AS2 Intelligent Print Widget for Adobe Captivate
One of the things that have irritated me about the printwidget available in Adobe Captivate 4 and also some of the other print widgets out there is that it always prints in portrait mode. This means that the end-user needs to actively select landscape mode to print out slides from a Captivate movie in order for it to fit properly.
Based on a couple of the posts on the official Adobe Captivate Forum I decided to develop my own print widget.
What does it do?
This print widget will print any slide from Adobe Captivate 4. It will also always force the print to landscape mode without the user having to select it in the print dialog. Another clever thing is that it will automatically rescale the printed slide so it will fit on the paper selected in the print dialog box. The rescaling is done dynamically and will adjust to whatever papersize the user selects (or the default size if the user justs clicks ok) in the print dialog prompt.
The widget is “plug & play” – no need to define any parameters or set up anything. The widget will do it all automatically. Simply add the widget to the slide or slides that you want to allow the user to print and that’s it.
Requirements:
Adobe Captivate 4 is required since this uses the Widget API. This widget is an AS2 widget so your project will need to be an AS2 project. I will develop an AS3 version soon.
Demonstration:
Click here to see a demonstration of the AS2 Intelligent Print Widget for Adobe Captivate. The demonstration is a 900px by 555px Captivate project and will open in a new window. You also have the possibility to try out the regular stock supplied print widget here to compare the results.
Buy the component (US$ 10):
If you are looking for the AS3 version of this widget for Adobe Captivate 4 and Adobe Captivate 5 that can be found here.
Other information:
The widget has been tested with Internet Explorer 7 & 8 and Firefox 3.5 and works perfectly well. If you are unsure if your browser supports it then try the demonstration link above. If you can print from the demonstration then the widget will work on your system.
I have heard some rumours about problems with printing from Flash on Mac and on Safari browsers, but I do not have access to a Mac so I cannot verify this.
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Comments
Pete
The AS2 Intelligent Print widget works for me on a Mac using Safari with no problems.
Michael
Excellent – thanks for clearing that up Pete!
Kelly
I love this widget, but for some reason it always fades out at the end of the slide. I’ve checked my slide & projects’s properties and removed any references to “Fade Out” transitions, so I don’t think it’s the project. And it won’t print at all if imported as an animation. It there possibly something in the code that tells it to fade out?
Thanks
Kelly
Michael
@Kelly – It’s a bug in Captivate that makes Widgets fade in / fade out even though “No transition” is selected. The solution is to set the transition to “Fade in / Fade out” but set both parameters to 0.0 seconds. That will take care of your problem.
/Michael
Kelly
Perfect! Thank you.
Leticia
Hi,
I’m not sure if anybody else is experiencing this issue. I cannot print to a networked printer using the Print Widget.
I am printing a Captivate 4 quiz certificate slide. I have verified that the quiz project is AS2 and still haven’t been able to successfully print. I have also had colleagues test the printing and they too haven’t been successful.
Please help
-Leticia
Michael
Hi Leticia,
That sounds very strange indeed. I will test it tomorrow at work where I have access to network printers. I’m pretty sure I tested it before, but I will do it again to make sure it works.
I’ll let you know of the outcome.
/Michael
Michael
Hi Leticia,
I just tested the Print Widget here and all my network printers show up just fine.
Are you still experiencing the problem? If so could you please try and use the standard Adobe Print Widget and see if you have the same problem?
/Michael
Darrel
Hi Michael…just downloaded the widget, and is there a way to set it so it doesn’t print on the paper when the slide is printed?
Thanks
DV
Michael
Hi Darrel,
You mean so the widget itself will not show on the printout? If so then that is unfortunately not possible. Clicking the print widget will take a snapshot of the current slide and print it as a bitmap image. Basically everything on the slide will be printed.
/Michael
Jens
Hi, I’m having trouble printing to our network printers with the widget too.
It works when I print via your test link on this page but it doesn’t work when I insert your widget into my own Captivate project and try to print from there.
Tried the print widget from Adobe and it prints out (but doesn’t look good).
Any ideas?
Michael
Hi Jens,
No sorry I don’t really have any ideas as to why you are experiencing this problem with network printers. I am on a corporate network myself and I have no problem accessing network printers when I use this widget.
Any chance that you could send me an email through my contact form with some more details about what you are experiencing and then I’ll get back to you and see if we can sort it out.
/Michael
James
Any news on a AS3 version?
Thanks
Michael
@James – The AS3 version of the widget is ready and tested so I expect to put it on the site this weekend.
/Michael
anthony
Hi,
I just bought your widget and it’s works fine on captivate 4.
My compagny bought Captivate 5 recently because we don’t have a valid licence of captivate 4. (we used a trial version)
Have you got a patch for captivate 5 ? Will i buy the new widget ( I bought less 1 month)
Thanks for your answer
Anthony
Michael
@ Anthony – there is no patch to make the component work for Captivate 5 unfortunately. It’s a brand new widget since it is in AS3 and printing in Captivate 5 is different from in Captivate 4.
/Michael
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