ID Master Pages vs Powerpoint / Captivate Master Slides

Hello,
I'm new to InDesign and I just can't get the way Master Pages are supposed to work.
I though they were pages like the ones in Powerpoint or Captivate : you put placeholders on the page and format them the way you want, then when you create new pages based on those masters you just fill in the pre-formatted fields.
This is not the case in InDesign. Everything's locked ! What's the point ?
It's fine for background pictures, pages numbers and that kind of stuff but why would you put text and image placeholders you just can't edit ?
Of course, you can override item but you just lose link to the master page.
A simple example : I made a master page with chapter title on a line (white on a grey background) with automatic numbering and a block of text underneath.
Now, if I apply this master to a page, I just can't type in text, autonumbering is useless. I have to overide elements but what if I change title background color and decide text should be on two columns ? If I reapply Master on my page, I get modified stuff underneath overidden elements !
I hope you see what I mean and that you will give me clues to the best approach to InDesign master pages.
Thanks.
PJ

Make the border and column guid lines in page layout.
Use text frames with 2 columns best practice is to set up them via object styles.
Set a pragraph style for your text.
Set another paragraph style for your headline: Make column Span over all with a specified distance after, Paragraph Ruler for the Grey bar, white text
But don't use Character Styles, except for single words, automatic numbers, all things which are different from the residing pargraph properties.
Avoid overrides on pages, as these are causing problems in syntax and in editing later. Beter is to use a different master page, where you can use overrides.
E.g. it makes problems when you have overrides and want to reapply the same master again.
Or it makes problems when you create PDFs for unlimitted access or when you export EPUBs or HTML.

Similar Messages

  • How to modify a Master Slide on a single page.

    I am wondering how to modify the master slide on a particular slide.
    Like in InDesign when you hold shift + ctrl you can select items from the master page and modify them on that particular page only, without making the changes to every page where that Maser page is applied.
    Trying to figure out how to accomplish this simple task in Captivate 5. (Windows 7)

    As far as I know that option is not avaiable.
    You could duplicate your master slide, make the changes to it, then assign that new master to the individual slide.
    This works if there's only one, but if you had many variations of master slides it would get unwieldy after a while and defeat the purpose of using master slides, IMO.

  • Placeholders on Master Slides in Captivate 5 don't seem to work

    Hi I'm very new to Captivate and I am exploring the trial version (5) to learn what it can do.
    I am trying to create a project template with a master slide. I have added text caption placeholders to the master slide and saved the file as a project template.
    When I create a 'new project from template' using this file I have created a slide based upon the master with placeholders but I am unable to edit the placeholders from the film strip view (they are not clickable, and stay locked). Am I doing something wrong?
    There appeared to be a thread about an issue with Master slides but I don't know if this has been resolved.
    I'm hoping it's an error on my part (which someone can hopefully correct me on) rather than a bug in Captivate as this would seem to be a pretty fundamental feature when creating courseware.
    Thanks in advance.

    Hello,
    To really know the power of master slides and templates I should explain a lot more, but in my previous answer I just tried to explain why your approach was not the right one. In a template you can have much more than just a couple of slides with placeholders, you can have typical object styles, advanced actions, user variables etc. It would really need more than a short answer in this thread to explain all that. And that is different from just a blank slide, because placeholders (keeping all introduced styles) will not exist in a blank project, where you would have to insert text to have the proper layout etc.
    Master slides can have variables inserted in a Text Caption, or even have a rollover caption that can have variables in it. I tried to explain the use of variables in this article, and there are examples to be used on a master slide:
    Using power of variables without advanced actions
    In my blog I'm always using master slides, you'll find links pointing to other articles
    lilybiri's posterous
    If you work with stencil slides, indeed the user will have to duplicate stencil slides to use them. Captivate is not Powerpoint, which is meant for presentations on the first place, while Captivate is meant for developing software training, soft skills trainings, assessments and perhaps presentations.
    I'm sorry, just wanted to help you.
    Lilybiri

  • Powerpoint master slide body text

    i am experiencing issues with the master slide body text which is now showing up in Powerpoint 2011? does anyone has a fix for it?

    Hello and welcome to... perhaps the wrong forum?
    This is the Captivate user forum, are you having a question about Captivate? If yes, perhaps about importing Powerpoint slides into Captivate, try to explain more in detail, show perhaps a screenshot of the issue? And tell which version of CP you are using (Mac? Ver 5)?
    Lilybiri

  • How to insert a space-bar in the Muse CC master slide page property metadata

    I'm using the latest version of Muse CC and need to know how to insert a space-bar in the master slide page property metadata page title suffix area

    I found it.  If anyone else has this problem press the shift and \ at the same time on a standard windows keyboard.

  • Powerpoint Master Slide only works on first 600 slides

    I have a presentation with 3600 slides in PowerPoint 2010 and I'm trying to use a master slide to change the font color and background color of all slides. I've created a master slide and have changed the background color and all the slides did change.
    However when I change the font color only the first 600 slide changed there font color. I changed the font on all the different levels of slides in the slide master.
    why767

    Hi,
    In PowerPoint, the Slide Master is the template for your presentation.  If you make a change to the Slide Master, it will change for your entire presentation. However, if you have already applied formatting to one of your individual slides, it
    will not follow the guidelines of the Slide Master.  He had changed the layout and formatting on some of his individual slides, and then made changes to the Slide Master, thinking that the changes would be applied to the slides that he had edited
    individually.  
    To reapply the Slide Master formatting to several slides at once, you can select multiple slides and following the same steps from Home > Slides > Reset.
    Hope it can be helpful.

  • How to retain the master slide background at the end of the quiz reporting page of a project

    I have noticed that the content of the master slide is not retained till the end in the quiz results page of the project. What should I do to retain the contents till the end of the project?

    Hi,
    Thanks for your time. I have checked the transitions. i didnt give any transition to the slides in the project and i also check the preferences too, i had disable the options that is to fade in and fade out. My problem is "I have 12 slides in this with an intro slide and 10 question slides and then the quiz results page. In that result page, it is showing the result at the end of the result slide the pause button in the skin turned to play button. While clicking that play button it shows only the results, review quiz button and retake quiz button only. It doesn't display the images, widgets, text and some other options which is used in master slide or in the slide itself " Why those things have disappeared? Can you guide me how to overcome this issue.
    The solution for the playbar is quiet good. One more doubt in that, The play bar should be displayed in that page but it should be disabled, Is there any solution for this? If yes, kindly share with me

  • PowerPoint Slides and Master Slides

    I want to know if its possible to insert a PP presentation to a Captivate 5 Master Slide template. I looked at the Master Slide properties and i selected both options but the Master Slide information overwrites the slide presetantion.
    can anyone let me know if this can be done and how?

    To my knowlede this cannot be done.  Master Slides are used to provide mostly static elements that are reused across other slides (like backgrounds or foregrounds).

  • Adobe Captivate 6 Content master slide order changes when used

    Hi,
    I'm using Captivate 6 to create a template. I made a content master slide with a specific order.
    But when i insert this content master slide, the object order changes.
    Is this normal? And is there a (simple) way to fix this?
    Thanks in advance

    Thanks for your repy,
    the exact version is captivate 6.0.1.240
    This is the content master slide i made:
    This is what happens when i insert the slide:
    I'm experiencing the same problem when i insert the slide on a blank project.

  • Saving Master Slide to Use in Other Projects Captivate 6

    Can anyone tell me how I can save a master slide so that I can use it in other projects?  i've copied and pasted into the Master slide tab in the new project, but it does not allow me to use it as my master slide.  Any suggestions? 

    That is really strange, because I'm doing that all the time. Did you use the same theme? I'm setting always Blank as my default theme (do not like those themes that much) and I can copy/paste master slides from other projects (that also use that Blank theme).
    Lilybiri

  • Adobe Captivate 6 Master Slide Smart Shape Button

    If you create a Smart Shape and use it as a button on a Master Slide is there any way to not have it show on one slide of a presentation or is it all or nothing?
    Thank you

    Objects on master dsliiides have no  ID , no way to control their
    visibility. That is possible with a shape button that is displayed for rest
    of project on first slide. Or, since you talk about some slides, creat a
    duplicate of master slide that has no button?

  • Master Slide templates are not showing correctly once out of film view

    I am having problems with the master view edit within captivate. I have correctly adjusted the slides to fit the design I want, however when I add a new slide with that layout the buttons and boxes are throw all over the place. As well, a lot of the objects I would like to delete in the quiz pages can not be deleted and when trying to change the text for the default correct, must answer questions box..etc I am not able to change this text.

    Hmmm, sorry about your frustration but as a daily user of Lynda.com for all kind of applications I find the Captivate courses much below their usual level. And I have commented that way on their site multiple times. There is no good practice, no explanation of proper workflows now about the logic of Captivate. You are not the first user that I helped out after such a 'bad' introduction. If you look at my answers, you'll see that I'm not that harsh usually. Having taught all kind of software applications since over 20 years, it is to me also very frustrating when I see this happening. And sorry, cannot help you with pointing to other tutorials, I never bought any book (had the same reflections when looking at books), nor trainings. I just learned by exploring and helping other users out.
    Captivate is a very versatile tool, but learning curve is made unnecessary steep by bad approach in many tutorials. You'll learn recipes in them, nothing about the concept nor the logic. And once you want to change the recipe, you are stuck.
    Do you know that in a theme you have theme color palette, object styles (did you ever use the Object Style Manager), master slides and a skin. The playbar is part of the skin. When you go to the skin editor, first tab allowed you to uncheck the playbar, go to the second tab 'Borders', and uncheck also the Borders.
    Even terminology is a problem: what do you mean by a toolbar? There is for the moment in Captivate only a Big Button Bar in editing mode (Slides, Themes, Text, Shapes....). The real toolbar disappeared in CP8, was there in previous versions. There is an Align bar remaining, but it is not visible until you show it with the Window menu.

  • What good are Master Slides if...

    I can not edit them on the main timeline? I create a captivate template and use master slides with place holders. Then create a new project from the template and I can not edit the master slide with place holders. Right now all I can see using a master slide for is my background objects that are the same on every slide.
    I was hoping that I was goign to be able to use master slides with my subject matter expert. That way all he had to do was pick a Master for a slide then type the info in the place holder. But that does not work. So I am back to using regular slides with place holders.
    The whole concept of being able to add place holders to a masterslide seems strange to me if you can not edit them on the main timeline.

    Hi folks
    Indeed things get a bit muddy with the Master Slides concept and placeholders. I think this is further exacerbated with the whole concept of the panels.
    In Captivate 4, when you created a Project Template and it had placeholders, you double-clicked the placeholder and a dialog popped up that you interacted with to configure the content. In Captivate 5 it appears that double-clicking the placeholder just tends to focus the properties panel for the objkect. And because the panels are so similar, it's quite often difficult to discern that anything changed. As a result, you may not think the template is working.
    I agree that it seems counterintuitive to have an ability to insert a placeholder into a Master Slide, then apparently prevent access to edit the placeholder unless you are editing the Master Slide. What would seem more intuitive to me is that if placeholders were used in a Master Slide, they would be transferred to any new slides created using Insert > New Slide. I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe that's how PowerPoint works. So it would make sense if Captivate worked in a similar fashion as folks are generally already accustomed to working the way PowerPoint does.
    For anyone reading this thread that would like to see changes made, please consider submitting a Wish Form and advise Adobe as to how you would like to see the behavior change. Don't be fooled into thinking that submitting a Wish Form is just a way to make you feel you have had your say. Adobe does see these. And if they see enough asking for the same feature or reporting the same issue, the Feature or Issue gains much higher priority.
    Link to the Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form is in my sig.
    Cheers... Rick
    Helpful and Handy Links
    Begin learning Captivate 5 moments from now! $29.95
    Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
    Adobe Certified Captivate Training
    SorcererStone Blog
    Captivate eBooks

  • Am I able to name an object on the master slide?

    I would like to name, for example, the "Back" button so that I can hide it on the first page. The same would go for the "Next" button. These are my own buttons. I could also hide the "Pause" button and show the "Play" button, etc.
    I just cannot find where I could name these.
    Thanks

    Objects on the master slide cannot be named and you cannot give them a duration. That means that you cannot control them by (advanced) actions neither.
    I explained some ideas in: http://blog.lilybiri.com/why-i-like-shape-buttons-captivate-6
    Lilybiri

  • Templates for master slides

    Hi,
    It's the first time I use captivate and I have a question :
    I want to have 2 master slide for the begining and the end of each sequence : Show objectives, show steps ...
    The problem is that I'm not a designer.
    Do you know where I can find some great templates for this ?
    Regards.

    I started out looking through this website. It is designed around Articulate, but I was able to take some of the ideas and re-create them in powerpoint as images and upload them into Captivate....or just use the already designed PowerPoint templates and bring them into Captivate.
    http://community.articulate.com/downloads/
    I also adore Tom's Blog (he always has fabulous ideas/templates/freebies) most of which end up in the downloads on the Articulate community:
    http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/
    there are also some you can purchase here:
    http://elearningtemplates.com/captivate-templates/
    Good luck!
    Gina

Maybe you are looking for