Why does Storyline change my font size when I import a ppt deck?

Sorry for the frustration, Angela

Importing PowerPoint content into Storyline isn't an exact one-to-one conversion. As a result, text may look a bit different. And although most features in PowerPoint and Articulate Presenter are supported in Storyline, some are not. This article has more details. 

PowerPoint's default slide slide size is larger than Storyline's. I forget exactly what PPT is, but it's about 50% larger than Storyline's 720x540.

If you lay down some text using the same font and size, you'll see that they're the same size.

I've tried exporting Powertpoint into picture and see it's resolution. Not sure if this is precisely the PowerPoint's native resolution

4 : 3 = 960 x 720 px

16: 9 = 1,280 x 720 px

Given that I preset the Storyline slide size accordingly, I still need to manually adjust the font size. Yet,at least, I  found that I can adjust the font size in Storyline to the same pt as that in PowerPoint and achieve the same look as PowerPoint. 

Hi Patinya,

It sounds like you're trying to import Powerpoint slides into Storyline, is that correct? You'll find that most features in PowerPoint are supported in Storyline, but some aren't. Can you tell me more about what issues you're seeing in Storyline after the import?

font size decreases after import... need help

Hey Ankit!

I've seen this happen when the PowerPoint slide size doesn't match the Storyline slide size, Storyline will scale the slide items to fit into the new slide size. 

For the best results, change your slide size in Storyline to match your PowerPoint slide size before importing. Click here for details.

Let me know if that does the trick!

I have the same issue; my native slide size in powerpoint is widescreen (16:9) and so is in Storyline, but I get the font size basically halved (28 becomes 14.5); I tried to edit the slide master and set all fonts back to original size, but still the slides show smaller fonts; again an easy thing that gives you hard times...

So sorry you've come across the same issue, Simondavide. We can help!

To start, can I confirm that you're working locally (typically the C: drive)? Working on a network drive or an external (USB) drive is known to cause wonky behavior–like incorrect sizing.

Can you also share the PowerPoint file with me, so I can take a closer look? Need to share it privately? No problem, here's how!

Hi,

thanks for your reply.
All my files are locally stored on my laptop (no USB stick or network drive).
To be honest, any powerpoint file I import gets spoiled by SL360; I even tried to import the bare template (to simplify the use case) and even there all text boxes' fonts are changed (smaller).
Not only, I use a text box in the footer with a logo text and in that case the text does not get resized but the text box gets smaller so the text is broken on 2 lines.
This is even worse becasu, being the box part of the template, I cannot even modify it after importing.
I frankly do not understand why it seems SL360 has to do lots of reworking over the slides instead of a plain import with little/no modifications.
I'll try to upload my template privately as per your suggestion so you might have a look at your convenience.
I'm still in the evaluation phase of the tool and I absolutely want to avoid unnecessary reworking of the slides after importing them; I must keep the process lean, so ideally I need to go straight from powerpoint to SL360 with no retouch.
Thanks in advance for your help, cheers,

Simone

Hi there, Simone. I agree with you: efficiency all the way! 🌟

Appreciate you sharing your PowerPoint file with me, and thanks for confirming you're working locally. I just sent you a recording of my testing in your case–let's continue our conversation there, and I'll also post any important updates as the case progresses in this discussion!

Additionally, here are some pro-tips for importing PowerPoint and Presenter content into Storyline 360 that may be useful for you and anyone else who comes across this topic. Thanks again for giving us the opportunity to lend you a hand, Simone!

How do you look up your slide size in pixels in PowerPoint? I am going to Design Tab > Slide Size > Custom, but for me it is always in inches instead of pixels.

So I remembered about Google... and this site (https://www.presentationpoint.com/blog/best-powerpoint-screen-resolution/) essentially says to multiply each value by the dpi of the screen which is usually 96. So if my slide size is 10 inches x 5.625 inches, then 10x96 is 960 and 5.625x96 is 540. So that would be 960x540.

Hi Will,

Powerpoint measures in inches depending on your Windows regional settings, and I don't believe there is a way to change that within the Powerpoint setting. With Storyline we have it set to pixels knowing that's a bit easier for folks looking to compare that with their image size, screen resolutions, etc. Glad you were able to find a conversion method - there's a bunch of calculators too where you could enter that info in! 

Has anyone made any progress with this issue? I created a ppt with all the appropriate fonts, sizes, colors, ect. and was hoping it would import to storyline as it, but alas all the font sizes changed upon import.  It was mentioned that updates will be posted here, but that was 3 years ago! 

Hello Michael!

There is a list of elements that aren't compatible between Presenter and PowerPoint and vice versa, but fonts and colors aren't included in that list.

Can you share the PowerPoint with us to better understand what might be getting in the way? You can attach it to this discussion or upload it privately in a support case. 

I too would like to know if there has been any progress or updates on this issue because I am currently experiencing this same frustrating thing.  I am working locally with PowerPoint and Articulate.   I am using a standard font.  Both the PP and SL are widescreen in size (16:9). When I import my slides to Storyline, all the fonts shrink.    I have to manually fix the fonts on each slide because Master slide edits don't help.   Thanks very much.

Johnna, did you try changing the size of the Storyline Slide Size before importing your PowerPoint? Try changing it to 1280x720 or 960x540. Go to Design > Side Size Setup in Storyline.

Hi Will. Thank you for reply.  Yes, I have done that.  I even changed my default size to 16:9 so that each time I start a new project, it will be set on the widescreen.  I have tried changing the master slide fonts.  I can't seem to get it to work unless I change the fonts on each slide manually. 

Hey Johnna,

If your PowerPoint presentation is set at the standard Widescreen (13.3333 x 7.5 inches), then you'll need to set Storyline to 16:9, choose a custom slide size and set Storyline to 1280x720 (as Will points out above). Then import the PowerPoint slide into SL. 

The font sizes should then match. Another potential issue is the dpi on your machine. That can also throw things off. A dpi of 96 is what I'm assuming in the above settings. 

Mike

Thanks Mike - I was having the same issue and changing SL to 1280x720 worked! Eureka!

This is a problem we run into often. But we can't change to another screen size in SL because we have to use 1920x1080. Just very frustrating. One thing that would help is having the font size that is set up in the slide master apply to the text that is imported. 

In our current project, we are importing slides from ppt (which have been set to the font and size we want in the ppt slide master) and then apply a layout in Storyline. The text moves to the correct position, and the font style is correct, but now the sizes are off (in our case, they're larger). I don't understand why the size isn't adjusted when the layout is applied.

Hi Sandy, 

Sorry to hear that you ran into this issue. 

I did a test on my end by creating a simple PowerPoint presentation which I then imported to a Storyline 360 project file, and I can confirm that I was able to observe the same behavior that you did where the font size from the layout did not get applied.

I opened a support case for you so we can get you in touch with a support engineer who will be able to take a closer look at the issue. Someone will be reaching out shortly! 

I've found a little math that helps with the conversion. PPT wide screen is 1280*720 or 921,600 pixels. I have my storyline default set to 1600*900 or 1,440,000 pixels. (This allows for the project to almost fill a standard computer screen and still show the player.

So for my ratio I need 921,600/1,440,00 = 0.64

So if I take my original font size and divide by 0.64, I get roughly my converted font size (just a touch smaller). After tweaking I found a 0.60 ratio to be closest.

To take it up a notch, without having to constantly do math, I created a spread sheet to reference to do the math for me with the A column being the original font size and the B column being the converted.

Cell A2 became 10 for the first font, then I dragged down to auto fill the cells up to 60.

Cell B2 had the formula =A2/0.6  - Then drag this down to autofill as well, and voila, converted font sizes.

TL:DR: Basically, play around with one font size till it matches, find the ratio and let spreadsheets convert the rest for you. 

Hi David,

Thanks for sharing this nifty trick to facilitate font size conversion! I'm sure other community members will find it helpful.

Have a great day ahead!

Hello, Everyone!  ✨

I'm happy to share that we have released a new update for Storyline 360 (3.81.31200.0).

In this update, we have implemented a fix for:

• Storyline 360 didn't always preserve text formatting when using custom slide layouts or importing PowerPoint slide masters.

As a first step, I recommend updating Storyline 360 to the latest version. Here's how:

Update Authoring Apps

If you have any questions, please let us know in this thread or privately in a support case.

Have a great day!