Forum Discussion
Latest update: Template images breaking and showing "The image cannot be displayed" red X
Hi everyone,
I am experiencing an issue with the latest Articulate Storyline 360 update.
I have been using custom-built template slides with image-based buttons, background images, etc. for a long time without any problems. However, ever since installing the latest update, whenever I create a new project from these existing templates, the images suddenly break, showing the red X icon ("The image cannot be displayed").
The triggers and states remain, but the graphic assets themselves lose their reference or fail to pack into the new project. Because I have a large volume of custom templates with different color variations, fixing this manually would take an immense amount of time.
This worked completely fine prior to this update. Has anyone else experienced this regression? Is there a known fix or a hotfix coming for this asset-linking bug in templates?
I have attached a sample .story file to this post to help troubleshoot
Thank you!
13 Replies
I am experiencing the same issue.
Hi MG_ & IvyXiaoyu,
Sorry to hear that you're also encountering this behavior.
Do you mind sharing your .story files where this behavior occurs, along with the original template file it was created from?
Having both items will help when troubleshooting and testing whether the issue occurs when the new project is created from the template. If you prefer to share those files privately, please connect with us through a support case.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Same error on my end. Trying to copy and paste an image from another file is giving the same red X icon with the error message.
Hi ramoncrespo-154,
Sorry to hear that a recent Storyline update is breaking media from your template.
Thanks for sharing your file. I see the same red X / “The image can’t be displayed” behavior for the affected images. I also did a few additional tests:
- I copied the affected images to a new slide within your project, and they remained broken.
- I copied them into a completely new Storyline project, and they remained broken there as well.
- I checked the states of the affected objects. The object/state structure is still present, but the images themselves remain broken.
- The project as a whole opens normally, and other graphics on the slide continue to display correctly, so this appears to be isolated to the affected image assets rather than the entire project.
Since the .story file contains the affected images in their broken state, we can't fully determine from this file alone whether the issue was introduced when the project was created from your template after updating Storyline. Do you mind sharing one of the original template files that you used to create this affected project? It would be helpful to have a copy of a template that worked correctly before the Storyline update, and hasn't been modified or resaved since.
That would allow us to test the template directly and see whether the images display correctly in the source but become broken when a new project is created from it.
Feel free to upload the additional file here in the discussion or through a support case.
I had a dig inside ramoncrespo-154 sample .story using my Media Ledger tool and found some detail that might help narrow this down.
The broken pictures haven't lost their image data. They've lost the reference to it. Four picture objects in the slide have imgSet="true" but no assetG attribute at all, and a fifth points at an all-zeros GUID. The asset list only declares seven assets (the six numbered JPGs plus tick.png), all intact with matching checksums, which is why the rest of the slide still displays fine.
One more oddity, story/media contains six files of 212 to 303 bytes each that are actually 30-pixel-wide PNGs saved with .jpg extensions. They're listed in the slide's rels but nothing in the slide XML uses them, and they're not in any asset list. So whatever happens at template import is stripping asset references from some objects and writing junk fragments where the real assets should be.
I have this now as well. This is a hot mess when I need to get a translated course out. I'm just going back to the old version until Articulate fixes this issue.
Reverting does not solve the problem, but I will not return to the newest version until this problem is solved. I have to redo all the affected images, and that is too big a risk for other courses to take. Not to self, wait a few weeks before updating in the future.
I have this same issue now when copying bitmaps from one Storyline file to another -- in the file being copied to, a blank outline appears of the correct size, but with the message, "This image can't be displayed". My solution has been to, in the original file, Export Picture / Export Original Image, and then in the new file, import that Picture. Playing with it right now, I see that if I copy and paste the bitmaps into another program first, like PowerPoint, then I can copy them from PowerPoint over to the new Storyline, no problem...
Interesting. I have all the images already saved externally, as they are application screenshots used for software training. It's very annoying that something is wrong with Storyline, since the ability to copy and paste slides between files is a fundamental part of the workflow. Not all the images stop working, but enough that it takes considerable time to replace and reformat them on the slide.
Hi BenjiLukas,
Thanks for keeping us updated here. I see you’re already working with my colleague Ian in a support case on this issue, so we’ll continue troubleshooting with you there.
I appreciate you also sharing your experience and the impact this is having on your workflow with the community!
Hi MarkLentz,
Thanks for sharing these additional details! The fact that the image breaks when copied directly between Storyline files, but works when you export and reimport it or copy it through PowerPoint, is especially helpful.
Since you’re seeing this behavior consistently, would you be willing to share the affected Storyline files with us privately in a support case? Our Support team can take a closer look at what’s happening to the images during the copy-and-paste process.
And thanks for sharing the workarounds you’ve found in the meantime. I’m sure they’ll be helpful to others following this discussion!
We are also see this problem consistently when copying directly between Storyline files and when importing slides from one file to another. If an image already exists in the Media library, it no longer shows on the copied or imported slide. This has become extremely problematic as we have multiple artists working in independent files that are ultimately merged together to create a course. Has there been any updates on what might be causing this bug?
We also noticed that text fields that used to be animated by paragraph are now coming in animated as a single object.
Between the two bugs, we're spending a lot of time in rework.
Hi JenniferUrquhar,
Sorry to hear that you've run into these setbacks when importing content between .story files.
I haven't been able to replicate this behavior when testing in our current version of Storyline.
Text animated by paragraph merging upon import is an issue we have logged. However, we're only seeing that occur when importing from PowerPoint. It sounds like you're strictly working with Storyline-to-Storyline content, correct?
I'd like to connect you with our support engineers so they can work with you directly on these issues. I've opened a support case on your behalf and sent you an email with an upload link you can use to share your files privately.
We can continue troubleshooting through your case!
