivate simulations on any slide and then have the
  Presenter playbar control the Captivate simulation. The
  applications are well integrated and the final experience is cohesive
  for end-users. To see this in action, check out slide 3 in the
  presentation below.
• Adobe Photoshop. For this
  particular project, I didn’t use Photoshop much, but I often use
  it to design any graphics I need to include or to edit Captivate
  slides. The ability to import .PSD files into Captivate and
  preserve the Photoshop layers is one of my favorite features in
  the Suite.
• Adobe Bridge. Bridge is great
  for managing media assets. I use it all the time. It allows me to
  find images I need in Captivate and then use the File > Place
  command to quickly send to Captivate, Photoshop or other products.

So there you have it! These are just a few ways
that I use my Adobe tools. I’d love to hear how you use these Adobe
tools in your everyday workflows.

Watch this brief eLearning
module on how to use the Acrobat.com plug-in for MS Outlook to share
large files. Just click the image below to display the module in a new
window.

eLearning,Adobe,Acrobat.com,Outlook,email

In my spare time I often develop eLearning modules — highlighting ways to use our own Adobe Technologies more effectively — and then share these with my internal teams.

A couple of weeks ago, I developed a brief eLeaning module on how to use the Acrobat.com Outlook plug-in for sharing large files.

The module was included in last week’s internal newsletter! I’d like to share it with you here, since you too have access to this plug-in, and other Acrobat.com services.

I’d also like to share the specific Adobe eLearning Suite tools I used to put the module together:

• Adobe Soundbooth (SB). I use SB all the time for all things audio recording and editing. For this particular project I used SB to record the audio files for slides 1, 2, 4 and 5, which I then imported into Adobe Presenter. For the background audio you hear throughout, I used one of the included scores in SB. Even though Captivate has audio editing capabilities, I prefer to edit Captivate’s audio in SB. To do this, I navigate to the Captivate slide that needs editing, select the audio in the Library, and then select Edit with Soundbooth. There, I do all required editing and select File > Save. Then the updated version is sent directly back to Captivate.
• Adobe Captivate. Captivate is my baby! I do all of my software simulations using Adobe Captivate and then share them on Twitter and on my blog. I really like using Captivate and Adobe Presenter together and I have been looking for an opportunity to embed a Captivate simulation in an Adobe Presenter slide (which I’ve done here on slide 3).
• Adobe Flash. I’m by no means a Flash expert, but I use Flash as a way to supplement my Captivate work with short animations. For this module I only used it briefly to add a short animation on the first slide of Captivate to display a keyboard shortcut for creating a new email. You can see this at the beginning of the Simulation on slide 3.
• Adobe Presenter. While some people might think that Adobe Presenter and Captivate compete, they actual complement each other, and I use both tools in most of the projects I develop. I really like Presenter because it enables me to stay in PowerPoint and add audio to my slides and sync the audio to the animations I include. Presenter also enables me to easily choose a skin for the navigation, along with a picture, bio, outline and a thumbnail view of my slides for easy navigation.  What I like the most, however, is how easy it is for me to insert Captivate simulations on any slide and then have the Presenter playbar control the Captivate simulation. The applications are well integrated and the final experience is cohesive for end-users. To see this in action, check out slide 3 in the presentation below.
• Adobe Photoshop. For this particular project, I didn’t use Photoshop much, but I often use it to design any graphics I need to include or to edit Captivate slides. The ability to import .PSD files into Captivate and preserve the Photoshop layers is one of my favorite features in the Suite.
• Adobe Bridge. Bridge is great for managing media assets. I use it all the time. It allows me to find images I need in Captivate and then use the File > Place command to quickly send to Captivate, Photoshop or other products.

So there you have it! These are just a few ways that I use my Adobe tools. I’d love to hear how you use these Adobe tools in your everyday workflows.

Watch this brief eLearning module on how to use the Acrobat.com plug-in for MS Outlook to share large files. Just click the image below to display the module in a new window.

elearning,Adobe,Evangelist,Acrobat.com,Outook