User Guide

Select PowerPoint slides to import into Adobe Captivate

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  1. Captivate User Guide
  2. Get to know Captivate
    1. What's new in Adobe Captivate
    2. Adobe Captivate System Requirements
    3. Download Adobe Captivate
    4. Frequently Asked Questions
  3. Adobe Captivate releases
    1. Adobe Captivate 13
      1. Adobe Captivate (13.1) release notes
      2. Adobe Captivate (13.0) release notes
    2. Adobe Captivate 12
      1. Adobe Captivate 12 summary
      2. Adobe Captivate (12.6 update) release notes
      3. Adobe Captivate (12.5 update) release notes
      4. Adobe Captivate (12.4 update) release notes
      5. Adobe Captivate (12.3 update) release notes
      6. Adobe Captivate (12.2 update) release notes
      7. Adobe Captivate (12.1 update) release notes
  4. Project setup
    1. Slide navigator
    2. Project dimensions
    3. Set preferences
      1. General preferences
      2. Generative AI preferences
      3. Project preferences
      4. Quizzing preferences
    4. Themes
    5. Configure URL access for Adobe Captivate features
  5. Import from PowerPoint
    1. Import PowerPoint presentations into Captivate
    2. Select PowerPoint slides to import into Captivate
    3. Work with text on imported slides
    4. Work with shapes on imported slides
    5. Add media to imported slides
    6. Add interactions and animations to imported slides
  6. Import from Captivate Classic
    1. Import Captivate Classic projects into Adobe Captivate
    2. Import Captivate Classic simulation projects into Captivate
  7. Generative AI in Adobe Captivate
    1. Generative AI overview
    2. Generative AI FAQs
    3. Generative credits
    4. Generate text 
      1. Generate text overview
      2. Write effective prompts for text generation
      3. Generate text using quick prompts
      4. Generate text using custom prompts
      5. Provide feedback to improve text generation
    5. Generate images
      1. Generate image overview
      2. Generate images using prompts
      3. Choose image content type - Photo or Art
      4. Use reference images for Composition and Style
      5. Best practices for effective image generation
      6. Provide feedback to improve image generation
    6. Generate avatar
      1. Generate avatar overview
      2. Customize the avatar
      3. Create transcripts for avatar narration
      4. Generate avatar narration
      5. Provide feedback to improve avatar generation
    7. Generate transcripts
      1. Generate transcripts overview
      2. Generate transcripts for closed captions
      3. Best practices to use transcripts effectively
  8. Add and edit text
    1. Add text to a project
    2. Add Adobe fonts to a project
    3. Add quotes
    4. Author in right-to-left languages
  9. Add and edit images
    1. Add images to a project
    2. Edit the background image on a slide
    3. Add SVGs to a project
  10. Add and edit media
    1. Add videos to a project
    2. Add and edit audio
    3. Add audio for widget interactions
    4. Add closed captions
    5. Add web objects to a project
  11. Interactive components
    1. Add a button
    2. Add an input field
    3. Add a radio button group
    4. Add a dropdown
    5. Add a checkbox
    6. Variables in Adobe Captivate
  12. Create quizzes
    1. Add a Multiple-choice question
    2. Add a True or false question
    3. Add a Match the column question
    4. Add a Short answer question
    5. Add a Sequence question
    6. Add question pools and random question slides
    7. Import questions as CSV
  13. Add widgets
    1. Add a Card
    2. Add Tabs
    3. Add a Certificate
    4. Add a Carousel
    5. Add a Hotspot
    6. Add Drag-and-Drop
    7. Add a Timeline
    8. Add Click to Reveal
    9. Add an Accordion
    10. Add a slider
    11. Add a stack card
  14. Interactions and animations
    1. Add interactions to a project
    2. Create interactive video with overlay
    3. Create a slide-level interaction
    4. Create an object-level interaction
    5. Add animations to a project
    6. States in Adobe Captivate
  15. Enhance your e-learning project
    1. Add padding to content blocks and components
    2. Add a header to a project
    3. Add a footer to a project
    4. Create a long scroll project
    5. Add a conversation slide
    6. Add characters to your Adobe Captivate project
    7. Assets in Captivate
  16. Simulation projects
    1. Simulation overview and setup
    2. Demo mode
    3. Training mode
    4. Assessment mode
    5. Full-motion recording
  17. Timeline and TOC
    1. Timeline panel in Adobe Captivate
    2. Table of Contents in Adobe Captivate
    3. Lock and hide slides in Adobe Captivate
  18. Review and collaborate
    1. Share for review
    2. Create and manage reviews
    3. Add review comments and collaborate
    4. FAQs and Troubleshooting guide for sharing projects for review   
  19. Preview and publish
    1. Preview your project
    2. Publish your project
  20. Accessibility
    1. Create accessible eLearning content in Adobe Captivate
    2. Make a slide accessible
    3. Make slide objects accessible
    4. Make an interactive component accessible
    5. Make a widget accessible
    6. Make a quiz accessible
    7. TOC and Playbar accessibility
  21. Design options in Adobe Captivate
    1. What are design options?
    2. Parts of a design option
    3. Create custom design options
    4. Modify a custom design option
    5. Export a custom design option
    6. Import a custom design option
  22. Additional resources
    1. Top How-tos in Captivate
    2. Captivate Classic vs Adobe Captivate
    3. Upgrade older Captivate projects to the latest version
    4. Create and deploy Captivate packages in Admin Console

Import PowerPoint slides into Adobe Captivate. On the first import from the home screen, select the slides to import. To add more slides later, use the File menu only for projects that were created from PowerPoint, not for responsive, Classic, or other custom project types.

Before you begin

  • You need a valid PowerPoint file (PPTX).
  • The first import from the home screen creates a non-responsive Adobe Captivate project from your PowerPoint file.
  • Importing more PowerPoint slides into an open project (File > Import > Import from PowerPoint) is supported only when the project was originally created from a PowerPoint (.pptx) import. It is not available for responsive projects, Captivate Classic projects, or other bespoke project types. If your project does not qualify, use a different workflow or create a new project from PowerPoint.
  • Copy‑paste of PowerPoint slides into an imported project is supported only for projects created using the PowerPoint import (custom). It is not available for Captivate Classic projects.

Start import from the Adobe Captivate home screen

Use this path when you start from the home screen.

  1. Open Adobe Captivate.

  2. On the home screen, select Import.

  3. Select PowerPoint Import. 
    A file browser opens.

  4. Browse to your presentation, select the file, and confirm. 
    Adobe Captivate prepares the file for import and then imports the presentation.

To cancel preparation, select Cancel on the home screen while loading runs.

Select slides

After your PowerPoint file loads in Import from PowerPoint, open the Slide Selection tab. Select or clear individual slides, or use Select All. The dialog shows how many slides are selected (for example, 3/12 selected). 

  1. Open the Slide Selection tab (if it is not already active).

  2. Review the list of slides from your PowerPoint file. On each slide, the slide name displays as PPT Slide <number>.

  3. Select or clear individual slides, or use Select All to select every slide. The dialog shows how many slides are selected (for example, 12/12 selected or 3/12 selected). By default, all slides are selected.

    Import from PowerPoint dialog displaying slide thumbnails with checkboxes on the left and a slide preview on the right.
    Slide Selection tab lists each PowerPoint slide by name so you can choose which slides to import into your Captivate project.

  4. Select Import to start the conversion.

What happens during and after import

In projects created using PowerPoint import (bespoke), you can copy and paste slides from PowerPoint or between other PowerPoint‑imported Adobe Captivate projects.

This capability is not supported in Captivate Classic projects.

  • Adobe Captivate converts each selected PowerPoint slide into Adobe Captivate slides and objects. The project remains non-responsive.
  • While import runs, you may see progress message like Importing your PowerPoint content. Please wait...
  • When import finishes, the new slides appear in your project (for example, a status such as 3 slides imported may appear). You can edit slide backgrounds, objects, and other properties in the Adobe Captivate interface.

Add more PowerPoint slides to an open project

You can import additional slides from the same presentation or a different one only if the open project was created from a PowerPoint import. This path does not apply to responsive projects, Captivate Classic projects, or other custom project types.

  1. In the Slide navigator, select the slide after which you want the new content to appear. Imported slides are inserted immediately after that slide. For example, if slide 2 is selected when you start the import, the first imported slide becomes slide 3.

  2. Select File > Import > Import from PowerPoint.

    File menu open in Adobe Captivate with Import submenu showing the Import from PowerPoint option.
    Access the Import from PowerPoint option through the File menu to add slides to a project originally created from a PowerPoint file.

  3. Select the PowerPoint file.

  4. Select the slides to import.

  5. Select Import.

Where are the new slides

New slides are inserted directly after the slide that was selected in the Adobe Captivate project when you opened Import from PowerPoint. To place new content after slide 5, select slide 5 first, then run File > Import > Import from PowerPoint.

Import again from the same file

If you choose the same PowerPoint file again, the full slide list appears again in Slide Selection. You can import slides you already imported; Adobe Captivate treats them as new slides (duplicates), not updates to existing slides. Remove unwanted duplicates in the project if needed.

Warnings about size and aspect ratio

If the PowerPoint slides use different dimensions or aspect ratio than your current Adobe Captivate project, the product may show a warning before or during import. Examples of wording include:

  • The slides you want to import have different dimensions from your current Adobe Captivate project. Manual adjustments to objects may be required after import.
  • The slides use a different aspect ratio than the project. Manual adjustment may be required after import.
Captivate import dialog displaying a warning that PowerPoint slides have different dimensions than the current project.
Review dimension mismatch warnings during import to anticipate which slides may require manual object repositioning.

Important

When importing PowerPoint presentations and using selective slide import, the slide thumbnails shown in the import dialog and/or project can appear different from the actual slides. You may notice:

  • Some shapes do not appear in the thumbnail preview.
  • Table fill or border colors in thumbnails do not match the original PowerPoint slide.
  • Text in thumbnails can look blurry or lower quality than expected, making it harder to read.

This issue affects the thumbnail preview only; in many cases, the actual imported slide content renders correctly once added to your project.

Plan time to resize or reposition objects on the affected slides after import.

Errors and partial import

File on a network location or password-protected

Import may fail if the file is on a network drive or is password-protected. Move the file to a local drive if possible, remove protection in PowerPoint, or save a copy you can open without a password, then import again.

Some objects did not import

If the product reports that not everything imported, you may see a message such as:

Not all elements were imported. Review slides for missing content.

Open each affected slide in Adobe Captivate, compare it to the PowerPoint original, and rebuild missing text, images, or media manually.

Adobe, Inc.

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