Any Plans for Content Slide formatting?
I have been trying to like the Powerpoint options for use with Proclaim, but none seem workable on a regular basis. It seems like something doesn't work right from one presentation to another.
At the same time I really like the "signals" for Bible verses when you make content slides and would prefer to toss Powerpoint linking and use Proclaim directly for sermon slides (I suspect you at Proclaim would like that too). QUESTION: Is there any plan to add some "basic" local formatting options, like font size & color, underline, setting paragraphs, line spacing, etc., that most all programs have, so we can make nice looking, easy to read slides that aren't so super basic? I would be so happy.
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Making the switch from PowerPoint to Proclaim can sometimes be a confusing process. In PowerPoint you add and format text directly on a slide; in Proclaim, adding and formatting text all happens off the slide:
There are a couple of informational articles you might find useful while you make the transition from PowerPoint:
- How Proclaim's Smart Media works
- Using font style templates
- Underlining text
- Fading in text (similar to PowerPoint's text animation)
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Ok, I'm taking that as a "No" you are not going to add some more basic formatting functions.
Sorry I just don't think you are being realistic. Take this very simple (not pretty) slide. Can you give me a reasonable solution in Proclaim. Skip the background image along the bottom. I'm more interested in:
- Ability to display fonts in different sizes on the same slide panel.
- Ability to set the paragraph formatting so it's easy to read when words wrap.
- Ability to spread out paragraphs to fill the slide nicely.
- Colors of fonts differing is also good. (more than the emphasis function)
I can't do anything like that in Proclaim - maybe you can help me.
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We're planning on improving custom text fields, in particular to support multi-line, wrapping text. You can add a custom text field right above the slide view:
Custom text fields with more formatting options (bulleting, numbering, multiple lines) are on our list to improve.
[quote]Ability to display fonts in different sizes on the same slide panel.
Adding custom text fields should work. For each different font style you'll need a separate text field.
[quote]Ability to set the paragraph formatting so it's easy to read when words wrap.
Which formatting options were you interested in? Most service items (e.g. content) will automatically wrap text in the main text field. Song service items won't do so (preserving the formatting of the lines in a song is of greater importance than wrapping the text). Could you provide an example of a slide where you feel the text wrapping isn't what you'd like?
[quote]Ability to spread out paragraphs to fill the slide nicely.
The line height option might be handy here. Other options like "Align vertically/horizontally" or Left/Right/Center text might be useful to complement the line height:
[quote]Colors of fonts differing is also good. (more than the emphasis function)
Once custom text fields are more, well, customizable, it will make it easier to include different font colors on a slide. Although you can't have different colors (other than emphasis) in the same text field right now, it is possible to use an additional text box (as in the second screenshot on this post) with a different font color, size, etc.
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Hey David, we do want to add more support for customizing your slides.
David Saylor said:- Ability to display fonts in different sizes on the same slide panel.
- Ability to set the paragraph formatting so it's easy to read when words wrap.
- Ability to spread out paragraphs to fill the slide nicely.
- Colors of fonts differing is also good. (more than the emphasis function)
All of those are things we have talked about recently.
Here is what I just made with existing Proclaim:
Our custom text fields don't support wrapping at the moment, but it is something we want to support. So in the above you will see that I had to add two fields for the title.
As for the outline, I used our numbered list which does provide good wrapping, however when using the indent button, we don't change the outline to letters. This is also something we should add. For now I just indented and typed the lettering myself.
So yes, we can make something similar in Proclaim, but there are some areas for improvement and we are looking into them.
Mac | iOS | Android | Windows | Web Developer
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Thank you again! I kept working on it too. A few other issues with the system you are espousing:
1. If you have any more information for a "next" slide, you're sunk. Because all the custom fields remain on all the slides in that slide sequence. You have to begin another content slide for each one. Meaning formatting everything all over again.
2. In trying to do that next slide I noticed that you cannot put a "page break" in a numbered list. If you do the numbering starts at "1" again.
3. Using these drop down fields in this way is pretty archaic. You have to line them up manually both vertically and horizontally.
All in all working through an entire manuscript like this would be frustrating. I'm going to give it a try this week. But honestly it feel like I'm stepping back 25 years in computing technology.
Blessings.
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We really do appreciate the feedback!
When I'm using Proclaim to actually make slides (instead of importing a Keynote) I tend to use Styles a lot. After making a few styles I like on one service item. I save them and use them to apply the styles to my other service items. Also the duplicate option is pretty handy since it duplicates the styling.David Saylor said:1. If you have any more information for a "next" slide, you're sunk. Because all the custom fields remain on all the slides in that slide sequence. You have to begin another content slide for each one. Meaning formatting everything all over again.
David Saylor said:2. In trying to do that next slide I noticed that you cannot put a "page break" in a numbered list. If you do the numbering starts at "1" again.
Yeah I noticed that one too...
David Saylor said:ou have to line them up manually both vertically and horizontally.
these two options help with this. The one on the right centers horizontally which I use all the time.Yes, this particular case was not very pleasant.
I am attaching a sample presentation I just made that you can import to your group. It might give you some ideas on how to work with Proclaim while you create your slides this week. To import it go to New->Restore presentation...
Also it is in a zip file so you may have to uncompress it depending on your computer.
Mac | iOS | Android | Windows | Web Developer
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I have to agree with David's position, after producing PowerPoint presentations every week for over a decade, I feel that I really fumble around creating even simple content slides with anything more than one or two lines, but I suppose that either I will become more proficient or Proclaim will catch up after another decade. Moving on from content slides to songs, I really would like to be able to stray from the path of every slide in a song being formatted exactly the same. Not so much fonts and colors, but changing the text location. Or wouldn't it be nice to be able to change the background to match the words. Think of "America The Beautiful" for example. There wouldn't be a dry eye in the house.
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One thing I have done if I really want special formatting of content slides and willing to go to the trouble is do my formatting in Powerpoint and save it as a jpeg and import into Proclaim media or import as a slide show. This clutters my media storage with single use stuff, but a few minutes to clean up every once in a while solves that.
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You can teach an old dog new tricks, but you can't unteach him the old tricks.
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