Forum Discussion
Tips for working with icons in Storyline 360
I am looking for some tips on the easiest way to work with icons in Storyline 360.
I often place an icon inside a shape, such as a circle or rounded rectangle. The challenge comes when I later want to move or adjust just the icon. I’ve tried selecting the icon through the Timeline, but it can still take quite a bit of time to select, separate, and reposition the icon without moving the shape behind it.
Is there a better or more efficient way to work with icons so that individual elements are easier to select and move?
7 Replies
hfalearning Are you okay with me moving this to its own post? I think you'll get more visibility and better responses that way!
Sure, that works for me. Thank you, Katie-Jordan! I appreciate you.
I may be simplifying this-- but I would suggest Grouping your icon with the shape so that the placement remains the same- yet the Total object can be moved about on the slide, i.e., a light bulb inside a square.
hfalearning: A few years ago, I wrote a tip about putting an icon into the state(s) of a shape. I think that makes it easier to program and to take advantage of built-in states. (I jokingly call it "introverted Storyline," because it avoids Groups.)
Depending on the shape and the icon, it can be difficult to select the icon when that needs to be adjusted, as you've discovered.
Because so many icons are actually groups of freeform shapes, I often save the overall icon as a PNG, and insert that into the shape. Ideally its dimensions are somewhat smaller than the shape, which makes it a bit easier to select.
After I select the icon, I adjust the X, Y, Width, and Height metrics by clicking the corresponding up/down arrows in the Size and Position section of the FORMAT ribbon.
By using those buttons, I don't have to worry about accidentally selecting the main shape when trying to grab part of the icon to move or resize it.
One more workflow that saves me a lot of clicking: use the Selection Pane. Home tab > Select > Selection Pane lists every object on the slide — click the icon's name there and it's selected instantly, no digging through the shape on the canvas. Even better, rename the objects first (double-click the name in the timeline, e.g. 'icon-check' and 'circle-bg') so you're not hunting through 'Freeform 47'. Between Judy's states trick for the finished build and the Selection Pane for editing, the click-through problem mostly disappears.
Thank you all for your insightful tips! They’ve been truly helpful as I work with icons.
I have a background on my page, and on top of that, I’m inserting a shape to emphasize the icon I’m using. Sometimes I need to resize or reposition the icon, but when I click on it to make adjustments, I run into issues—the background may get replaced, the shape behind the icon moves instead, or only part of the icon moves.
After looking through all your responses, I think I can work more efficiently with icons now! I’ll definitely use all of your suggestions and will update here if I come across any other issues.
Thank you all for taking the time to share your tips! katherinezf JudyNollet ronald-hicksYou're describing a classic Storyline headache — clicking through stacked objects on the slide almost always grabs the wrong thing. Two habits that fix most of it:
1. Select from the timeline panel instead of the slide. Find the icon or shape by name down there and you get exactly the object you want, without touching the background.
2. Group the icon with its emphasis shape (Ctrl+G). Then they resize and move as one unit — no more half-moving pieces.
If your background is a full-slide image, consider moving it to the slide master. Then it isn't selectable on the slide at all, so it can't get replaced by accident.
Glad the thread helped — come back if another snag pops up!
