Using images in a Matching Drag and Drop question

Jan 04, 2012

Rachel Leigh
By Rachel Leigh

Hello Community,

I need some help.  I'd like to use images in a Matching Drag and Drop question as an alternative to using all text; however, I'm experiencing image quality problems.  The problem is the proverbial issue of scaling down images.  Another issue is that all of the images do not align so that the same size (or amount of bar that displays) of the left bars in the question is the same (in this tutorial the images align nicely - (http://community.articulate.com/blogs/jeanette/archive/2011/07/21/quizmaker-09-tip-adding-images-to-your-matching-drag-and-drop-questions.aspx).  I attached a mockup/screenshot of the question so you can see what I mean.

If anyone has suggestions on how to improve the quality of the images or alternatives for using some or all of the images in the question but in a different type of way (one idea I've already thought of would be a collage of them as one image), or workarounds or other approaches, I'd very much appreciate it.  This is for a self-paced module and I need to complete it today, so I'm looking for advice today.  The only caveat is that I do not want to split up the question into two questions as a workaround.

Thanks

Rachel

7 Replies
Annie Jean
over 12 years ago01/04/12 at 8:39 am (UTC)

Hi Rachel,

If I had to do it, i would probably go with the idea of a collage. Just an idea, I would probably also try to take advantage of the different size of the images to "not align" them and maybe, with a bit of work, add arrows or something that leads to the answer referring to the item.

I don't know it is clear... if not, just tell me, I'll try my best to explain or make a fake image.

Happy new year!

Steve Gannon
over 12 years ago01/04/12 at 8:43 am (UTC)

Rachel,

You could save the individual images as PNGs with a transparent background and import them directly over the full left-side puzzle piece. Maybe then add a soft drop shadow using QM's formatting tools.

Another option would be to use the Matching Drop-down question format rather than the Drag and Drop format. The benefit of the Matching Drop-down format is that you can reposition the drop-down locations. You could have two rows of images with the drop-down boxes beneath each one, or have two columns of images with the drop-down boxes to the left or right of the images.

- Steve Gannon

  GanTek Multimedia

Rachel Leigh
over 12 years ago01/04/12 at 8:51 am (UTC)

Annie Jean said:

Hi Rachel,

If I had to do it, i would probably go with the idea of a collage. Just an idea, I would probably also try to take advantage of the different size of the images to "not align" them and maybe, with a bit of work, add arrows or something that leads to the answer referring to the item.

I don't know it is clear... if not, just tell me, I'll try my best to explain or make a fake image.

Happy new year!

Thanks for your prompt response! : )  I'm not sure how your idea (not the collage the second one) would look or be able to implemented with using 5 images in one question in a Matching Drag and Drop question.
Rachel Leigh
over 12 years ago01/04/12 at 8:58 am (UTC)

Steve Gannon said:

Rachel,

You could save the individual images as PNGs with a transparent background and import them directly over the full left-side puzzle piece. Maybe then add a soft drop shadow using QM's formatting tools.

Another option would be to use the Matching Drop-down question format rather than the Drag and Drop format. The benefit of the Matching Drop-down format is that you can reposition the drop-down locations. You could have two rows of images with the drop-down boxes beneath each one, or have two columns of images with the drop-down boxes to the left or right of the images.

- Steve Gannon

  GanTek Multimedia


Thanks Steve for the suggestions. 

For your first suggestion, I already tried saving them as PNGs to avoid the white background that's inherent in the images, but when I scaled the images down, that's where I really lost the image quality.  The reason I have to scale them down is to get all 5 of the images on the Quizmaker slide.

I might try your second suggestion as I didn't think to use images in a Matching Drop-down question type and also didn't think to reposition the drop-down locations. 

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