Free Adobe eSeminars for Captivate 5.5

While Adobe Captivate 5.5 is an easy to use tool- it is great that Adobe will be offering free eSeminars to walk you through the finer points.  To register for one of the seminars just click in the link. Enjoy! Brian

Alternate Reporting and Quiz Result Analyzer in Adobe Captivate 5.5

Thursday, Sept. 22 – 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET

Join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh and Vish to learn about the alternate options available for quiz reporting like Acrobat.com and Internal Server. They will also show you how to analyze the results using Adobe Captivate Quiz Results Analyzer.

Let’s Explore the Branching View in Adobe Captivate 5.5

Thursday, Sept. 29 – 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET

Join Vish and Dr. Pooja Jaisingh to learn how to use the Branching panel effectively in Adobe Captivate 5.5.

Deep Dive: Effective Soft Skills Training in Adobe Captivate: Part 3

Wednesday, Oct. 12 – 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET

Join Dr. Allen Partridge for Part 3 of an advanced tutorial on creating soft skills simulations with Adobe Captivate. This session is recommended for intermediate and advanced users and assumes fundamental awareness of Adobe Captivate. Dr. Partridge will demonstrate and break-down the elements commonly used in creating soft skills simulations. This will be a technically oriented session focused on advanced actions and creating the logical decision trees and complementary functions to make advanced branching dependent projects really sing.

Adobe is Offering Free eSeminars on Adobe Captivate & eLearning Suite

If you have moved up to Adobe Captivate 5.5 or the new eLearning Suite then you should consider signing up for these Free eSeminars that are being hosted by Adobe. Adobe Captivate 5.5 &  eLearning Suite 2.5 breaks new ground for designing and developing rapid elearning courses. Find out how to accomplish more with these tools by attending these free seminars. Information about how to sign up is below. HOpe yo can make it!

I would recommend registering for the eSeminars in advance by visiting Adobe’s Webinar site or using the links below. You’ll be prompted for your Adobe ID (creating one is easy and free) during registration and will receive detailed log-in information via email. NOTE: Click on the “test your computer” link to ensure you’ll be able to successfully log into the eSeminar.  

Reviewing eLearning Courses Made Easy with Adobe Captivate 5.5

Thursday, July 21 – 9 a.m. PT/noon ET

Join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh and Vish to learn how to use Adobe Captivate Reviewer to get your Captivate projects reviewed by the SMEs, internal team or customers. Also learn how to leverage Acrobat.com or your internal server in this process.

Getting started with Adobe Photoshop for Adobe Captivate users

Wednesday, July 27 – 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET

Join RJ Jacquez, Adobe Senior Product Evangelist, for a fun session on Photoshop, specifically designed for new users who are already familiar with Adobe Captivate. In this session, you learn how to get started using Photoshop for enhancing your Captivate projects, how to work with Layers and how to use the powerful content-aware fill tool for including just the right images in your eLearning projects.

Video Integration in Adobe Captivate 5.5

Thursday, July 28 – 9 a.m. PT/noon ET

Join Vish and Dr. Pooja Jaisingh to learn more on video integration in Adobe Captivate 5.5. In this session, they will show different ways to insert video in Captivate and use them as an object or slide video. They will also demonstrate how to distribute the video to multiple slides as well as how to add video to TOC.

Hands-on: Using Objects in Adobe Captivate 5.5

Thursday, August 4 – 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET

Join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh and Vish for a hands-on session on how to add standard and interactive objects in Adobe Captivate 5.5. They will also discuss the best practices of using these objects in Adobe Captivate 5.5.

Roundtripping Adobe Captivate audio in Adobe Audition

Wednesday, August 10 – 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET

Join RJ Jacquez, Adobe Senior Product Evangelist, for a session on how to take audio editing beyond the features in Adobe Captivate using Adobe Audition. In this session you will learn best practices for moving your audio between Captivate and Audition, as well as tips for adding background audio that you can control with precision and more.

Adobe Unveils New Acrobat X Solutions

Easily Create, Review and Share Compelling Documents with Greater Productivity Across Organizations

SAN JOSE, Calif., — Oct. 18, 2010 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced the Adobe® Acrobat® X software family – Acrobat X, Reader® X, the Acrobat X Suite and new document exchange services at Acrobat.com – that empowers professionals to innovate and create higher quality content, driving tighter collaboration and productivity across teams in today’s dynamic business environments.

“Companies today need to work with their customers and partners in multiple time zones, languages and cross-functional teams,” said Melissa Webster, analyst, IDC. “Seamless, fluid content creation and collaboration is critical to how organizations use, repurpose and share information – it is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it is an imperative to success in today’s business world.”

Acrobat X delivers new guided Actions to simplify multi-step document preparation and publishing processes; completely new customization capabilities in PDF Portfolios unify multiple file types into a compelling presentation. New document services available at Acrobat.com give individuals the ability to collaborate more efficiently. Integration with Microsoft SharePoint enables consistency of PDF documents across the enterprise; re-use of content is now easier with higher quality export to Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® Excel.

New Acrobat X Highlighted Features

·         Automate routine, multi-step tasks with new guided Actions and easily share them with coworkers and collaborators, reducing the burden of training.

·         Change how users view, think and interact with content and its context with PDF Portfolios using new layouts, visual themes and color palettes.

·         Maximize the power of Adobe Photoshop® and Adobe Acrobat to easily create dynamic communications with the new Acrobat X Suite. Quickly capture, edit and combine digital content right from the desktop.

·         Increase productivity across the organization with new Microsoft® SharePoint integration. Check-in, check-out PDF files for reviewing and editing shared documents.

·         Streamline the process for large organizations to deploy, configure and manage updates and conform to ISO standards, in both Adobe Reader X and Acrobat X, including support for Microsoft SCCM and SCUP.

·         Display the most commonly used tools all in one pane with the updated user interface.

New in Adobe Reader X

·         Commenting is now available in Adobe Reader X, with Sticky Notes and Highlighter tools available to all users.

·         Expands PDF access to mobile devices with free Adobe Reader X for Android, Windows® Phone 7 and Blackberry Tablet OS.

·         Safer viewing of PDF files with new Protected Mode security capabilities in Reader X.

New Services via Acrobat.com

·         Adobe SendNow, a valuable new document exchange service at Acrobat.com, enables users to send and receive large files and track them with proof of receipt, avoiding e-mail gateway issues, complicated FTP servers, or the costs of expensive overnight mail.

·         Adobe CreatePDF for easily converting files to professional PDF documents from within Adobe Reader X or any Web browser.

Quotes

Kevin M. Lynch, vice president and general manager of Acrobat, Digital Enterprise Solutions Group, Adobe

·         “Today, more than ever, people need to communicate and collaborate reliably and professionally with people outside their organization. Acrobat X is a response to this dynamic – to drive more fluid collaboration and to create richer experiences in today’s fast-paced, complex business environments.”

Larry Hawes, lead analyst, Collaboration and Enterprise Social Software, at Gilbane Group

·         “Collaborative documents is a visionary collaborative content model that is just now beginning to be realized. Perhaps the clearest, productized articulation of this vision that I have seen is the PDF Portfolios component of Adobe Acrobat, enabling content creators to bring together multiple related files into a single space without altering them, and then share that bundle with others. Think of a PDF Portfolio as a ZIP file in which the relationship between the individual files in the container is defined and sequenced, as are the slides in a presentation.”

Bill Rue, chief information officer, HASSELL, international network of architectural design studios

·         “Using advanced Microsoft SharePoint functionality in Acrobat X, we can seamlessly integrate documents into our workflows, simplifying projects and helping to ensure we have the right people working on the right project, at the right moment.”

Johnny Chloride, solution delivery manager, HASSELL

·         “Acrobat X offers a sleek user interface and tool panes that make the software extremely easy to use for anyone.”

Mason Farmani, COO and managing partner, Barkley Court Reporters, the largest court reporting firm in California

·         “With Acrobat X, streamlined document commenting and collaboration improves sharing ideas and information. For us, it helps accelerate our internal learning processes and gives our clients the tools to work together more effectively.”

Ron Usher, managing partner, Bell Alliance, real estate and estate planning leader

·         “The Action Wizard in Acrobat X empowers our staff to transform many of their time consuming tasks into simple one-step processes.”

·         “In the latest release, Adobe has found a great balance between rich features and delivering an intuitive application with a modern, clean interface.”

Helpful Links

·         Adobe TV: Top 10 New Acrobat X Features

·         Adobe TV: Insights on Protected Mode with Brad Arkin

·         Adobe TV: Insights on the Future of Services with Rick Treitman

·         Adobe TV: Customer video on Acrobat X: Bureau Veritas

·         Adobe TV: Customer video on Acrobat X: Universal Mind

·         Acrobat X product box shots and screen shots

·         Acrobat blog

·         Acrobat Twitter account

·         Acrobat User Community

Product Family

This release line-up includes the following Acrobat X products:

·         Acrobat X Standard

·         Acrobat X Pro

·         New: Acrobat X Suite, includes Adobe Photoshop® CS5, Adobe Acrobat X Pro, Adobe Presenter 7, Adobe Captivate® 5,  Adobe Media Encoder CS5, Adobe LiveCycle® Designer ES2 software.

·         Adobe Reader X

·         Acrobat.com services, including new Adobe SendNow and Adobe Create PDF online document exchange services.

Pricing and Availability

Acrobat X and its associated products are scheduled to ship within 30 days, with availability through Adobe Authorized Resellers, the Adobe Store and Adobe Direct Sales.

·         Estimated street price for:

o    Acrobat X Standard is expected to be US$299 ($139 upgrade)

o    Acrobat X Pro is expected to be US$449 ($199 upgrade)

o    Acrobat X Suite is expected to be US$1199 ($799)

·         Pricing for Education available through the Adobe Education Store.

·         Free 30-day trial of Acrobat Pro will be available upon product ship.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

###

© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Captivate, LiveCycle, Photoshop and Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Adobe Announces eLearning Suite 2 & Captivate 5

SAN JOSE, Calif. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe eLearning Suite 2, a significant upgrade to its tightly integrated, end-to-end solution for easily creating, reviewing and maintaining eLearning content. The suite, now natively compatible with Mac OS in addition to Windows, enables eLearning professionals, educators and trainers to turn creative ideas into dynamic eLearning materials that engage learners with multimedia and interactivity. eLearning Suite 2 - anchored by the new Adobe Captivate 5 - includes Adobe Flash Professional CS5, Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, Adobe Presenter 7 and Adobe Soundbooth CS5.

"Today's educational and professional learning departments are under enormous pressure to deliver impactful content quickly and efficiently," said Naresh Gupta, senior vice president, Print and Publishing at Adobe. "eLearning Suite 2 is a major leap forward in eLearning content creation. It addresses the challenge with its tightly integrated toolset that allows content creators to develop powerful media-rich eLearning experiences without the time and expense of programming."

Adobe eLearning Suite 2 enhances productivity with smarter aggregation capabilities included in Adobe Captivate 5, eLearning extensions for Dreamweaver and Flash, and new application round tripping workflows between authoring and asset creation tools. For example, a course designer can now insert Adobe Photoshop CS5 (PSD) files as smart objects into an Adobe Captivate project and update the images with one click should the original files change without having to resave and reinsert images. Similar workflows exist between the other eLearning Suite components including Adobe Captivate, Soundbooth and Flash.

"Timely, effective training on the use of our products is critical for us and our customers to meet compliance requirements," said Mary McGivern, Instructional Designer, Omnicell, a leading provider of comprehensive, technologically advanced automation that enables healthcare facilities to acquire, manage, dispense, and deliver medications and supplies more effectively. "The new user interface in Adobe Captivate 5 lets me work more efficiently and is now similar to other Adobe products. This will speed up my workflow and help me meet timelines more effectively."

Introducing Captivate 5

Adobe Captivate is the industry-leading, rapid authoring solution for developing demonstrations, application simulations and branching scenarios - without requiring programming expertise while not compromising quality. Version 5, which introduces the software to Mac OS, offers exciting new features that allow users to do more complex tasks faster such as enhanced importing and round tripping for Microsoft PowerPoint.

The new user interface - similar to the Dreamweaver CS5, Flash CS5 and Photoshop CS5 interfaces - lets users create and revise content faster and more easily than ever before by supporting multiple document editing and personalized workspaces. The Properties Inspector tool also boosts time-savings, as course authors can edit object properties in fewer steps. Additionally, eLearning professionals can leverage an expanded asset library and use customizable widgets to quickly create tables and design graphical buttons. Other major enhancements include support for rich animation effects, the ability to import videos in popular formats (AVI, MOV, FLV, MPEG) and synchronize video across multiple slides.

For more effective collaboration, Adobe Captivate 5 customers can upload, exchange and review content, as well as track and report learner scores by signing up for Adobe's online productivity software, Acrobat.com (available separately). Also, a new widget lets students and educators interact via Twitter, facilitating online Q&As and group discussion.

To ease the process of maintaining content, Adobe Captivate 5 introduces Object Style editing, which facilitates changes project-wide with just a few clicks, allowing content creators to easily define and modify the look and feel of buttons, text, images and other elements. eLearning designers can also create Master Slides with preset themes and styles for text, shapes and graphics. This accelerates authoring as contributors can focus on content rather than formatting details, and ensures that the look and feel of an organization's presentations are preserved. Once eLearning content is published, training and learning professionals can track and report key performance metrics via Acrobat.com or their own Web server.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe eLearning Suite 2 and Adobe Captivate 5 are expected to be available via Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store in June. Customers can pre-order Adobe eLearning Suite 2 and Captivate 5 today. Estimated street price for the suite is US$1799; upgrade pricing starts at US$599. Estimated street price for Adobe Captivate 5 is US$799; upgrade pricing starts at US$299. Educational pricing is available for both products.

Both products are compatible with Mac OS X v10.5.7 or v10.6, Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended), Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 or Windows 7 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7). The Mac OS version of eLearning Suite 2 does not contain Adobe Presenter.

Helpful Links

eLearning Suite 2 and Captivate 5 Customer Quote Sheet
eLearning Workflows in eLearning Suite 2
eLearning Suite 2 home page
What's new in eLearning Suite 2 (On-demand seminar)
Top new features in Captivate 5
Captivate 5 home page
What's new in Captivate 5 (On-demand seminar)

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

(c) 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, eLearning Suite 2, Captivate, Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Acrobat and Soundbooth are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6275652&lang=en

Press/ Analyst Contacts
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Stefan Offermann, 408-536-4023
sofferma@adobe.com
or
A&R Edelman
Gina Pucci, 650-762-2897
gpucci@ar-edelman.com

Speaking at the DevLearn 2009 Conference

I am really excited to have my presentation accepted this year at the DevLearn 2009 Conference which will be held in San Jose, CA from November 10-13, 2009. This is a great opportunity for me to share how I have been using eLearning in the work that I do teaching graduate courses in educational and assistive technology. I will be speaking on the topic of: Delivering e-Learning Assets in PDF Format. It is also an opportunity for me to meet some of the renowned leaders in the field of eLearing and learn the latest from some of the best in the field. While I'm out in San Jose, I will also have a chance to spend Monday at the Adobe Learning Summit 2009, an all day conference focusing on learning more about the Adobe products and how to best use them to put together innovative eLearning materials.

Here is a synopsis of my presentation for the DevLearn 2009 Conference:

Using the ubiquitous PDF format, it is now easier than ever to deliver your digital assets for your students to view with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader 9. Today you can also take advantage of screencasting software (Adobe Captivate and Camatasia Studio) that can be integrated into a PDF Portfolio. These technologies now let you incorporate rich media into your courses, and deliver them as a PDF.

In this session, participants will learn how to create PDF Portfolios that can contain Word documents, graphics, Excel spreadsheets, and video, and deliver your final document in one PDF file. You will learn how to use Adobe Acrobat Extended Pro with Adobe Presenter to create e Learning materials from your PowerPoint slides that you can publish as a PDF. You will also view a recently completed eBook project called Technology Support for Writing that incorporates SWF videos.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to create a PDF Portfolio using a variety of file formats


• How to create e-Learning materials from your PowerPoint slides using Adobe Presenter


• How to integrate SWF videos from Camtasia Studio and Adobe Captivate into your PDF Portfolios


• How to deliver your PDF Portfolio with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader


• How to add SWF videos to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint

If you you are interested in eLearning this is one conference you will not want to miss. Hope to see you there.

Adobe eLearning Suite - Captivate 4

First off, I would like to thank Reagan at A&R Edelman for providing me a review copy of the Adobe eLearning Suite. I had posted about the release of this powerful eLearning toolkit some months ago and have just got around to looking at some of the new features specifically in Captivate 4, which is one of the core rapid eLearning tools found within the suite. I have used Captivate 3 to create a number of training and simulation videos for the work that I do and wanted to dig my heals in and see what was new in Captivate 4. From the onset there are some small but significant changes to the interface when capturing your screenshots which gives the developer more freedom and control when you start a project. I found the new interface to be intuitive and really enjoyed the control it gave me when shooting my video. For the past couple of weeks I have been reviewing MindView 3, and wanted to see how I could create a training video for someone who was new to using the Gantt View. In the training video the user will be prompted on the screen to change the duration of a task, create resources and then assign the resources. Click on this link to view the training video.

One of the new features which was integrated into Captivate 4 is Text to Speech (TTS). As a consultant in the field of assistive technology I have been using TTS for some time now and was excited to learn that Adobe Captivate 4 would include this feature. Adobe now supplies the Kate and Paul voices from NeoSpeech, two high quality voices which I have used in the past with students. I wondered how I could use the TTS in the training module and was pleasantly surprised just how good the voices sounded in my video. Inserting text to speech was extremely easy to do- you simply type the text you want Captivate 4 to say in the Slide Note area, and click, on the Covert to Speech button. Once the text has been converted you can then instantly listen to the instructions from within Captivate 4 by clicking on the Play button. As I went through my slides I found that I could copy the text that Adobe Captivate 4 created when I set up the simulation and paste it into the Slide Note area to quickly transform the text to TTS. The speech sounds very clear and is a very fast way to at times, circumvent having to use voice narration. I will let you be the judge of that and I hope you will add comments with regard to how you found the TTS in the video.

One of the really nice feautres that you will not see is the way that Adobe Captivate 4 handles the production of the files. In the past if your video included real time video captures, Adobe Captivate 3 would create multiple videos which made it more of a challenge to upload and manage. With the release of Adobe Captivate 4, things have changed and now regardless of number of real time video captures there is only one final production SWF file. This is a great feature which I know you will enjoy. Likewise, with the release of Adobe Captivate 4 you can now output your training or simulation videos as a PDF file which will run perfectly with Acrobat Reader 9. This is truly a very powerful feature- being able to distribute your digital eLearning assets as a PDF file. In future posts, I will take a look at how you can incorporate Variables and Widgets into your Captivate 4 training videos and simulations. With the release of Captivate 4 as part of the Adobe elearning Suite once again Adobe has produced a quality software applicaiton for rapid elearning.

Adobe eLearning Suite- A Very Special Webinar

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be able to do participate in a one-to-one webinar on the new Adobe elearning Suite with RJ Jacquez, Senior Product Evangelist for the Adobe eLearning Suite which was just recently released. I would like to thank Jody from A & R Edleman for making this possible and for keeping me abreast of all the exciting developments that are taking place at Adobe in the eLearning space. RJ was kind enough to highlight the key features in the Adobe eLearning Suite and show me how the individual software applications in the package add value to the suite. The Adobe eLearning Suite consists of the following applications that work together to enrich the users eLearning experience: Captivate 4, Adobe Flash CS4, Adobe DreamWeaver CS4, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, Adobe Presenter 7, Adobe Soundbooth CS4, as well as Adobe Bridge CS4, Adobe Device Central CS4, and a SCORM Packager.

Having been an avid Captivate 3 user I was glad to see some of the new features which have been added to Captivate 4 that will allow me more control and easier ways to personalize the eLearning experience. Captivate 4 now includes the ability to store variables which will allow the developer to personalize the experience in your courses. One of the really nice features which I was able to see yesterday was the ability for automatic panning which lets you capture an area of the screen which may be outside the original preset. All of us who use Captivate will be glad to find out that we can output the video as one SWF file regardless if your video has captured full motion recording. And last but not least Captivate 4 has the ability to send your video out and allow others to comment without the other party having to own Captivate. Using an Adobe AIR application individuals can comment on the video without the need to own a copy of Captivate. What I was most impressed by during the webinar was how the various software applications were integrated into the workflow and how Captivate 4 is able to communicate effortlessly with the other applications in the suite. In the next couple of weeks look for more posts on the Adobe eLearning Suite.

Back to Teaching

With the new semester just beginning I have been preoccupied with getting my graduate classes set up and running. It is always exciting to start a new semester full of new ideas and ways to deliver and instruct my classes. Last week I had a chance to use PollEveryWhere in my class and it worked like a charm. My students were impressed and enjoyed the opportunity to learn a new technology that they may be able to use in their classroom. I plan on using more digital assets for my hybrid courses using tools like Camtasia Studio 6, Adobe Captivate, Adobe Acrobat 9, and Adobe Presenter which I can utilize wtih BlackBoard.

For the past couple of months I have been developing an Assistive Technology eBook with a colleague, complete with video tutorials that should be out in a couple of weeks. More to come about this eBook in a couple of days. It is an exciting project and one that shows the true potential of these various tools for educational purposes. The final product will be delivered as a downloadable PDF file taking advantage of Acrobat 9 now being able to play video's with nothing more than Acrobat Reader 9. Boy we have come a long way!

So stay tuned to this blog for more information about the Assistive Technology eBook and my reflections on using more digital assests in my courses using the aforementioned software applications.

Adobe eLearning Suite

FYI: Today Adobe, Inc. released a number of products that I thought you would interested in learning about. As I learn more about the new offerings I will share the information with you.

Today, Adobe Systems Inc. today announced the Adobe eLearning Suite, a new content-authoring solution for learning professionals, educators and trainers. Users can create rich learning experiences that are deliverable via the Web, desktop, mobile devices and learning management systems using this integrated set of tools, which includes:

· The just-released Adobe Captivate 4

· Adobe Flash CS4

· Adobe Dreamweaver CS4

· Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended

· Adobe Acrobat Pro

· Adobe Presenter 7

· Adobe Soundbooth CS4

· Adobe Bridge CS4

· Adobe Device Central CS4

The full press release is below. Please let me know if you'd like additional information, including box shots and screenshots, or to schedule time with an Adobe spokesperson.

Best,

Gina Pucci for Adobe Systems Inc.

650-762-2897

____________________________________

Adobe Introduces New eLearning Suite And Captivate 4 -- Learning Professionals Gain Unmatched Productivity Through Courseware Authoring Tools

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jan. 20, 2009 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the Adobe eLearning Suite software, a new content-authoring solution for learning professionals, educators and trainers to create rich learning experiences that can be delivered via the Web, desktop, mobile devices and learning management systems. The new suite boosts productivity by tightly integrating a major new version of Adobe Captivate®, Adobe Flash® CS4, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS4, Adobe Photoshop® CS4 Extended, Adobe Acrobat® Pro, Adobe Presenter 7, Adobe Soundbooth® CS4, Adobe Bridge CS4, Adobe Device Central CS4 as well as eLearning extensions for Adobe Flash® CS4 and Adobe Dreamweaver® CS4.

“The new Adobe eLearning Suite is a unique and highly integrated set of tools designed to help professionals author, enrich, review and publish rich eLearning content all within one environment,” said Naresh Gupta, senior vice president of the Print and Publishing Business Unit at Adobe. “By leveraging different applications and streamlined workflows, learning professionals can be truly innovative and reach learners in new ways anytime, anywhere and through any medium.”

Adobe Captivate 4

Adobe Captivate 4, a new point product release and also the cornerstone of the suite, is the latest version of Adobe’s eLearning software for creating professional eLearning content and courseware that combines simulations, scenario-based training, quizzing, rich media and interactivity. Professionals can take advantage of more than two dozen new features including single SWF file publishing, text-to-speech conversion, a drawing toolbar for simple graphics, enhanced project templates, and round-trip Microsoft® PowerPoint® workflows, which let users import and edit PowerPoint slides with audio and interactivity. Adobe Captivate 4 also preserves Photoshop layers, which can then be animated individually, and supports PDF publishing and Audio Video Interleave (AVI) output for publishing to YouTube™.

With Adobe Captivate Reviewer, a new Adobe® AIR™ application, learning professionals can capture reviewers’ feedback regardless of their operating system and insert comments directly into an Adobe Captivate SWF file, simplifying the review process. Adobe Captivate 4 also enables users to add customizable tables of contents that automatically update as a learner navigates a project. To further boost engagement, learning professionals can use system and custom variables to provide learners with a personalized learning experience. For example, a learner can be prompted to type their name into a blank field in the beginning of the course and Adobe Captivate 4 will automatically personalize upcoming slides with the learner’s name.

Workflow and Integration Benefits

By integrating Adobe’s industry leading content creation tools, the Adobe eLearning Suite presents learning professionals with workflow benefits that are unavailable when purchasing individual products. With the Dreamweaver CS4 CourseBuilder extension, course designers can use Dreamweaver CS4 to directly create HTML-based eLearning modules, complete with assessments, by utilizing standard question types. Using the new Shared Courseware Object Reference (SCORM) packager, designers can also combine Adobe Captivate 4, Flash CS4, Dreamweaver CS4 and Adobe Presenter content into a single course, which further simplifies course creation.

With the inclusion of Soundbooth CS4, learning professionals can easily remove noise from recordings, polish voice-overs, customize music to fit a production and mix multiple clips on several tracks. Course designers can further engage their audiences with powerful visuals created within Photoshop CS4 Extended, which includes added features for editing 3D images and motion-based content. The visuals along with media developed in Adobe Captivate or other components can be easily organized, browsed, viewed and directly placed into Adobe Captivate 4, Photoshop CS4 and Flash CS4 from one central location using Adobe Bridge CS4.

Once content is ready for delivery, users can select one of several standardized output formats, including SWF, HTML, PDF, AVI, and SCORM, enabling easy delivery to the Web, desktop and learning management systems. If course designers don’t have access to a learning management system, the Adobe eLearning Suite allows users to publish directly to Adobe Acrobat® Connect Pro™ (sold separately). Additionally, Adobe Device Central CS4 allows course designers to design, preview, and test content for viewing on more than 600 mobile device screens.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe eLearning Suite and Adobe Captivate 4 are immediately available through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store. Estimated street price for the suite is US$1799 and US$799 for Adobe Captivate 4 as a standalone product. Upgrade and education pricing for both products is available. Both the Adobe eLearning Suite and Adobe Captivate 4 are compatible with Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) and Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1. For more information about the Adobe eLearning Suite visit www.adobe.com/products/elearningsuite, for Adobe Captivate 4 visit www.adobe.com/products/captivate .

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.