PowerPoint Import
Oct 29, 2015
When I import a PowerPoint file into Storyline 2 update 7, Storyline is changing the font size of text . In PowerPoint the slide master placeholder is set to Arial 18, but when the slide is brought into Storyline that text is changed to Arial 13.5. Fixed text on the master slide, as opposed to a placeholder, is not changed. This also occurs with any text placed directly on the PowerPoint slide (text that is not fixed on a slide master). Even the master slide that is imported to Storyline is changed in this way. That is, the master is PowerPoint is set to Arial 18, but when it gets to Storyline the master is set to Arial 13.5. Is there a way to prevent this? We need to storyboard with SMEs in PowerPoint and then import the content into Storyline when finalized, but it is not good if the font sizes we standardize on are changed in this way, requiring us to touch every slide and/or master after it gets into Storyline.
27 Replies
Hi, Neil -- Thanks for your question and sorry you are having difficulties! Most features in PowerPoint and Articulate Presenter are supported in Articulate Storyline, but unfortunately, some are not. Please see this article for tips on importing presentations into Storyline.
Storyline 3 is absolutely butchering my .pptx imports. Boxes resized and shifted, fonts resized (usually smaller), and I am running out of options.
Even copy and paste of the elements from the .pptx is inaccurate and sloppy.
I have carefully made the size of both presentation identical, but, on paste, the sizes are just 'off'.
The fonts match and are compatible, and yet, this persists.
Is there a fix or setting that will cause Articulate to stop messing with Powerpoint?
BTW. This article: https://articulate.com/support/article/tips-for-importing-microsoft-powerpoint-and-articulate-presenter-content
Does NOT address this issue.
Hi William. That sounds a little messy and obviously not what we'd expect to happen. Can I grab a little more detail from you about this behavior?
Thanks -- I'm hopeful we can figure this out!
* What version of PowerPoint are you using?
We are using Powerpoint 2016 MSO (16.0.4266.1001) 32-bit.
* Are you opening a new project in Storyline and changing the story size before importing PowerPoint slides?
Yes. I have also tried all possible permutations of sizing before, during, after, in Articulate only, in .PPT only, in both -simultaneously, -sequentially, and after a light snack. Nothing helps.
* Can you share your .pptx file here for me to test out?
Attached.
Thanks -- I'm hopeful we can figure this out!
Much appreciated. We have a half-million dollar grant from the Michigan Dept. of Education for a State Mandated series of trainings on Educator Evaluation.
We just switched to Articulate from Lector, but I am regretting that decision at this point.
Best wishes!
Bill
W.F.Heldmyer
TV Producer/Director
Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency
33500 Van Born Rd.
Wayne, MI 48184
7343341436
heldmyw@resa.net
Bill,
One note as Crystal is helping you out here...
In general, you will see a font size differential occur when you import slides from PPT into Storyline at stock settings. The reason for this is that PPT's standard slide size (for 4:3 aspect ratio) is 960x720 whereas Storyline's slide size is 720x540. As a result, the font size is scaled down accordingly.
One suggestion would be to set up your Storyline slide size to match your source PPT. In the case above, you'd set your SL slide to 960x720 before you do your import. This may help to alleviate some of the goofiness you're seeing.
Mike
We are not now, nor have we ever used the stock canvas sizes in either Articulate or Powerpoint. Requirements of our materials, our websites, and our LMS’ demand 1280x720.
Both software products are set to match. All materials are originally produced at this size and are not “re-sized” during the process.
Further, we are not only seeing universal alterations in imported fonts, but the registration of graphics, pictures, and, in fact, all elements are often shaken out of position.
Please bear in mind that I am making materials provided by our senior consultants (Ph.D’s, all) that they have used for some time to do class-sized presentations. I am not authorized (read: forbidden) to make ANY changes, and simply cannot keep up the pace of delivery if I have to justify and reposition every element on every slide.
Converting the .PPT slides to .png or .jpeg is not viable either. While this might address the registration issue, it leaves me with no animation capabilities, and, let’s face it, this stuff is beyond ‘dry’.
I need to import with great fidelity, and am not getting that. Not even close.
Attached, please find a sample .PPTX slide, and a screenshot of what it is converted to by Articulate. Not even close.
Thank you.
Bill
W.F.Heldmyer
TV Producer/Director
Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency
33500 Van Born Rd.
Wayne, MI 48184
7343341436
heldmyw@resa.net
Hi Bill,
It doesn't look like the files came through. Can you reattach and send?
Note: If you're replying via email and attaching, the attachments won't be added to the post. You'll need to add attachments via the browser.
Thanks!
Mike
I'm sorry. I don't know what that means.
"Add attachments via the browser?"
Do not understand.
Bill
William F. Heldmyer
TV Producer/Director
Wayne RESA
33500 Van Born Road
Wayne, Michigan 48184
734-334-1436
heldmyw@resa.net
Hi Bill,
Sorry for the confusion.
If you're replying via email and attaching a file, it won't show up in your post. But if you're, say, on your desktop and attach via the Add Attachment button, then the files will appear here in the thread.
You can also insert an image into a post via the image icon at the top of the reply box.
Thanks!
Mike
Thank you!
Try this! This is a .ppt that was absolutely muddled on import into Storyline3.
What am I doing wrong?
Bill
William F. Heldmyer
TV Producer/Director
Wayne RESA
33500 Van Born Road
Wayne, Michigan 48184
734-334-1436
heldmyw@resa.net
Hey Bill,
Still no file attachment.
It looks like you may have tried replying via email? If so, please click the "view" option in the email to open the thread in your browser and add the attachment via the forum thread. (Note: the "reply" option in the email will send the reply via email and not add your .ppt attachment)
Thanks!
Mike
I'm on Outlook. Could that have something to do with it?
This is an original email. I will CC myself on personal email to confirm transmission.
Never had this sort of thing happen before...
Bill
William F. Heldmyer
TV Producer/Director
Wayne RESA
33500 Van Born Road
Wayne, Michigan 48184
734-334-1436
heldmyw@resa.net
Hey Bill,
I shouldn't be an Outlook thing. The goal here is to view the forum thread in your web browser and respond from there.
So copy and paste the following link in your preferred browser (IE, Chrome, etc.) to view the thread in the community forums: https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/powerpoint-import-409c21c4-1ab6-4525-bcb5-a107f233832b
From there, reply to the forum thread and attach your files via the Add Attachment button at the bottom of the reply window.
Mike
Sample powerpoint with import issues.
What am I doing wrong?
Bill
Great!
Hey, could you also (via the same process) send the pre and post images you mentioned having? That way we can "see" what you're seeing on your end post import.
Thanks!
Mike
A random .pptx frame (the elements are to be animated), and the frame as imported into Storyline3.
Quite different.
Hey Bill,
Here's what I'm seeing upon importing:
That cloud in the lower right is definitely off (I'll submit that to our QA team), but the other items seem fairly solid in comparison to the source file.
My hunch is that there is some scaling going on that's messing things up. Your PPT file is set to 16:9 Widescreen this equates to 1280x720 pixels (assuming 96 dpi). So to avoid the need for scaling (this is where those different font sizes show up) you'll want to:
1. Open up Storyline 3
2. Create a new project
3. Set your story size to 1280x720
4. Import your PowerPoint
That should minimize the issues you're seeing.
In the meantime, I'll submit your file to QA so that they can see why there are some elements (those clouds) that aren't importing with correct placement.
Thanks!
Mike
Done that. Always.
Just did it again, and here are the results: (all new)
Hi Bill,
Huh. That is odd. I'm not sure what would be causing such different results. We've opened up a case to investigate. Thank you for sharing your images and PPT file for the team to review!
Mike
When working with imported PPT, I find that the text boxes often (and randomly) lose their shape. They import properly, but then at some other point in time, when I open the storyline file, some of the text boxes lose their wrapping abilities. Is this one of those "not a one:one transfer" issues? It seems as though if that was the case, the text box would lose its shape immediately, but it doesn't happen right away. It is often like whack-a-mole to find the ones that suddenly run off the screen.
Forgot to add: I'm using SL2.
Hey Kimberly!
That does sound like strange behavior. I have a few questions to help narrow down what's happening:
Keep me posted, and thanks for letting us know about this!
Hi Ali,
In truth, I haven't updated because the update completely messed with a colleague's version of SL whenever he opened a course that we already had developed. It changed the font in many of his text boxes (I believe they were text boxes that were on layers), which he had to manually fix. So I've been a bit hesitant to update due to that. I don't think there was anything else that we could have attributed the wonky and sudden text box alteration to besides the update. Note: these issues are completely separate.
Maybe I'll be brave and update. :)
And yes, we're working locally. In regards to #2, I believe this has happened with at least two PPT files that I've imported into SL.
Kim
Hi Kim!
Uh oh - has your colleague figured out what happened with his text boxes? We'd be happy to take a look at that too. You can have him start a discussion in ELH and share the .story file or reach out to our Support Engineers!
Same with the Powerpoint file - if you want to share it here we can also look at importing it into Storyline to see what happens when we try the same thing.
Just let us know!
Just an update... No joy as far as .ppt imports are concerned. My case hase been dumped.
We are renewing our Lectora account and hope that you will let the Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency know when you are ready for "prime-time".
Are you associated with Prezi? It's the same sort of 'non-standard' issue.
Hey William!
I'm so sorry these issues have been causing such a strain on your workflow- thanks for popping in with an update.
I can see you've done a lot of troubleshooting, and I know that can be frustrating. I really appreciate the time you've put into helping us nail this down.
I took a look into your case and it appears our Support Engineers have identified this as a possible software bug. Your experience has been reported, and we'll notify you as soon as we have any updates!
As for Prezi- that's not one of ours. 🙂
Thanks again for working with us on this.
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