Drawing tools in SL2: nearly unusable...or I'm missing something?
Oct 04, 2016
Team,
Drawing tools in Storyline 2 seem...(be nice)...less than stellar.
In general: SL2 drawing tools seem very rudimentary, lacking, frustrating. I hope this frustration stems from my own ignorance, but fear it stems from poorly wrought drawing tools in SL2. (sorry to sound so negative, I love SL2's development environment)
More Specifically: Is it possible to precisely join perpendicular lines with an elegant curve? Imaging the same curve provided by Insert>Shape>Rounded Rectangle in SL2.
Attempts within SL2: Insert an arc shape; insert horizontal line shape. Select both and choose "align top"? The lines do not line up! (how can this not be a bug?) Also, the lines are not even be the same thickness (both set to 3 px).
Using the "Size and Position" box, I got the lines (mostly) in alignment, manually adjusting horiz/vert positions. Just don't look too close at the mismatched thickness, the imperfect alignment, and deal with the archaically tedious process.
Attempts to import from Visio/PPT: Same issues as above, but with the added issue of complete loss of edit ability of the imported object.
Many, many thanks to anyone who can help me draw various perpendicular lines, joined by a simple curve. Also, to create an elegant, precise curve that joins two parallel, horizontal lines (with offset vertical positions, of course). (in a less tedious way).
Thanks much!
3 Replies
Hi Steven,
Thanks for reaching out here, and sharing a few examples of what you've encountered.
Starting with the thoughts in regards to Powerpoint, I did want to share that there are some set ups where Powerpoint will import items into Storyline as images, as they aren't able to be edited like a table and smartart graphics. I'm not sure what type of shapes you were using, so I did want to point that out. You'll also want to make sure you're following the steps here to import into Storyline from Powerpoint.
As for the items you mentioned with the arc shape and a line, I'm curious if you share a sample of the .story file or even a screen recording of what you were drawing so that I could try and replicate. I wasn't entirely clear on which "arc shape" you were mentioning.
With all that being said, I know that most users look at drawing or creating images outside of Storyline, as although it has some of the functionality it's not designed to be an illustration or drawing tool.
Ashly,
Thanks much for the reply, you've helped me understand both my very limited SL2 knowledge, as well as how to work around the drawing limits of SL2. By "arc shape", I mean navigate to Insert>shape, choose "arc". SL2 interprets the "shape" of the arc as larger than the actual arced line, so we must simply use "Size and Position" tool to manually align an arced line with another line. I've gotten pretty good at it. Still, would be cool if this "arc" line would simply "align left" (or right, or bottom, etc) with another line. (Understand this "ain't no" drawing tool, but this seems fairly rudimentary...you can't easily align an arc line with anything.)
It seems like the best way to get good graphics into SL2 is:
Is this correct? Have others found slick ways to import?
Thanks much for your response, and again...I'm loving SL2, and am building a pretty cool simulation with it! Just wish the drawing tools, 3-d capabilities could be improved, wish for user-controlled Zoom, and more Boolean capabilities and streamlined interface for triggers (save that for another time :-) ).
Cheers!
Hi Steven,
Thanks for that direction - I get much more where you're coming from... I just don't do a lot of drawing in Storyline.
I'm glad to hear you're loving it, and for the other items you'll want to also look at sharing your ideas in the form of a feature request.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.