Layers, Slides, or lightboxes

Jul 13, 2021

Robin King
By Robin King

Ok, I need to explain what I want to do in real-world terms, instead of Storyline jargon, so you all understand what I am trying to achieve in the Storyline environment.

  1. Imagine you are creating five (5) collages.  
  2. Each collage has two elements on it.
  3. One is a picture & one is some text.
  4. You have two piles to pick from for your 5 collages.
  5. One is a pile of pictures and the other is a some text (this is literally text as in typed text not a picture of text).
  6. You have your first blank canvas before you and you randomly pick from the pictures pile (there are well over 120) and paste it on your canvas.
  7. Then you randomly pick from the torn book pages (over 200) and paste that below or to the side of your picture depending on the composition.
  8. You do this four more times creating five collages.

Okay, so I have created complicated number picker slides.  (I have been told that computers can't really create random numbers.)  I can number the pictures and text pieces.

I can create variables, triggers, and conditions to "go to" or "show" one of the pictures or one piece of text. BUT I can't then choose from the text pile or picture pile and paste it on the slide.  It either lightboxes over my text or picture, or jumps completely away from my text or picture, or, as in the case with layers, I would have to have over 200 text pieces layered five times for each of the compositions, as well as, an enormous amount of triggers with conditions.

Basically, I want my students to bring up a blank canvas (aka slide) randomly pick a picture from the stack, paste it on, then, randomly pick a text piece and paste it on the same slide.  (When I say paste, I mean show each element in the same space at the same time.)  This needs to happen five times.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Robin King

6 Replies
Walt Hamilton
almost 3 years ago07/13/21 at 11:02 pm (UTC)

So in real world terms, I'm imagining doing this, and I picture myself in a before computers world. I picture my elem, (or HS, or college) students sitting down to a table with 120 pictures on it, and I wonder,"Who cut out all those pictures?" My answer is "Not me! I only have a semester for this class, not forever." I wonder how big a table I need, and how long it is going to take to choose from that many pictures. I might get those pictures and bits of text cut out if I had a  grad student that wasn't worth anything else, or a paid para that didn't have anything to do, but ultimately, I will get around to wondering if this much work is worth the value the students are going to get out of it.
And that's a valid question, whether you are doing this project with paper, or pixels. How much slide space do you have to commit to allow sorting through hundreds of pictures and bits of text? Is is going to be worth the resources it consumes?

Here's a proof of concept sample with seven options. It allows the choice of any combination of picture and text, but doesn't allow moving or rotating the choices. It allows the choices to be carried over to the next page. I guess its up to you whether you want to make the investment to finish it out.

I might consider five canvases but only by giving each one one-fifth of the choices. You could probably duplicate these two slides, and just change the pictures and text, and it might be doable.

Those are my suggestions.

Robin King
almost 3 years ago07/14/21 at 10:49 pm (UTC)

@Walt--I am sorry Walt, my example was hypothetical.  I was using it as an example to illustrate an experience I am trying to create.  I already have the pictures and text boxes created.  It is more like choose a card from this stack and choose a card from this stack and look at them and read the text.  Think of it this way.  You are given two stacks of playing cards and you are asked to pull one out from each stack and view them simultaneously.  I am trying to have the students pull from a finite stack of pictures and a finite stack of textboxes not by looking at each one.  Instead, I have created a random number generator of sorts where first they pick a number for each stack.  Each picture and text object has its own unique numbering system ie p1 or t1.  Then I want the picture object and text object they choose to appear in the same place (i.e. slide, layer, or lightbox) at the same time.  So, the students are picking numbers that correspond to picture and text objects, not actually shuffling through stacks of pictures and text to "paste" like an actual art project.  Basically, the dilemma is finding a way to have both pieces appear in the same place at the same time. 

Robin King
almost 3 years ago07/15/21 at 6:38 pm (UTC)

Walt, that is very cool.  I will definitely use it for my next coaching experience project.  You spent so much time on this.   It isn't quite the right fit for this one, but it is way cool.  I would repost it in the community, so other people see it.  I believe other people will want access to it, also.

Thanks very very much, Robin

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