Adding Callouts Manually

A callout is a shape that calls attention to something in a frame. For example, you might want to instruct the user to click a certain area in the frame. A callout is a way to provide the user with the instructions, as well as point to the appropriate area in the frame.

When you record a movie, callouts are added automatically. If you do not want to use the style of the default callout, you can create your own look and set it as the default callout style for recordings. You can also add a callout manually to a frame by following the steps below.

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How to Add a Callout to a Frame

  1. Open the frame.

  2. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:

    • Ribbon Select Home> Objects > Graphics > Bubble.

    • Local Toolbar In the local toolbar of the Frame Editor, select Objects > Graphics > Bubble.

    The cursor changes to small crosshairs.

  3. Click and drag to draw a rectangle in the frame. The bubble shape appears on the frame.

  4. (Optional) Move the shape. You can do this in two ways.

    To Move the Bubble and Its Pointer

    Click in the middle of the bubble and drag it to the appropriate location in the frame. This moves the entire bubble, including its pointer.

    To Move Just the Bubble

    Click on the small bubble icon in the callout and drag it to the appropriate location in the frame. This moves the bubble, but its pointer remains fixed in its original location.

  5. (Optional) Click the point (small circle) at the tip of the pointer and drag it to the appropriate location.

  6. To add text to the callout, do one of the following.

    To Enter Text Directly in the Callout

    1. Click on the bubble and start typing.
    2. When you are finished, click anywhere in the frame to confirm your text.

    To Enter Text in the Object Properties Window Pane

    1. Double-click the bubble. The Object Properties window pane opens.
    2. Expand the Text section.
    3. In the Text section, enter the text that you want to display in the caption. You can use the buttons and drop-downs in the Home ribbon's Text section to apply bold, italic, or underline formatting to any part of the text. You can also change the color, font, and size of the text.
  7. Click Save the active file. to save your work.

Note A very useful tool when working with objects is a palette, which lets you store objects for future use. For example, if you are including callouts with some frames, chances are that you'll want to use the same look and feel for all of the callouts you create. Instead of creating new callouts from scratch each time or copying them from other frames, you can create an initial model callout and then add it to a palette. Then, when you're ready to use a callout in another frame, you can just drag your model callout from the palette to the frame (and make minor changes, such as the text, from there). See Palettes.

What’s Next?

If necessary, you can continue enhancing the movie. Otherwise, you can finalize the movie by building and distributing it. See Editing a Movie and Building Movie Output Using the Interface.