Is this possible? I have made a customized storyline 360 slide masters with layouts, and when I import the pages from Powerpoint, I was *hoping* Storyline would recognize the text boxes and such from the powerpoint file and "suck" them into the new layout via the placeholders I've included for images, text and titles. It doesn't. Instead, it creates a new master slide from the powerpoint master. When I apply a new layout mater, it doesn't change the position of anything.
Probably, I'm expecting too much, but just in case Storyline can do this (some of the other threads here imply it should work this way), is there maybe there a way to prepare the powerpoint differently, so it's a cleaner export, or prepare the storyline master's differently so slide objects know where to go and don't keep their old formatting?
Great question and I'm happy to provide clarification.
The expected behavior in Storyline is that it won't apply placeholders to imported content because the slide master is for building in Storyline. While you can apply a Storyline master slide layout to the PowerPoint slide once imported, you'll need to reorganize the content.
Becca -- I have a related, but separate issue. I thought I'd try to leverage some of the merge-shapes options and the ability to customize my content placeholder titles in Powerpoint -- then save and try to import into Storyline. What I'm seeing is that my merged shapes aren't showing up -- just a generic square content placeholder. And my placeholders on the master revert to 'picture' and 'slide title'. Is there a list of Powerpoint features that aren't supported by Storyline import?
Being able to insert placeholder titles seems pretty critical to building a SL template. This should definitely be a feature request. Telling people 'click to add text' doesn't help much when you're trying to guide them through a course template. Thx.
Is there a list of Powerpoint features that aren't supported by Storyline import? Yes! Take a look at these PowerPoint features that might cause issues when importing into Storyline 360.
I appreciate you voicing what you'd like to see in the software, and I've shared your request with my team to customize the placeholder text. As an alternative, could you put text boxes off the slide stage serving as a reference? That way, they won't be seen while previewing/publishing.
Becca -- Yeah, I've seen that suggested as a workaround, but that's not really the goal. The idea is to have a one-and-done swap of critical text as you go from layout to layout. No reliance on the author to ensure that they've read off-screen text boxes and typed or cut & pasted accurately. In PowerPoint the text in these content placeholders can be swapped out easily... seems like it would be a fairly easy implementation for SL as well, but not sure. It's just text and I don't think there are any back-end implications.
I'd also like to see support for content placeholders that can be different shapes and sizes... again, a Powerpoint staple that can be so useful for building smart layouts and interactions. Powerpoint allows you to wrap a shape to a placeholder and that would be awesome in Storyline. There's a heavy reliance on the content library for templates and design but for those of who like playing under the hood, having these additional features would be great.
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Hello Fiona!
Great question and I'm happy to provide clarification.
The expected behavior in Storyline is that it won't apply placeholders to imported content because the slide master is for building in Storyline. While you can apply a Storyline master slide layout to the PowerPoint slide once imported, you'll need to reorganize the content.
Regarding a cleaner export, I'd recommend making sure your slide size in Storyline matches your PowerPoint slide size before importing content. From there, take a look at these other helpful tips as a guide!
Let us know if you have any other questions!
Becca -- I have a related, but separate issue. I thought I'd try to leverage some of the merge-shapes options and the ability to customize my content placeholder titles in Powerpoint -- then save and try to import into Storyline. What I'm seeing is that my merged shapes aren't showing up -- just a generic square content placeholder. And my placeholders on the master revert to 'picture' and 'slide title'. Is there a list of Powerpoint features that aren't supported by Storyline import?
Being able to insert placeholder titles seems pretty critical to building a SL template. This should definitely be a feature request. Telling people 'click to add text' doesn't help much when you're trying to guide them through a course template. Thx.
Thanks for following up, Martin!
Is there a list of Powerpoint features that aren't supported by Storyline import? Yes! Take a look at these PowerPoint features that might cause issues when importing into Storyline 360.
I appreciate you voicing what you'd like to see in the software, and I've shared your request with my team to customize the placeholder text. As an alternative, could you put text boxes off the slide stage serving as a reference? That way, they won't be seen while previewing/publishing.
We'll keep you posted on any future updates: How We Manage Feature Requests.
Becca -- Yeah, I've seen that suggested as a workaround, but that's not really the goal. The idea is to have a one-and-done swap of critical text as you go from layout to layout. No reliance on the author to ensure that they've read off-screen text boxes and typed or cut & pasted accurately. In PowerPoint the text in these content placeholders can be swapped out easily... seems like it would be a fairly easy implementation for SL as well, but not sure. It's just text and I don't think there are any back-end implications.
I'd also like to see support for content placeholders that can be different shapes and sizes... again, a Powerpoint staple that can be so useful for building smart layouts and interactions. Powerpoint allows you to wrap a shape to a placeholder and that would be awesome in Storyline. There's a heavy reliance on the content library for templates and design but for those of who like playing under the hood, having these additional features would be great.
It's too bad Storyline isn't designed to do what I was hoping for but thanks for clarifying Becca!