Forum Discussion
Blurry Images.. Still
Hi all,
This seems to be an issue many people are talking about but I can't find a definitive answer without having to trawl multiple threads and links.
It would appear that Storyline is not fit for purpose when it comes to inserting images. Even when I'm trying to use the 'Try-it mode' on screen recording, the start and end frame is blurred regardless of what resolution, size, quality of screen grab I insert into Storyline.
I would think it should be quite simple to do and fix, but appears not to be.
I thought the major selling point of using Articulate was that it 'Automatically scales to mobile and tablet', if the only workarounds (which are far from perfect and still blurred), are fixing image sizes, or player sizes etc.. then this removes the automatic scaling onto mobile devices and means we have to develop the course mobile ready.
I'm in the process of deciding whether as a business we should curate in Articulate, or the Adobe Suite, and this problem is unfortunately making us lean away from Articulate. I've found no way to make these images High Quality and would appreciate an easy way to do this.
Hi there, Mark. It sounds like you have some decisions to make, and you're experiencing some issues with images and screen recordings that are getting in the way. I'm happy to help you make the most of Articulate!
First, I'll start with the best practices. These are our current recommendations when working with visual media in Storyline:
- Best Practices for High Quality Images and Videos
- A Useful Technique for Recording High-Resolution Screencasts in Storyline
We do have some open issues that our team is investigating, like blurriness in some step-by-step screen recording scenarios, or a blurry image output with certain animation or player settings. So that we can see if you're experiencing one of these known issues, would you be able to connect with our support team and share an example file? We'll be happy to help with a workaround, if possible, and let you know if fixes are released.
Our support is always free and unlimited, whether you're on a trial or you're a licensed user. Let me know how I can help!
Hi Crystal,
Thank you, it would seem to be bad timing you are experiencing such major problems with image quality / compression, as you're right I need to make a judgement call on whether to use the product going forward or another solution.
I noticed yesterday also, when I add animation to text boxes, the text goes blurry also.
Warm Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark,
I know our team is also looking into an issue where the text is blurry as it animates in, but it should appear normally once on the screen. I'll keep you posted on that issue here in case it's fixed within the timeframe that you'll be making a decision, but I don't have an ETA to share.
Hi Ashley,
My company too is in the final stages of taking a decision on this, and while testing the tool me and my team is experiencing the blurriness issue as well. I read through enough literature on this and finally came to this thread, so it is good to know you guys are working on this and I hope you have a resolution soon.
Although I do not want to rule out Articulate just for the blurriness issue, I do want to say that this will become an issue very soon in my case. I see this post is about 4 weeks old and was hoping if you have any update on the issue...
I am pretty sure you have enough examples and you know there is an issue; I have a sample too in case you want to take a look. Mine is simple, I am taking a screenshot and pasting it in SL 360... The moment I do that, the quality becomes unreadable... it's not unreadable, but it just becomes noticeably bad and puts a strain on the users eyes to actually read the content of the screenshot.
I also noticed the fonts are not crisp in the tool. When I write the text in PPT, I see it sharp and crisp, whereas it loses the sharpness in SL 360. I am using Noto Sans, but the case applies to all the fonts...
It will be really helpful to get some resolution.
Thanks,
Manjul
PS. I tried the resolution settings, optimizations and other means suggested in different blogs, it does not improve the quality of the screenshot.
Hi there, Manjul. Thanks for sharing your experience. To make sure I'm on the same page, are you experiencing blurriness in the output, and in any particular browser? Or do you find the blurriness is isolated to editing your project in Storyline?
In the meantime, I'm continuing to share the impact of this issue with our team as we work toward potential fixes.
Hey Crystal, thanks for the response and further questions...
I am experiencing the blurriness in the editor, preview and the published output both.
We only use Chrome, so that is what I would be able to comment on. Have not tested on other browsers.
I think this is a known issue, right; it does not take a lot to identify that the screenshots taken get blurred the moment we place those on SL 360. One thing I noticed though, is that there is a marginal improvement if the screenshot is first saved as a JPG, and then inserted on a slide. However, the blurriness remains (just a little less).
Looking forward to a fix for this issue.
Manjul
Thanks for that insight, Manjul. You're right - the issue of blurry images in Chrome is known and we're working toward a fix. I'll make sure this discussion is updated with new information.
Hey Crystal,
The thread has become larger since your last update. Do you have any new information on the fix...
Thanks,
Manjul
Pictures and videos are the core of e-learning design. Please stop telling us how to avoid blurriness by tricks. There has been dozens of comments and example about that.
It's not the authors who should follow tutorials and get mad but the software that should work for basic stuff such as cropping, resizing, etc.
I lost a whole day because of video blurriness. Instead of having a fancy Media Library, I would prefer to be able to work easily with the media I need...Well put!! I agree 100%!!
I agree. This has been a known problem for years...with promises of resolution for years.
Our team has commented that the images seem even more degraded now than they did a couple years ago...and I disagree that the issue is specific to Chrome or the browser version. We test on different browsers, different versions, and the issue persists.
The "fix" should be on Articulate. We have thousands and thousands of images, sized properly, etc. It is untenable that we should have to evaluate and manipulate every image, that on other formats, is already a properly formatted and clear image.
I too am having an issue with blurriness. I am a new user. I switched to Storyline 3 because my Captivate software was crashing too often. I am using IE as my browser. I am trying to figure out what to do to make my images crisp. I use the MS Snipping tool, copy what I need and paste it into the articulate software and it becomes so blurry that the text in the image can't be read. This is in the editor and preview views. I'm so new that I haven't tried to publish yet. I have watched tutorials etc but nothing seems to help. I have added a screenshot to show you how it looks.
Hi Marlit,
Sorry, to hear you've hit some stumbling blocks here as you get started! Luckily, I think it's different than the issues mentioned in this discussion, as those are specific to how Chrome is displaying things.
Let's start with the basics of adding images and other media. You'll see our best practices are outlined here, and if you're inserting a screenshot you'll want to look at not scaling it as that can contribute to a loss in quality. Your image looked to be a full-screen view, but perhaps instead you could narrow down to just the highlighted section? Or, look at enlarging your story size to be a bit bigger. Also, if you'll be adding in a lot of manual screenshots, what about using the screen recording feature of Storyline? It may even save you some time.
Also, double check that your version of Internet Explorer matches up with any of the supported ones here based on how you've published. Using an out of date browser to view newly published content could be the culprit for your blurriness!
Let us know if that helps, and if you need anything else!
Hi Ashley,
I, and am sure everyone in this loop, has tried all this... It is an Articulate issue for sure.
Please have the development team take a serious look at this. We will be purchasing the software as we like all that it does. But it does not manage the image and video resolution well for sure.
Hi Ashley,
It's not only a Chrome issue… Bluryness occurs on IE too. I guess it's an Articulate issue.Thanks for the follow-up anyway,
Hi Marlit,
If you manage to use the screen recording correctly, please tell me how you did it. All my videos get from crisp to blurry to crisp to blurry when I try to use this tool.
Good luck fixing your issue,Nothing worked. I had to change the slide image. It's definitely not just a Chrome issue.
Hello Everyone,
I agree this seems to be a larger issue. I am updating a course I made in December and re- uploaded the same image into my course and this time is comes in very blurry.
