Storyline 2 - character spacing problem

Wow- that's disappointing! I did look through the thread & thought I'd missed something- it's such a deal breaker really, my client says it looks unprofessional & I agree. Not looking forward to explaining that it's not fixable...

David Hegarty

Yes as Captivate is being updated I am starting to look at it more. I actually own it too. I find it upsetting that an error, and like to you pointed out, looks unprofessional and is part of the user experience has languished for so long while they pour resources into developing new revenue streams..

Hi David.  Thanks for reaching out and sharing your screenshot.  I'm really sorry that you have to take this issue back to your client.  Nobody wants to put you in that difficult position.  Sean is right that we've been working through this issue for a while now.

You're also subscribed now, to this thread, which will be updated with new developments when we can share them.  I wanted to note, also, that replying via email includes your signature, so you're welcome to come back and edit out your contact information if you wish.

Hi everyone. I am experiencing the same problem now using Century Gothic 14. Please can you advise if there is any solutions.

The only thing that has worked for us is to only output to flash and not
use HTML5.

This does stuff up anyone wanting to use an iPad.

Seems that the engine they are using to render the HTML5 is rubbish and
don't seem too motivated to fix it.

No one has found an acceptable solution. Including all the software engineers at Articulate.
For 3 years.

Some have suggested using .5 font sizes. I find that depending on the user screen size the error is bad to worse no mater what font I use or size.

Hi David.  I am getting the same spacing issue with V when using Century Gothic.

Thanks, Christancia, for contributing.  You'll be subscribed to this discussion now and receive notification of any updates.

So- I found that the HTML and Flash were both equally problematic- far worse than the example that started this thread!  Tried changing point size but that didn't help.  

Changed to Helvetica and that did improve it a fair bit - it's still not perfect but at least it doesn't look like we're completely incompetent and leave spaces everywhere!

Of course changing all the text across 8 * 30 min modules is a massive effort and then there's the question of changing the font of the text used in embedded images to match...

My first big SL project and I'm frankly amazed that such a fundamental problem can have been allowed to live through so many upgrades!

Hi David

try exporting the content using the File > Translation  > Export option. This will give you a word document. Replace the font in word with your chosen one then File > Translation > Import and see how that goes.  Just don't change the name of the export doc.

Good luck

All of us here are a bit dumbfounded that Articulate has let such a fundamental design issue languish for so, (insert many more so's here) long. You would think that this negative reflection on the quality and attention to detail of the programmers would prompt them to correct this. I guess pride in the workplace isn't what it used to be, well except for all the people in this thread that take great pride in their work and are stymied by inept programming.

So I keep poking at them.. I think they basically ignore this thread now.
Nice suggestion Wendy.

Something very deep and structural in the source code must have gone wrong in the coding of the display of texts and it must also have heavy dependencies to many other parts of the code.  Otherwise one would think (hope!!) that it would have been fixed during these years. 

I agree to the perception that replies from staff more and more feel like smokescreens.

It is not good!

Hi Sean and P-O E, 

I don't know if my following up here will carry much weight with you both, since this issue has gone on much longer than anyone would like or our team would have expected, but I wanted to be sure you saw my response just about a month ago in regards to why it has taken so long.

This is not meant to be as an excuse, but to provide a bit more transparency into the process and what steps our team was taking to investigate, replicate and determine a fix for the issues discussed here. If you have any other examples or feedback to share, we'd really like to see it and ensure it gets into the right hands. You can post them here in the ELH discussion or send them direct to our Support Engineers. If you choose the second option just include a link to this forum discussion and they'll keep the forums staff posted so we can share updates here as well. 

Hey Ashley, this was escalated ~30 days ago, has there been any information passed to you on it's current progress? 

Michael, this was created in NOV 2014.. A little more than 30 days. While I applaud you asking Ashley for the current progress, I think you will find you will get some vanilla "we are looking into it.. yada yada yada pacify the customer with some mumbo jumbo and maybe he will go away" answer. Soon you will be as upset as everyone else in this thread that Articulate has done nothing to solve this problem.

Subscribing to this thread also I have the same problem with Arial font which is most of my clients branded font. 

I wo nder if we sta rt pos ti ng ou r re plies l ike  thi s Art ic ula te wou ld ge t t he me ss a ge.

Brilli ant!

Yes - Sean's post was really brilliant! It shows what the problem is all about.

For me Articulate has for many years equaled excellent delivery when it comes to what the tools can do, value for money and superb support. But in this case I feel that Storyline users are left in empty space with the problem. A sign of this is that some of our comments become harsh and amper.

Basically it is nothing strange: Articulate is a company, which has focused on a new business model and new launches. We, as faithful customers, has no saying in this,  but we are sorry for being left behind!

It would be marvelous to be proven wrong in this conclusions ...

One more voice to get this sorted! I'm getting complaints from users about the font font kerning and nothing I try helps. I'm bound to use the font for our Dutch administration (used by all departments within the administration for everything, from flyers to presentations). I have tried to use smaller fonts (going from full fonts to ones .5 smaller) and it still looks terrible. For me it’s probably not as bad as for others as I’m not commercially producing for clients, but still. This looks amateurish.

I cannot share any projects I make, so no examples from my end. But it’s nothing special. Even if I create a single slide, enter text, publish it…it looks terrible.

So please get this sorted. 

Marijn, it is bad for you and everyone else.

I think instead of asking, begging, pleading, demanding, we all need to brainstorm on how to force Articulate to fix this.

So everyone.. Do you have any Blogs, Social Media, eLearning sites that we can publically shame Articulate. Where we can show the level of Service (Over 2 years on this issue) we as customers are getting?? I doubt putting anything on any site owned by Articulate will do anything..  How about ELearning brothers?

POE.. First thanks and I have heard that 360 has the same error. I don't know for sure because, after this experience, I will never buy another Articulate product and am half developing in Captivate now. Maybe they should fire the guy who does that part of the programming.

Can anyone else confirm that the same issue exists in SL360? I read a blog post that suggested it had been fixed but I foolishly didn't check it while I was trialling the software.

Hi David,

I responded about a month ago with my 360 testing and it is on Page 6 of this thread.  To answer your question, no it has not been fixed.  There are screen shots so you can see for yourself.

-kelly