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cassied98210867
Participant
November 12, 2020
Answered

Help! Big training to be launched very soon but random arrows are popping up with the text boxes

  • November 12, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 1330 views

I do not understand why there are these black box arrows. They are just normal text boxes. What is going on? Please help!

 

      This topic has been closed for replies.
      Correct answer Paul Wilson CTDP

      Hi Cassie,

      These aren't random. They appear when Adobe Captivate detects that there isn't enough space to display the text in these objects. The purpose of these icons is to let the learner know there might be more text to read. Clicking on these icons will display an overlay with all the text in a scrollable format. To avoid having this many of them try lowering your Minimum Font Size in your slide's Properties Inspector to a lower number. Another reason these sometimes appear is an unusual font selection (i.e. taller space for the character than the actual character height). Sometimes they appear when you copy your text from Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office software sometimes contains hidden characters used for formatting purposes and can affect this feature. I usually strip out any formating before copying and pasteing into responsive projects like this one. 

      Here is a video tutorial on the topic if you wish to learn more.

      https://youtu.be/yNO5eWTr6jc

       

       

      2 replies

      I
      I-Am-So-Professional
      Known Participant
      November 13, 2020

      In desktop publishing this is known as overset text or text overflow. I put in a feature request for a similar way of handling overset text within Captivate during authoring/production. The way Captivate works now, if I place text in a caption box, there is no visual indicator of such a condition, and there ought to be. For instance, when I update a project with a different theme, and a change in font size causes text to overflow the box. If I'm not that familiar with the project, and visual inspection doesn't show a partial line/character to clue me in, I might just miss it. And that is a problem, because my tools need to back me up, not leave me hanging.
      InDesign example below.

        C
        cassied98210867Author
        Participant
        November 13, 2020

        I agree. Also there was no text overflowing it. I had just made the text boxes closed around the text to make it easier to move them around since it was a lot on one slide. And all of it was coming together at different parts and timing of the voiceover. So tight text boxes make it easier to adjust. But I made them all bigger and it went away so problem solved!

          Lilybiri
          Lilybiri
          Legend
          November 13, 2020

          You cannot compare ID with Captivate... certainly not with a Fluid Boxes project. 

          If you want to control the text formatting completely you need to use a Breakpoint views project. In Fluid Boxes the font size is decreased continuously until the minimum font size is reached. At that moment the expand icon will appear. Although i have logged multiple feature requests to have the default minimum font size (which is 14pt) decreased to at least the minimum 10pt as in Breakpoint views workflow, it never happened.  Even 8pt can be readable on a smartphone browser.  Often extra unnecessary spaces or BR will also lead to expand icons.

           

            Paul Wilson CTDP
            Community Expert
            Paul Wilson CTDPCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
            Community Expert
            November 12, 2020

            Hi Cassie,

            These aren't random. They appear when Adobe Captivate detects that there isn't enough space to display the text in these objects. The purpose of these icons is to let the learner know there might be more text to read. Clicking on these icons will display an overlay with all the text in a scrollable format. To avoid having this many of them try lowering your Minimum Font Size in your slide's Properties Inspector to a lower number. Another reason these sometimes appear is an unusual font selection (i.e. taller space for the character than the actual character height). Sometimes they appear when you copy your text from Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office software sometimes contains hidden characters used for formatting purposes and can affect this feature. I usually strip out any formating before copying and pasteing into responsive projects like this one. 

            Here is a video tutorial on the topic if you wish to learn more.

            https://youtu.be/yNO5eWTr6jc

             

             

            Paul Wilson, CTDP
              C
              cassied98210867Author
              Participant
              November 13, 2020

              Thank you so much! You are the best. I love your tutorials. I just didn't know what to call them to find the right training or information on it. Thanks!

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