Headlines:
Add new layout template
Optimize view
Create areas
Size & position of areas
Appearance of areas
Duplicate & group layers
Text Layers
Dummy Content
Media Layers
Design Layers
Universal Layers
Define & Restrict Allowed Content
Link areas
Link to slides, presentations & overlays
Link to languages
Delete link
In a nutshell
A layout contains all areas that can then be filled with content in the slide. This article describes how to create a new layout template and how to define content on it.
After creating a template set and a first background template, it is time to add your own layout template. If you have not created a template set yet, you will find the necessary steps in the article: What is a template set?. If you haven't created a background template yet, find the neccesary steps here: Create Background Templates
Of course you can also create new layout templates in existing template sets at any time. Switch to the content structure. There you will find all existing template sets that have been released for you. Click on one of these template sets to open it.
If you cannot edit or open a template set, you do not have the necessary authorization. If you are not the administrator of your presono platform, please contact the responsible person in the rights management with this problem.
Add new layout template
In a template set you will find two sections: Backgrounds and layouts. In order to create a new layout template, at least one background template must be present in the template set. If this is not the case, you will find instructions here: Create Background Templates.
Add a new layout template by clicking on "+" in the Layouts area.
You switch to the Template Editor. There you will be asked to choose a background for your layout. Don't worry, this setting can be changed afterwards. Nevertheless choose a temporary background template. Click on a background of your choice and choose the function "Set background". Then you are ready to position areas on your template.
presono's tip:
If you want to select multiple backgrounds for your layout, you can either hold down the Ctrl key and select multiple backgrounds, or you can click the "Advanced Options" button at the bottom left of the window. If you have chosen more than one background for your layout, the layout will appear several times later when creating a slide, each with different backgrounds!
presono's tip:
Click on the background in the Template Editor to change the originally linked background. If you have not chosen a background template at the beginning, you can do it here. At least one background must be linked to save the layout.
Optimize view
In order to be able to work more precisely, you have the option of making settings in the view. For example, you can show or hide the grid (1). In addition, you can determine whether areas should be aligned with the grid (2) or whether you want to move them freely. Specify the number of units in the grid per row and column (3). Rulers (4) and the possibility to zoom into the template (5) can also be found in the editor. If you lose the overview due to too large scaling, there is a function with which you can move your template back into the window (6) at any time. There is the possibility to specify values in percent values or in pixel values (7). To see how your template will look in a slide, click on "Preview" (8).
presono's tip:
To keep the square shape of the grid, it is worth using a multiple of 16:9 for the number of rows and columns (this is the format of slides in presono). For example, you can double or triple the number. For example, 32 columns and 18 rows become 64 columns and 36 rows if you want twice as many raster units as before.
A special feature is the "Highlight selection" function (9). It allows you to decide whether areas on your template should be highlighted or not when you click on them. Highlighting gives you better access to your areas and allows you to edit them while they are active.
Create areas
To draw areas in a layout there are several quick selection tools: Universal Layer Tool (1), Text Layer Tool (2), Media Layer Tool (3) and the same as Background Templates the Design Layer Tool (4). This allows you to draw as many areas on the template as you like. The name already indicates what can be inserted in the respective areas afterwards (but you can still adjust this). To change the size and position of an area you can use the selection tool (5).
Size & position of areas
You can set the size and position of an area in the upper bar of the Template Editor. You can change the width (1), height (2), horizontal (3) and vertical (4) position of an area. Align areas with given possibilities (5) to the template. For example, you can specify whether too long text may protrude from an area for each layer by selecting "Hide protruding content" (6).
Appearance of areas
Now to the appearance of an area in a layout. For a layout area you can choose a background color (1) or a background image (2). If you want to give your area a border (3), choose a color and enter a size for it. Round off the corners of your area with "Corners Radius"(4). The higher the value, the greater the rounding of the corners of an area. You can find a quick selection for round areas "Round Frame" by clicking on the function "Corner Radius".
There are different types of animations:
- Animate In (1)
With an Animate-In-Animation you determine how your area should appear on the slide. Choose between different zoom, fade, or move variants. - Attention Seekers (2)
Attention seekers are literally areas that should attract attention. This can be done by pulsing, fading in and out or movement.
For each of these animation types you can set the duration (3) and the delay (4) individually. However, only one animation can be assigned per area. There is also the possibility to activate the function "Play repeatedly" (5) for an animation. For example, the area flashes not only once but in a continuous loop.
presono's tip:
There is often a variant of Attention-Seeker, which can be described with "... & Pause" is marked. This function makes most sense in combination with "Play repeatedly". So there is a small pause between the repeated animation intervals. This effect is especially suitable if you want to draw the listener's attention to a certain area in the slide. But beware: too much animation on the slide can be disturbing and unsettling.
Duplicate & group layers
You will find the created areas listed on the right side. Here you can also merge areas into a group. Click on "Create new group" (1) and create a group. Then you can drag and drop one or more areas into this group. Press and hold the Shift, Ctrl or Cmd key to select several areas at the same time. Areas and groups can also be duplicated. Select one or more areas and choose the function "Duplicate layers" (2). You can delete areas at any time by clicking on "Remove layers" (3) or by pressing the delete key.
presono's tip:
Animations can also be placed on groups. All levels in a group are animated together. This is especially helpful if you want several objects to appear on a slide at the same time.
Text Layers
Draw a text area with the Text Layers tool. With the selection tool you can change position and size even more later. Don't worry, this is just a preselection and you can of course specify exactly what content should be allowed here.
You can make the following settings regarding text here:
- Font (1): You can choose between any fonts. Starting with a Professional package, you can also upload your own fonts. Switch to the settings under Configuration > Fonts.
- Font style (2): Different font styles are stored for the different fonts. Select a suitable font according to the purpose of the area.
- Font size (3): The initial size of a text is 100%. If you select a value above 100%, the font will be larger, if the font size is below 100%, it will be smaller.
- Line spacing (4): The default line spacing is 1.2. You can either increase or decrease it. The line spacing is best for multi-line texts.
- Font color (5): The font color depends on the background. By default, it is set to black. It can be replaced by any or a predefined color. Corporate design colors can be stored in the settings so that you can reuse them when creating the template.
- Character spacing (6): With the character spacing you can change the running distance of your text.
- Horizontal (7) & Vertical Alignment (8): Here you can specify how your text should be aligned. For example, you can center, left align, right align, top align, center align or bottom align your text.
- Distance to edge (9): You can specify the inner distance in pixels. It indicates the distance between the text and the area. You can define this setting individually for each side of your area.
- Italic, Bold & Strikethrough (10): If this setting is not yet made in your typeface, you can use these functions to make your text italic or bold.
- Upper & lower case (11): If you want to write text only in upper or lower case, you can change one of the two settings directly in the template.
presono's tip:
Values like the font size can be overwritten manually. You can also click and drag the arrows next to the value. If the value is marked and you are standing with the mouse over the number, you can even change the value by scrolling!
Dummy Content
To see what the selected content type will look like in your slide, there is dummy content. This describes the possibility to insert a temporary content into an area of the template. Click on the small arrow under the heading "Dummy content". All content types become visible in a small field. Only those that are allowed for this area are clickable. Choose a content type that you want to insert into the marked area. Once you have chosen text, you can start typing right away. This will be displayed in the correct format. For the other content types, a menu opens on the side from which you can select content from the content structure. These will also be inserted afterwards.
Permitted formatting in the slide can also be tested. These are different for each content and can be set under "Properties of the dummy content".
Media Layers
You can create a media area with the Media Layers tool. It sets media as the content type for your area, including pictures, videos, picture galleries, and object viewers. Don't worry, this is just a pre-selection and you can of course specify exactly what content should be allowed here.
In the slide you can decide which of these contents should be inserted. The inserted medium will be inserted into the area and can be positioned depending on the type. However, a medium can never be larger than the area in which it is inserted. You can find a more detailed description of the individual media types here: Different contents in slides. Some media are only possible starting from a certain package. If you can't use all media types you might have to upgrade your account.
Design Layers
Design Layers can be created with the Design Layers tool. No content can then be inserted into the slide in this type of areas. As the name suggests, they can be used for design elements. Here you can make general settings such as background color, borders and so on that affect the appearance. Don't worry, this is just a pre-selection and you can of course specify exactly what content should be allowed here.
Universal Layers
On universal levels, any content is basically allowed. Here you can also make general settings about appearance, size and position. The allowed contents are: Text, media, documents and iFrames. You can, however, restrict this selection at any time, just as you can with other layers.
Define & Restrict Allowed Content
Select an area and click on "Allowed content"(1) or on the icon with the three dots right in the selected area (2).
A small window will open above your template. On the left half (1) you can see the categories Text, Media, Document and iFrame. They basically determine which content types are allowed in an area. On the right side (2) these settings can be further restricted. Here you can specify, for example, whether all media types should be allowed or only images and videos.
In the "General permissions" you can define whether an area can be linked later in the slide or not. Here you have the same possibilities as with the linking in the template. The difference is that a link in a template works in every slide that is based on that template. If a link is created in the slide, then this applies only to the slide in which it was assigned. So that the linking is possible on an area in the slide, select any area and click on "Allowed content". Then select "Allow links" in the general permissions.
With the function "Allow animation" you can let individual areas appear one after the other in the slide.
Allow different settings for "Text permissions" when inserting text into slides:
- text format
- font size
- Disordered lists
- Ordered lists
- fat
- Italic
- underlining
- Superscript
- Subscript
- capital letters only
- lowercase letters only
- color changes
These settings allow you to adjust settings about the appearance of an area later in the slide to the content. For example, you can allow the font size to be adapted to the amount of text, so that longer text passages will fit in an area that was originally intended for one line only.
When changing colors, the text in the slide can either be changed to any color, only predefined colors can be used, or individually defined colors are possible. This setting is particularly important if the color of the text depends on which image is inserted in the background.
Media and documents can only be restricted in their scope if they are allowed in an area at all. This means that not all types of the individual category can be inserted, but for example only images instead of all media types.
Link areas
Areas can link to different content. In this case, the link is set directly in the template and not in the slide. It is therefore present in all slides that result from it.
The use of some linking options only makes sense in connection with presentations. For example, an area can link to the first, the next or the previous slide in a presentation. With the help of such links you can, for example, navigate backwards and forwards through self-designed areas.
presono's tip:The link "To the first slide" can serve very well as a "Home" button in a presentation. Start at an important starting point and return to it with the area you defined. With such links you can develop your own small menu structures in presentations. Read more about this in the article: Present interactively.
Link to slides, presentations & overlays
If you don't want to navigate only within a presentation, you can use certain links to insert individual slides or even presentations dynamically during a presentation. If you already define a link in the template, you can then jump from any slide based on the template to the desired presentation or slide. Therefore you have to be very careful with links in templates, because their effects refer to all resulting slides without exception. If you share a presentation with other people, they can access any slides and presentations that are linked on the template.
Choose any area to which you would like to link a presentation or slide. Click on "Link" (1) and then select "To slide" (2) or "To presentation" (3). A menu for selecting slides or presentations will open. Select a content and it will be linked to the previously selected area.
Link overlays (4) on individual areas in the layout template to ensure that they are then available on each resulting slide. You can find out more about overlays in the article: What is an Overlay?
Similar to other links click on "Link". In the submenu select the function "To Overlay". As with slides and presentations, a menu will open in which you can select an overlay.
Link to languages
You can create clickable areas in slides that allow you to change the language during the presentation. You have to create a language in the settings and then translate slides. You can find out more at : Translate slides
To do this, select an area on which the link to another language is to be placed. Click on "Link" and choose "To language" in the submenu. All predefined languages will appear. Select the language you want and the area is already linked.
presono's tip:
Choose the appropriate flag as background image for the linked area, so that you can easily see which language it links to later. Create a linked area for the default language as well, so that you can switch back again afterwards.
Delete link
Click on "Link" to open a submenu. There you choose the function "Remove link". Of course you have to select a linked area. If you have chosen "Remove link", the area is no longer linked.
In a nutshell
Here once again in short the most important points for the creation of a layout template:
- Open a template set or create a new one.
- Click on "+" in the layouts section to add a new template.
- Create a new area using the universal layers tool, text layers tool, media layers tool, or the design layers tool.
- Switch to the selection tool and drag an area larger, smaller, or move it.
- Define the appearance of your areas and assign background image, color, border, or corner curves.
- Define content types that can then be inserted into the selected area in the slide. Click on "Allowed content" and choose between text, media, documents and iFrames. Allow also the linking of an area in slides.
- If necessary, link the desired area to another content directly in the template.
- Click on "Save" and assign a suitable name for your layout template.
- Click "Back" to go to the Template Set view.