Hi guys, I need your help as it's super annoying. I draw a diagram in Storyline and i use e.g. 20 horizontal lines. I decide I want this diagram to move to the bottom so I select all the elements (including those 20 horizontal lines) and I use the down arrow key on my keyboard to move it down. Then all 20 horizontal lines are not horizontal anymore but diagonal. Did you experience the same? I reported this as a bug a year ago (after I experienced this for the first time) but it hasn't been repaired since then :(
I tried to replicate the behavior on my end using a new project file, but it looks like the issue requires certain steps to be done before it can be replicated. Would you be willing to share a copy of your project file here or through a support case so we can try to test the issue using a project file where the behavior has been observed? We'll delete it after troubleshooting.
It's an intermittent problem when moving horz lines (using the up or down arrows on the keyboard). The line or lines suddenly goes on an angle. And won't return to the horz position even if you do an undo.
We are tracking a known issue that causes multiple lines that are moved as a group to behave erratically. You mentioned that the fix for your issue was to group them before moving the position, so the behaviors are somewhat different, but I went ahead and added this forum to the bug report since both include horizontal lines becoming diagonal if they are moved.
We'll let you know when a fix becomes available for the reported issue so I can test if the fix will work on your reported behavior as well.
Joe, I captured a video of the line problem. Note, the white boxes are there to hid the text.
I copied and pasted ( 2 lines, text and a shape) onto a new slide. Then move up all 4 to a new position. Notice what happens when I release the mouse after the move.
Didn't show this in the video, but grouping the objects before moving solves the problem.
Thanks for the additional information! I've already added this support case to the bug report, so everything included here will be reviewed. We'll leave a message here when we have an update to share with you!
Hi there. I have encountered this bug numerous times over the last year. I like to work with a 10-pixel grid because I am terrible at maths. (Why is the default 8px? Why?? WHYYYYYY???)
I have noticed that if one opens the Grid & Guides dialogue box and deselects the "Snap objects to grid" box and/or reduce the grid to 2px then the issue seemingly disappears.
This seems to be related to Storylines' awful geometry issues whereby if a line is 1pixel in width it resides within a 1 pixel plane, but if an object is given a 1 pixel outline, the pixel shifts into an in-between state, neither fully within the shape or completely enveloping the shape. Instead, Storyline renders the outline as straddling the border.
So a number of 1 pixel wide lines SHOULD occupy a single pixel plane each, once distributed vertically or horizontally. But if the positioning isn't mathematically perfect some will always be placed in a weird 'no man's land' plane of existence.
This seems to be what is happening to these lines. When moved, Storyline suddenly realises "Woah, this stuff is being moved, and uh... I was just guessing where it belongs, but, damn, now I gotta figure out where in XY space it's going to... but, wow, that's hard. I'm just gonna anchor one of these lines points to its nearest grid point."
One can encounter this issue regularly if one has a group of identical objects and say, want to distribute them evenly, whether vertically or horizontally. Unless one is very precise about XY coordinates (which is why I try and work within a 10-pixel grid) it is very easy to assume that when one uses the Align > Distribute is being mathematically precise. However, while it may look as if objects and/or lines are evenly spaced, if one nudges the XY coordinates by clicking on the up/down arrows one can often see that the coordinate jumps by 2 pixels (for some reason) and I reckon this is due to Storyline's inability to be mathematically precise on certain visual elements such as lines. Storyline placed the objects in a visually evenly distributed manner that just, ever-so-slightly doesn't match with the maths so it places the objects in a 'fuzzy state', an in-between value.
This is by far one of the more annoying bugs that STILL EXISTS FOR SOME REASON. How am I supposed to align anything if as soon as I adjust the lines go diagonal WHY OMG
This is old, but THANK YOU Diarmaid - the snapping to diagonal lines was driving me MAD and turning off snap-to-grid let me go freeform. Surely there must be a way to manually enter something to adjust the line angle (anyone??), but in the meantime, you saved me.
14 Replies
How are you selecting them?
Have the same problem. I find grouping lines fixes the problem, but it is an annoying bug that happens intermittently.
Hello Richard,
Sorry to hear that you ran into a similar issue.
I tried to replicate the behavior on my end using a new project file, but it looks like the issue requires certain steps to be done before it can be replicated. Would you be willing to share a copy of your project file here or through a support case so we can try to test the issue using a project file where the behavior has been observed? We'll delete it after troubleshooting.
It's an intermittent problem when moving horz lines (using the up or down arrows on the keyboard). The line or lines suddenly goes on an angle. And won't return to the horz position even if you do an undo.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the additional information.
We are tracking a known issue that causes multiple lines that are moved as a group to behave erratically. You mentioned that the fix for your issue was to group them before moving the position, so the behaviors are somewhat different, but I went ahead and added this forum to the bug report since both include horizontal lines becoming diagonal if they are moved.
We'll let you know when a fix becomes available for the reported issue so I can test if the fix will work on your reported behavior as well.
Yup, grouping the lines solves my problem.
Joe, I captured a video of the line problem. Note, the white boxes are there to hid the text.
I copied and pasted ( 2 lines, text and a shape) onto a new slide. Then move up all 4 to a new position. Notice what happens when I release the mouse after the move.
Didn't show this in the video, but grouping the objects before moving solves the problem.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the additional information! I've already added this support case to the bug report, so everything included here will be reviewed. We'll leave a message here when we have an update to share with you!
Thank you Richard for supporting this! I'm really happy Articualte added this to the bug report (I reported this a year ago).
I think that's when I started to see the bug too. My grouping fix works, but I agree a bug that should be fixed.
Hi there. I have encountered this bug numerous times over the last year. I like to work with a 10-pixel grid because I am terrible at maths. (Why is the default 8px? Why?? WHYYYYYY???)
I have noticed that if one opens the Grid & Guides dialogue box and deselects the "Snap objects to grid" box and/or reduce the grid to 2px then the issue seemingly disappears.
This seems to be related to Storylines' awful geometry issues whereby if a line is 1pixel in width it resides within a 1 pixel plane, but if an object is given a 1 pixel outline, the pixel shifts into an in-between state, neither fully within the shape or completely enveloping the shape. Instead, Storyline renders the outline as straddling the border.
So a number of 1 pixel wide lines SHOULD occupy a single pixel plane each, once distributed vertically or horizontally. But if the positioning isn't mathematically perfect some will always be placed in a weird 'no man's land' plane of existence.
This seems to be what is happening to these lines. When moved, Storyline suddenly realises "Woah, this stuff is being moved, and uh... I was just guessing where it belongs, but, damn, now I gotta figure out where in XY space it's going to... but, wow, that's hard. I'm just gonna anchor one of these lines points to its nearest grid point."
One can encounter this issue regularly if one has a group of identical objects and say, want to distribute them evenly, whether vertically or horizontally. Unless one is very precise about XY coordinates (which is why I try and work within a 10-pixel grid) it is very easy to assume that when one uses the Align > Distribute is being mathematically precise. However, while it may look as if objects and/or lines are evenly spaced, if one nudges the XY coordinates by clicking on the up/down arrows one can often see that the coordinate jumps by 2 pixels (for some reason) and I reckon this is due to Storyline's inability to be mathematically precise on certain visual elements such as lines. Storyline placed the objects in a visually evenly distributed manner that just, ever-so-slightly doesn't match with the maths so it places the objects in a 'fuzzy state', an in-between value.
This is by far one of the more annoying bugs that STILL EXISTS FOR SOME REASON. How am I supposed to align anything if as soon as I adjust the lines go diagonal WHY OMG
This is old, but THANK YOU Diarmaid - the snapping to diagonal lines was driving me MAD and turning off snap-to-grid let me go freeform. Surely there must be a way to manually enter something to adjust the line angle (anyone??), but in the meantime, you saved me.
change Height to 0 in the Size and Position