Embed a PDF in Captivate for LMS

There are three ways to insert a PDF into your captivate project when uploading to a Management System (LMS).

A. Use Web Browser upload your .PDF file to a web server then copy the URL and paste it into the "Open link or URL" properties of your launch .PDF button. This "externalizes" the PDF. Another advantage to this is also that if the PDF ever changes, you don't have to edit the course again.

B. Use a widget: Free widget for Captivate 5 or 5.5 by Jim Leichliter at: http://captivatedev.com/2010/11/05/adobe-captivate-5-web-page-widget/

Captivate 6: http://captivatedev.com/2012/07/25/adobe-captivate-6-x-widget-dynamic-pdf-export/

C.  Change the Javascript in the manifest that includes the PDF as part of the course package. Instructions below:

1.) In your captivate project: the button/click box properties edit the link properties to remove all but the filename itself.

• Rename your PDF to: MPPFlyer.pdf
• Then in your Captivate file add a button to the slide, in the Properties panel of the button, go to ACTION/On Success/Open URL or file
• URL: MPPFlyer.pdf
• If you browse to your file on the computer it will look like this.                        C:\Documents\ Settings\STHORBECK\Desktop\capPDF\MPPFlyer.PDF
• You don't need the connection to your computer's absolute URL. Make sure you Delete the trail to make it look like this: MPPFlyer.pdf (see image below)
• Click the drop down to the right of the URL and select NEW (that means it will pop up in a NEW web browser window)

2.) Publish you cptx file (don't zip it) make sure the .PDF file is in the root folder of your main .cptx file. See image

3.) Right click on the "imsmanifest.xml" and open it with Notepad scroll down to the bottom and add this line to between the resources section...

Make a copy the entire line: <file href="SCORM_support/scorm_support.swf"/>  and then paste it directly below:

highlight SCORM_support/scorm_support.swf

and substitute so it looks like this:

MPPFlyer.pdf

See example below for captivate 5 or 5.5 :

See image below for Captivate 6: 

4. Click File/Save, then close NotePad

5.) Highlight all the contents in the published folder and save as a compressed zip file 

6) upload to LMS and test it out

NOTE 1: when you highlight all the contents of your folder, wherever you place your mouse when you right click to save as a compressed zip file, that is what your zip file will be named as.

NOTE 2: You can have multiple PDF’s in your course; but you must rename them, I name all my PDF’s the same and add a number to the end.

Such as MPPFLyer1.pdf
MPPFlyer2.pdf

NOTE 3: Captivate will not allow you to open the same pdf on mulitiple slides. So if you want the user to open the same pdf on mulitiple slides you need to copy/paste and rename it for each slide.