I've been reading the discussions about font sizes in text boxes and see that the answer is to set the shape to 'Do not autofit'. Is there a link to instructions to make that a default setting in Storyline?
For those of you who need to do this quickly, the way I've been able to work around doing each text box individually, is changing the text boxes on the master. If a new text box is created, you'll have to change it manually, but the masters will always be the same.
I would also like to see an option where all of the text boxes are defaulted (or have an apply all option) to "Do Not Autofit." I sized everything in PowerPoint prior to an import, and now I'm spending time making sure the font size matches the style guide.
It is annoying. If you do not pay attention to the setting of your text box at first ( then copy the text box over and over) depending on the size of your text, the next time you open your file you will get a long text box that autofitted your content(and it will go over the boundaries of your slide and screen). Also If you automating the process with the use of PowerPoint, before creating anything with it, make sure to set "Do not Autofit" globally on your computer.
I'd like to add my name to the chorus as well. Most clients I've worked with want font sizes to be uniform, and in many cases have specific font sizes. All body text must be arial, 14pt, for example. When storyline autofits the text, you could have text on the page that is all different sizes, some large, some small, and everything in between, and it all says 14pt. It's a lot of work to go back and adjust all the text boxes to make them look uniform, and you only know the fonts are uniform by eyeballing it since as far as Storyline knows they're all the same, even though they're not. And even if it says 14 pt, you don't know if that's true. I honestly can't believe this has remained this long without an easy way to undo it. No Autofit should be default. Inconsistent fonts are the bane of the designer's existence!
Is there any status update to this? I agree that the default state for any new text box/button copy should be DO NOT AUTOFIT. This would be a huge timesaver, especially with multiple choice questions that end up changing sizes with the different states.
If for some reason someone would want their text size to be controlled by the box, than leave that as an option, but not the default.
Not just autofit and text size -- Fonts and all text settings. Not everyone uses Articulate font. Some of us have branding requirements for fonts and every box requires formatting right now -- not productive use of time.
I also abhor the autofit. It creates a lot more work for me.
Let us also choose up-front which font family (Example: Arial) and minimum size we want to use by default for every new text block, shape, or button that includes text.
Please bring back DO NOT AUTOFIT this includes font size and the new feature of box resizing. After the latest update I have to go back and adjust many boxes in many projects because when I update them they now have scroll bars....
Please add yet another vote for this. I literally NEVER want my text to autofit, ever. I spend a lot of time undoing this. I don't understand why the application default is something that changes the size of our text automatically. We should be able to decide that ourselves as an "opt in" kind of feature, not a default.
I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, but I'm guessing that the reason for the default of Autofit is because it's a holdover when importing from PPT, where the default setting is to Autofit, and along with the slides themselves, SL imports the master slide styles from PPT. It doesn't automatically use whatever master slide style that you've set up in SL. So if your text boxes in PPT are Autofit, they'll come over as Autofit, and if not, they'll be set to whatever the PPT master slide text box setting is.
I admit it's a pain in the butt, too, to have to touch every text box to change the setting to Do Not Autofit." Unfortunately, SL doesn't have the same kind of setup feature as Captivate, which allows you to apply a setting to all objects of the same type, which is really what we're asking for in SL. And this can be set up in advance, through the Captivate Preferences.
Oh, how most of us are dreaming of the day when the best and most powerful parts of Captivate and the best and most powerful parts of SL are combined into a single program...sigh...
Hi, I wanted to check on this....seeing as it's been four years since it was originally asked, and I find myself still having to set every text box to Autofit manually. Is this ever going to be added as a feature? It would be best if when you set a text box to the default text box, it actually kept that setting.
Being able to keep a setting for all of the text boxes is a feature that we are tracking. Your vote has been cast for this feature. You'll be updated via this conversation if there's been any update to this feature! In the meantime, check out the article Wendy linked above.
I like the upgrade, that helps with the autofit issue, however, I still have to adjust every text box individually. I don't see an option to set the default for all text boxes created, unless I'm missing something?
The default seems to be "add scroll bars", which I don't want to do, I want to allow text to overflow. So I'd still have to "Format" every text box with the way I want it.
Is there a way to set "Allow text to overflow" as the default for the upgrade project text?
'Tracking' i've found means that Articulate will keep us hanging for 3 yrs and then out of no where say it isn't on the roadmap.
i've been burned FAR TOO MANY TIMES to actually believe any of this. All one has to do is check the forums for feature requests (a LOT which should have been implemented on release) where staff drag along users for YEARS!
The only thing these forums are good for is getting help with development (assuming you are not asking for a feature).
46 Replies
For those of you who need to do this quickly, the way I've been able to work around doing each text box individually, is changing the text boxes on the master. If a new text box is created, you'll have to change it manually, but the masters will always be the same.
Hi Hannah,
Thank you for sharing this workaround with the community!
I would also like to see an option where all of the text boxes are defaulted (or have an apply all option) to "Do Not Autofit." I sized everything in PowerPoint prior to an import, and now I'm spending time making sure the font size matches the style guide.
It is annoying. If you do not pay attention to the setting of your text box at first ( then copy the text box over and over) depending on the size of your text, the next time you open your file you will get a long text box that autofitted your content(and it will go over the boundaries of your slide and screen). Also If you automating the process with the use of PowerPoint, before creating anything with it, make sure to set "Do not Autofit" globally on your computer.
I'd like to add my name to the chorus as well. Most clients I've worked with want font sizes to be uniform, and in many cases have specific font sizes. All body text must be arial, 14pt, for example. When storyline autofits the text, you could have text on the page that is all different sizes, some large, some small, and everything in between, and it all says 14pt. It's a lot of work to go back and adjust all the text boxes to make them look uniform, and you only know the fonts are uniform by eyeballing it since as far as Storyline knows they're all the same, even though they're not. And even if it says 14 pt, you don't know if that's true. I honestly can't believe this has remained this long without an easy way to undo it. No Autofit should be default. Inconsistent fonts are the bane of the designer's existence!
Is there any status update to this? I agree that the default state for any new text box/button copy should be DO NOT AUTOFIT. This would be a huge timesaver, especially with multiple choice questions that end up changing sizes with the different states.
If for some reason someone would want their text size to be controlled by the box, than leave that as an option, but not the default.
Not just autofit and text size -- Fonts and all text settings. Not everyone uses Articulate font. Some of us have branding requirements for fonts and every box requires formatting right now -- not productive use of time.
I also abhor the autofit. It creates a lot more work for me.
Let us also choose up-front which font family (Example: Arial) and minimum size we want to use by default for every new text block, shape, or button that includes text.
Wondering if there was an update on this. I've spent hours fixing font sizes and would love to bulk change the text boxes to do not auto fit
Please bring back DO NOT AUTOFIT this includes font size and the new feature of box resizing. After the latest update I have to go back and adjust many boxes in many projects because when I update them they now have scroll bars....
I'm with the others... I would appreciate 'do not autofit' as a default, or at least the ability to make it a default.
I find this particularly troublesome when importing PowerPoint slides from a SME. Grrrrrrr
Please add me to the list of requestors for the Do Not Autofit text box as well.
Same here! Please, a 'Do not autofit' option to be set as a default.
Please add yet another vote for this. I literally NEVER want my text to autofit, ever. I spend a lot of time undoing this. I don't understand why the application default is something that changes the size of our text automatically. We should be able to decide that ourselves as an "opt in" kind of feature, not a default.
I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, but I'm guessing that the reason for the default of Autofit is because it's a holdover when importing from PPT, where the default setting is to Autofit, and along with the slides themselves, SL imports the master slide styles from PPT. It doesn't automatically use whatever master slide style that you've set up in SL. So if your text boxes in PPT are Autofit, they'll come over as Autofit, and if not, they'll be set to whatever the PPT master slide text box setting is.
I admit it's a pain in the butt, too, to have to touch every text box to change the setting to Do Not Autofit." Unfortunately, SL doesn't have the same kind of setup feature as Captivate, which allows you to apply a setting to all objects of the same type, which is really what we're asking for in SL. And this can be set up in advance, through the Captivate Preferences.
Oh, how most of us are dreaming of the day when the best and most powerful parts of Captivate and the best and most powerful parts of SL are combined into a single program...sigh...
Hi, I wanted to check on this....seeing as it's been four years since it was originally asked, and I find myself still having to set every text box to Autofit manually. Is this ever going to be added as a feature? It would be best if when you set a text box to the default text box, it actually kept that setting.
Hi Jeff
does this article on upgrading project text offer a solution?
Hi Jeff,
Being able to keep a setting for all of the text boxes is a feature that we are tracking. Your vote has been cast for this feature. You'll be updated via this conversation if there's been any update to this feature! In the meantime, check out the article Wendy linked above.
Thanks for reaching out!
I like the upgrade, that helps with the autofit issue, however, I still have to adjust every text box individually. I don't see an option to set the default for all text boxes created, unless I'm missing something?
The default seems to be "add scroll bars", which I don't want to do, I want to allow text to overflow. So I'd still have to "Format" every text box with the way I want it.
Is there a way to set "Allow text to overflow" as the default for the upgrade project text?
Hi Jeff,
You aren't missing anything. Setting the default for all textboxes isn't in the article and it is part of the feature request that is being tracked.
I will add a request for an "Allow text to overflow" feature as well.
If there's anything else you would like addressed, please let us know. Thanks!
'Tracking' i've found means that Articulate will keep us hanging for 3 yrs and then out of no where say it isn't on the roadmap.
i've been burned FAR TOO MANY TIMES to actually believe any of this. All one has to do is check the forums for feature requests (a LOT which should have been implemented on release) where staff drag along users for YEARS!
The only thing these forums are good for is getting help with development (assuming you are not asking for a feature).