Font size and text box size changing automatically
Jun 04, 2016
Hi. I have the following issue I was hoping somebody might be able to help with.
I have text boxes throughout my project that are set to Open Sans font, size 10, they are set to Resize shape to fit text and wrap text in shape. Mostly they work as they should, but sometimes I will close and save a file and when I re open it, the font changes to Open Sans size 15 and the text box stretches to be as wide as the longest paragraph in the text box. So I end up with this really wide text box with very big font that hangs way off the project area. I also have some text boxes set Arial 14 Green text and these too will change to 15pt Open Sans. Sometimes the text remains the correct size but the width changes so the text hangs off the project area.
This issue occurs across different files in different projects that I am working on. When it happens it will generally effect just one or two slides in the file and the remaining slides are unchanged. While I have tried, I haven't been able to figure out a pattern for when and why this occurs.
While I can obviously reset the fonts so that it all looks OK again, it is problematic because every time you open a file to change something you really need to check the entire file in case this issue has occurred.
Hoping someone may have an idea as to why this is happening and how I can avoid it.
Many thanks
Louise
33 Replies
Hi Louise. Do the text boxes act the same way when auto resizing is switched off? Perhaps this could be a workaround.
Hi Steve.
Thanks for the suggestion. You may be correct as auto sizing does seem to be a troublesome feature. I thought of trying this but I have over 100 .story files with loads of text boxes in each and to my knowledge there if no way to make a global change. I will however change this option whenever it happens and hope it doesn't happen again.
Thanks!
Louise
Hi Louise,
Can you also confirm that you're working on local project files as described here? You may also want to look at importing it into a new Storyline file as described here.
Hi, Louise -- Thanks for reaching out and sorry to hear of your difficulties! May I ask if you have tried importing the file(s) into a new file to see if you find improvement? Also, you may want to check out the troubleshooting steps listed in this article and let us know if issues persist.
Thanks Ashley and Christie
Yes, I always work directly from my local drive and always update to the latest version of Storyline whenever an update comes out. I also reboot my computer reasonably regularly. Although I've only recently posted about this, I've experienced this problem fairly regular over the past 6-9 months. Sometimes it doesn't change the font size, but the size of the text box stretches out to one line, way beyond the border of the project. It doesn't happen project wide, that is, I might have 20 similar slides in a project and this problem will occur on 2 or 3 of them. I can fix them, close again and open again and they'll be fine then open again the next day and they'll be changed again. I can't reproduce consistently so it's difficult to narrow down what factors are contributing to the problem. Next time it happens I can try to import to a new file, but because it happens so inconsistently I won't really know whether this has fixed the issue unless I keep opening and closing the file. If I could work out what causes it I'd be happy to work around it, but at the moment it a very bad bug for me. As a freelancer, I often open a file to tweak something and resend to a customer. I now need to check every text box in my project every time I do this - as you can imagine, this is very time consuming, and relies on me not to miss anything! If anyone can work out when/why this happens, it would be great to know.
Thanks for your help!
Louise
Hi, Louise -- Many thanks for the additional details and for confirming the troubleshooting steps you have already attempted. May I ask if you might be able to share one of the problematic files so that we are able to do some testing on our end to see if we find the same behavior?
To upload, please use the grey ADD ATTACHMENT button in the bottom left of the reply box, and you will be able to browse from there. :)
Hi Christie - Next time it happens I'll save the file before fixing and upload it. Thanks again. Louise
Sounds like a plan, Louise! :)
I am running into a similar problem. My project that had a 456H x 676W text box with white Ubuntu 22 pt font, which I also copied to other layers on the slide. I saved the project and today when I opened it, the original text box is 167H x 1585W (width of the longest paragraph) and the font is black Open Sans 22 pt. I also have a title on the slide that changed from Cyan Ubuntu 30pt, as well as, two single word text boxes with white Ubuntu Bold 25 pt text that all changed to black Open Sans Regular 21.5 pt.
I noticed the text boxes that changed are formatted to "Resize shape to fit text" and the copies that didn't are formatted to "Do not Autofit", but this doesn't explain why it is changing the font, color, and sizes in addition to the width. Even so, it should not change the width, but height as it usually does when editing the text. This is very problematic because not only is it not working as intended, but it is also not consistent. I have seen this sarcastically and it is becoming troublesome and counterproductive.
I have submitted a ticket for this issue with the attached example.
Thanks Michael and I see you're working on this case with Robert, so I'll continue to follow along as well.
Thanks michael - any updates to his thread would be great. I agree it's very problematic and impossible to control due to its inconsistency.
Louise
This sounds sadly familiar. I've had text boxes that suddenly are as wide as possible. When I look at the formatting, the "Wrap Text" box is unchecked -- even though it was checked before. I can correct the issue by re-selecting "Wrap Text" and adjusting the text box size. But it is a pain to have to do that. BTW, Articulate: I don't have any sample files, and I can't provide details about when this happens. As far as I can tell, it's a random bug.
Resize shape to fit text is probably the culprit. I never use that because I find it too annoying. Most of us who design e-learning use conventions for fonts, right? For example, 14 point for body text, 16 for headings, etc. So, it doesn't make sense to allow Storyline to resize things for you (IMO). :-) Another thing that can affect your fonts is the master slide. If you have a certain font style and size set up in text boxes on the master slides, I think that will translate to any slides using those. Lastly, a font issue I run into is when I copy from a Word (or other) document. Often, the formatting from the source is brought over into Storyline.
Cindy, When you copy text, place your cursor where you want to paste, then right click. You will be presented with several formatting options to apply to the pasted text..
Thanks for the tip Walt!
Hi Christie,
I have just opened a file where there is a lot of corruption of the text boxes. Is there a way I can send it to you without making it public?
Thanks
Louise
Hi Louise
This is the link you need
Thanks Wendy! I've uploaded the file.
Hi, Louise -- Touching base to let you know that your case #00817271 has been received, and I will check it out as soon as possible. Your patience is appreciated!
Thanks. Christie
Any updates to this? Having the same issue. Text boxes are changing font size (and potentially other attributes? Potentially font spacing or text box size) between sessions.
Hi Matt,
I looked into Louise's case and it was something our Support Engineers saw on her initial file but then couldn't replicate after changing the font size and text box a number of times. That tends to point to an issue with file corruption, and our first thought is to always double check that you're working with local project files and following the other guidelines here.
If you'd like, we're happy to check your file too. You can upload it here using the "add attachment" button and it'll be in the ELH forums or you can share it with our Support Engineers using the link here.
I'm having a similar issue. I set up a feedback master, set the font size and formatting to "Do not autofit" and "Wrap text in shape". I then used these in a quiz and all was working perfectly for a few hours. I logged off and shut down for the night and this morning when I re-opened the local file the formatting had magically all changed so that autofit was de-selected in every feedback layer. I am now having to reformat each feedback layer by manually opening the formatting settings for the text box and re-checking "Wrap text in shape" so the text doesn't run off the the side of the slide, never mind the text box. I double checked the feedback master and its still set correctly. Ideas?????
Hi Jamie,
Unfortunately I never did work out a fix for this one. Generally I'm pretty good at debugging issues and finding workarounds, but not this one. Still perplexed. For me it was happening on one particular project even though I couldn't identify what was different about that project to others I was working on. I also couldn't reproduce it with any regularity or find any pattern to when or why it happened.
Sorry not to be of further help.
Louise
Thanks Louise,
It is a slippery one. I re-save as anew project and then imported into the Storline it has to be included in and funnily enough that seems to have reduced the problem - although a few layers are still reverting back to the deselected Wrap text formatting, but only a few lol
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