Annotating the desktop

Use the Desktop Annotate button when you want to use ActivInspire tools, such as the Pen, Highlighter and Eraser, on your desktop or any application you have open on your desktop. When you annotate your desktop, you will create a Desktop Flipchart, which can be saved for future use.

Use this feature in lessons about:

Annotate the desktop

  1. From the Tools Menu, select Desktop Annotate . The desktop is displayed in between ActivInspire’s Browser and the Main Toolbox, as shown on the right.

  2. Click on the Desktop Annotate button in the toolbox to restore the previously hidden items. The Menubar shows a new flipchart has been created, with the name ‘desktop flipchart’. The desktop flipchart is transparent.

You can annotate the desktop and deliver a lesson based on the content, such as a website or a software application.

When you select the pointer and click on the desktop, you can:

  • Start and use desktop applications.

  • Select objects from applications or websites and copy them. From the clipboard you can paste into flipcharts.

Display the layered structure

Open the Object Browser to see the layer structure of annotation objects.

The default structuring is as follows:

  • Pen annotations, including Highlighter go onto the top layer.

  • Text and shapes go onto the middle layer.

  • Connectors go onto the bottom layer.

When you save a desktop flipchart, the objects are saved onto an invisible background. The desktop does not form part of the flipchart and will not be saved.

Options

You can have the desktop as part of your flipchart in the following ways:

  • As the background of your flipchart.

  • Using Desktop Overlay and Desktop Snapshot.

From the File Menu, select Edit > Page Background. The Set Background Dialog Box opens.

Click the Desktop Snapshot radio button. To look at the desktop before taking the snapshot, click the Show Desktop icon.

When you are ready to take the snapshot, click on the Take Snapshot icon.

After the snapshot has been taken, click on Done.

If you want your current page to have no background:

Click on the Desktop Overlay radio button, then click on Done.

The desktop does not form part of the flipchart and will not be saved.