What do you mean by transparent? Do you mean so the text appears like a stencil - cut out from the background? Or simply invisible or semi-- transparent?
The simplest way would be to write the text and then save it as a image (perhaps by using a screen capture tool like Windows Snip?) - paste it back as an image and adjust the transparency value in the Image Format settings
Very crude but like this - the first is actual text in text object, the other two are copies of text which have been captured and then pasted as images and had the transparency setting adjusted:
BTW if you are using an image background the top tip is to write the text with the background image visible then do the capture - it should all line up with a bit of trial and error and as you adjust the transparency the background in the text image will merge invisibly with the real background image....using an image to place text on a page is a neat trick if you want to try out a variety of f.x not available within the text tool.
How do you Export text as a picture? Ah I see! Right click on text box to get Export as Picture...yeah that's neat. That's absolutely the best way to do it. Thanks Gerry - top tip.
This works with any shape object so you can use it with shapes and captions too.
If you don't want to turn the text into an image you could alternatively duplicate the background image in front of the text and then apply transparency to the front image.
Just found this thread because I was hoping to do the same thing: Make text transparent. Strange it does not work (I'm flabbergasted - waited a long time to get that into a sentence), but thanks for the workaround solutions guys!
I'm just throwing my $.02 in as well on this - that's a pretty basic feature, and for a package as full-fledged as Storyline to not have it is kind of...well, unfortunate. Having to go through a workaround that involved just to make text transparent puts it a step closer to (dare I say it) Captivate. :(
PowerPoint has had the ability to make text transparent for a LOOOONG time! Come on Articulate! This is an expensive application to not even have this basic capability!
We currently have the ability to control the transparency of font in Storyline 360 logged as a Feature Request! I'll add your voice to the report and will update this discussion if this feature makes it on our feature roadmap.
I think what Dianne is asking is how to do this. See attachment. I did this in PPT and then tried pasting it into SL and no luck. It behaves as a picture. So then I right clicked in PPT and saved the media as a video and tried importing it, and it only imported the actual video behind the text. Any idea how to get this to work?
Gerry's suggestion does make the text invisible. But I want a colour backdrop, with what appears to be text cut out of it, and then the layer below shows through, which is a video of the moving ocean for example. Just like in the PPT I attached as an example in my previous comment.
For a true transparency, you are going to have to use an image editor (either create the text box in SL and export it as an image, or build the shape with text in the image editor) Make the actual letters transparent, and save it as a .png, then import to SL.
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What do you mean by transparent? Do you mean so the text appears like a stencil - cut out from the background? Or simply invisible or semi-- transparent?
The simplest way would be to write the text and then save it as a image (perhaps by using a screen capture tool like Windows Snip?) - paste it back as an image and adjust the transparency value in the Image Format settings
Very crude but like this - the first is actual text in text object, the other two are copies of text which have been captured and then pasted as images and had the transparency setting adjusted:
What I'm hoping to do is use oversized text at about 18% transparency, so that background images are visible through the letters.
BTW if you are using an image background the top tip is to write the text with the background image visible then do the capture - it should all line up with a bit of trial and error and as you adjust the transparency the background in the text image will merge invisibly with the real background image....using an image to place text on a page is a neat trick if you want to try out a variety of f.x not available within the text tool.
You could also export your text out as a picture. Then import the picture back into your course and apply the transparency to that.
How do you Export text as a picture? Ah I see! Right click on text box to get Export as Picture...yeah that's neat. That's absolutely the best way to do it. Thanks Gerry - top tip.
This works with any shape object so you can use it with shapes and captions too.
YUP! Right-click on your text box and then select "Export Shape as Picture."
Great tip. Thanks, Gerry.
Glad it helped! :)
Thanks for the nice suggestions to make text transparant.
But it still puzzles me. Are the following observations correct?
From text in a textbox:
And the only way to make text transparant... is to turn it into a picture
Hi Douwe,
Your observations are correct.
If you don't want to turn the text into an image you could alternatively duplicate the background image in front of the text and then apply transparency to the front image.
Thank you Jordan. Smart solution!
Still it would be nice if in Articulate text itself also gets a transparancy setting. Would be very usefull and IMHO normal standard functionality.
It's super simple CSS. Weird that they don't have this...
Just found this thread because I was hoping to do the same thing: Make text transparent. Strange it does not work (I'm flabbergasted - waited a long time to get that into a sentence), but thanks for the workaround solutions guys!
I'm just throwing my $.02 in as well on this - that's a pretty basic feature, and for a package as full-fledged as Storyline to not have it is kind of...well, unfortunate. Having to go through a workaround that involved just to make text transparent puts it a step closer to (dare I say it) Captivate. :(
PowerPoint has had the ability to make text transparent for a LOOOONG time! Come on Articulate! This is an expensive application to not even have this basic capability!
I would love to see this addressed. The workaround right now is more burdensome for accessibility, because it's an image now and requires alt text.
Hi Evan!
Thanks for reaching out!
We currently have the ability to control the transparency of font in Storyline 360 logged as a Feature Request! I'll add your voice to the report and will update this discussion if this feature makes it on our feature roadmap.
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I think what Dianne is asking is how to do this. See attachment. I did this in PPT and then tried pasting it into SL and no luck. It behaves as a picture. So then I right clicked in PPT and saved the media as a video and tried importing it, and it only imported the actual video behind the text. Any idea how to get this to work?
Did Jordan’s and Gerry’s suggestions not work for you?
Gerry's suggestion does make the text invisible. But I want a colour backdrop, with what appears to be text cut out of it, and then the layer below shows through, which is a video of the moving ocean for example. Just like in the PPT I attached as an example in my previous comment.
For a true transparency, you are going to have to use an image editor (either create the text box in SL and export it as an image, or build the shape with text in the image editor) Make the actual letters transparent, and save it as a .png, then import to SL.