Publish to word, how to stop main layer printing on other layers?

Hi, Lauri - I'm sure you already do this, but I've been copying and pasting images from my base layer onto my mask layer to keep the look consistent. Also, all you really have to cover up is the things you don't want showing through, so I've gotten kind of creative with the shapes I use to mask the background. :)

Thanks for popping in to share Darcy. 

I do see where that was mentioned:

Workaround: Insert a rectangle shape with background fill to mask hidden objects in the base layer

Well, yes, but not just the rectangle shape, but the images from the slide master copied and pasted onto the rectangle shape, if you want to retain them on your layer slide. And not always a rectangle shape, but other shapes, if it helps you only obscure the things you don't want showing up from your base layer. :)

Hi.  Thank you for the ideas.  On many of my slides I have already done this but you will see on my example, there are some slides this would just ruin the look and feel of them and it limits creativity.  I am hoping they fix this.

It is more than a little disturbing that something can be "with our QA team" for more than 2 years without a resolution. I believe the excellence we usually have from Articulate has led us to expect better service than that.

This also happens to me regularly using Articulate Storyline 2. Annoying, but I have found an alternative workaround if I need to publish to Word for an SME review.

Build a new layer called 'Starting Layer'. Create a trigger to show this layer when the timeline starts. Your base slide remains blank (except for any Master slide design elements). From there, if there are any 'base layer' elements you need to show on your other layers, just copy/paste these across from the 'starting layer'.

When publishing to Word, you can then just delete the starting layer images before sending to the SME.

It may not be convenient to do this in all circumstances, but I hope it helps for some.

Thanks Cathy for sharing that workaround here and as far as the issue still with our QA team, I've included your comments here Vicki in the most recent update I've shared with them in regards to this issue and behavior. It's always helpful to have that type of feedback to share so that they're more aware of the pain points for our customers and can continue to investigate ways in which to solve or lessen them. Once there is any additional information we'll certainly share in threads such as this one. 

Hi Ashley,

I chimed in on this issue a number of times and it's still an issue — a really big issue for me and my team. I don't mean to harp, but come on... This is clearly a bug, is easily reproducible, and has been known for years. Make me smile by having this fixed in the next update.

I echo that! Please fix it, make our lives easier.
I think the frustrating thing is that this has been a bug that goes back years.

We are used to a better response from Articulate. You have spoiled us.

I'm just working on a course and had to spend time putting a colored block behind the layer text so that the reviewers could read the layer's text.

It is frustrating, and seems that in more than two years a solution could have been found.

Vicki Hagen

Hi Brett, 

I'd love nothing more than to be able to make you smile and tell you it was fixed but I just don't have that information to share - and even if I did know if it would be included in a particular release or update I wouldn't be able to share that until the release was live as that's our standard policy in regards to updates and new products in general. 

It has been reported to our team as a bug, so that much is clear and we've been able to reproduce it. I just don't have further information to share at this point. 

Vicki, I also just wanted to let you know that responding via email includes your signature here and it looks like on your end that may just be the phone number but you're welcome to update the post to remove that information if you'd like. 

Hi Vicki,

It looks like you updated your post to remove your phone number - glad I was able to remind you of that. It also seems you added some more context to your post.

I hear you- I certainly do. The level of service comment is something that hits deep and I've shared your exact comments from earlier in this thread with the QA leads, so that they're more in tune with the frustrations here (and from our customers as a whole). I can't promise you a fix or a timeline in regards to when I'll  have information to share - but I can promise that once I do have any additional information I'll be certain to share here. 

If there is anything else I can do, besides magic - I'm happy to help, and so is our whole team. Just let us know. 

Im having the same issues, are there any fixes yet?

Hi Mark,

There are not yet any updates on this issue. Once we do have additional information to share we'll be certain to do so here. 

Hi all,

I wanted to provide an update here, as Storyline 2 Update 10 was just released, and included a number of fixes which you can see in the release notes available here. The item you all may be particularly interested in is how it fixed issue where base-layer objects hidden on layers would show when publishing to Microsoft Word. You can download the latest update here, and after downloading and installing the latest update you’ll want to republish any existing content to ensure that the updates and fixes are applied.

Let us know if you have any questions, either here or by reaching out to our Support Engineers directly.

Hi Ashley,

When I publish to Word and select "show layers" the layers still overlap each other and you cannot read what the slide says.  I have downloaded the newest update (11) and I'm still having trouble. Can you please help?

Hi Vanessa,

Can you share your .story file so that we can take a look at all your slide and layer settings? The issue fixed above was how the layer options were set to hide the base layer and those were still coming through on the slide when published to Word. You’ll want to upload the .story file here (which is the file prior to publishing) using the “ADD ATTACHMENT” button at the bottom of the forums reply window. If you’d prefer to not share in the public you’re always welcome to share with our Support Engineers here. They’re available 24/7 to assist! 

Hey Vanessa- Sorry this is happening! Would you be able to share your .story file with us so we can help investigate further? You can feel free to attach it right in the thread here, or submit it privately to our Support Engineers over here if you'd prefer. Thanks!

Thank you very much for your quick response, I just submitted my question privately.

Thank you very much for your quick response, I just submitted my question privately.

Thanks Vanessa for doing so  - and it looks like you're working with Miker on this issue. He's shared some examples of your file published and some additional information. 

Any updates? I'm still having the issue in Storyline 2. Has everyone found that the update worked for them? Thanks!

Hi Denise- just connecting these two posts.

This is still an active problem.  I'm using 360 and using the suggested workaround of replacing with new screenshots defeats the whole purpose of being able to print to a word doc.

Hi there, Sharon. So sorry you're at this obstacle!

This discussion is a bit older, so I want to make sure you get the most up-to-date help. A few quick questions:

• What version of Storyline 360 are you using? You can find this detail by clicking on the Help tab, then About Storyline.

• Would you be willing to share your .story file with us for testing? We'd love to have a look at publishing on our end and offer more tailored support. If you're able to share the project, please use this private upload link!