Captivate to Storyline or Rise: there's no import button.
Neither tool reads Captivate. Here are the realistic options, including the one that skips the retyping.
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You can’t convert a Captivate course to Storyline or Rise 360 directly: neither tool imports Captivate .cptx files or Captivate published output. The options are to rebuild the course by hand, re-import the PowerPoint it was built from (if there is one), or embed the published Captivate course as a web object, which keeps the old player and is not editable.
If the goal is an editable, responsive course in your LMS rather than Articulate specifically, Scormbusters imports the Captivate .cptx or published output automatically and exports SCORM, cmi5 or xAPI.
- Storyline 360 and Rise 360 cannot import Captivate .cptx files or Captivate published output as editable content.
- The usual workarounds are rebuilding by hand, re-importing the original PowerPoint if one exists, or embedding the published Captivate course as a web object.
- Scormbusters imports Captivate .cptx files and HTML5 publishes into editable, responsive lessons, then exports SCORM, cmi5 or xAPI that any LMS accepts.
- Into Storyline or Rise, advanced actions, variables and simulation logic are rebuilt by hand; into Scormbusters, Captivate Classic actions are rebuilt as working triggers where the slide canvas runs them the same way (40% of publish actions in our test corpus), and the rest is listed in the import report.
The options, honestly compared
- Rebuild in Storyline or Rise. The cleanest result in the new tool, and the most work: every slide, caption and question re-authored. Copying text out of Captivate first (for example via its Word export for translation) saves some typing.
- Start from the original PowerPoint. If the Captivate course began as a PowerPoint deck, Storyline can import that deck. You still rebuild the Captivate-only parts: quizzes, interactions, narration timing.
- Embed the published Captivate output. A Storyline web object or a Rise embed shows the Captivate course inside the new one. Fast, but nothing becomes editable, the fixed slide size stays, and accessibility problems in the old player stay with it.
- Hire a conversion vendor. Many agencies rebuild Captivate courses in Articulate tools. Predictable, and priced per course.
- Migrate into Scormbusters. The content comes across automatically — text, images, audio, video, questions with answer keys — as responsive lessons, and you rebuild only the interactions. The output is standard SCORM, cmi5 or xAPI.
What a Scormbusters import gives you
Scormbusters reads Classic .cptx files, Classic HTML5 publishes from Captivate 9 to 2019, and all-new Captivate 12/13 publishes. Each slide becomes a lesson of real text, media and questions in reading order, from blocks designed for WCAG 2.1 AA (your content and a human review decide conformance; what’s tested). The quiz pass mark carries over.
It does not produce a .story file or a Rise course. If your organization is standardizing on Articulate, the rebuild or vendor routes above are the right ones — but most of a rebuild is getting the words, images and questions out of the old course, and an import gives you all of them as editable text in one place, with a report of what did not come across, to rebuild from instead of screenshots. Scormbusters also fits on its own when you want the content editable and in your LMS without re-authoring it. More on Captivate Classic migration.
Frequently asked questions
Can Storyline 360 import a Captivate .cptx file?
No. Storyline imports PowerPoint, Quizmaker and other Storyline files, but not Captivate projects or Captivate published output. Articulate's own community answers say the formats are different and there is no direct import.
Can I put a Captivate course inside Rise 360?
Only as an embedded web object or a linked package: the Captivate player runs inside the Rise lesson, unchanged. It is not editable in Rise, it keeps Captivate's fixed slide size, and tracking has to be handled by whichever package the LMS launches.
Is there a tool that converts Captivate to Storyline automatically?
Not one that produces an editable .story file. Scormbusters does the automatic part differently: it converts the Captivate course into its own editable, responsive format and exports SCORM, cmi5 or xAPI, which your LMS runs the same way it runs a Storyline or Rise package.
Why do people move from Captivate to Rise?
Mostly for courses that reflow on phones without designing separate layouts. Any route that rebuilds content into blocks — Rise, or Scormbusters' lessons — gets that; embedding the Captivate player does not.
What never converts automatically?
Into Storyline or Rise: advanced actions, variables, widgets, slide timing, software-simulation click steps and custom JavaScript are all rebuilt by hand. Into Scormbusters, Captivate Classic button, click-box and slide actions — jumps, show and hide, variables, conditional and shared actions, state changes — are rebuilt as working triggers where the slide canvas runs them the same way (40% of publish actions in our test corpus); widgets, timing, Execute JavaScript and effects are not, and the import report lists each one so the rebuild is a checklist rather than a hunt.
Bring one stuck course. See what comes back.
Upload the published zip and play it rebuilt as an editable course, with the list of anything to rebuild by hand. No account, no card; the private link lasts seven days.
Articulate, Storyline and Rise 360 are trademarks of Articulate Global, LLC; Adobe and Captivate are trademarks of Adobe. Scormbusters is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.