Headlines:
Creating Areas
Duplicate & group layers
Copy sections & transfer format
Optimize view
Size & position of areas
Appearance of areas
Link areas
Link to slides, presentations & overlays
Link to languages
From slide to overlay
Delete link
Usage of Background Templates
In a nutshell
Background templates provide space for logos, design elements and background images. This article describes how to create and use your own backgrounds.
After a template set has been created, it is time to add your own background template. If you have not yet created a template set, you will find the necessary steps in the article: What is a template set? Of course you can also create new background templates in existing template sets at any time. Switch to the content structure to do so. There you will find all existing template sets that you have access to. 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 persons responsible for rights management about this problem.
In a template set you will find two sections: Backgrounds and layouts. To add a new background, click on the "+" (1) at the backgrounds or click on "New" (2) in the upper right corner and then "Create new background" (3).
Creating Areas
The template editor will open and you will find a new, empty background template. Now you have to position elements on the template. Use the design section tool (3). With this tool you can draw up as many areas as you like. Change the size and position of a created area with the selection tool (2). To see how your template will look in a slide, click on "Preview" (1).
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 (2). 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" (3). You can delete areas at any time by clicking on "Remove layers" (4) or by pressing the delete key.
Copy sections & transfer format
Copy & paste sections
If you already have a section ready, you can copy and paste it. This will copy all settings - from the size and position to the settings for permitted content, animations, stylings and dummy content.
To do this, you can select one or more sections or even entire groups and then click on "Copy section".
As soon as something is in your clipboard, the "Paste" button becomes active and a message appears at the bottom of the screen:
before (there is nothing in the clipboard yet):
Section(s) was successfully copied to the clipboard:
if no section is selected, only the insertion button is active:
Then insert the section(s) in the same template or another one by clicking on "Insert section".
Please note: If you copy to another set, you only have to be careful with CSS styles (or the definition of those), these will not be copied. Please note that copying only works from layout to layout and from background to background and not from layout to background or vice versa.
Transfer format
In contrast to copying sections, you can only transfer the properties from one section to another (or several others) when transferring the format. Dummy content and size & position are not copied, but the other settings are.
To do this, click on a section and click on "Copy format". If the format has been successfully copied to the clipboard, a corresponding message will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Then select one (or more) section again in the same template or in another template in the same set and click on "Insert format".
If the format has been successfully transferred, a corresponding message appears at the bottom of the screen. All settings are transferred except for size and position.
Please note: If you copy your format to another set, you only need to be careful with CSS styles, as these will not be transferred. Please note that a transfer only works from layout to layout and from background to background and not from layout to background or vice versa.
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).
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 better while they are active.
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. Additionally, 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 background. For a background area you can choose a background color (1) or a background image (2). If you want to give your area a frame (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".
Link areas
Areas can link to different content. However, the use of some linking options sometimes only makes sense in connection with presentations. For example, an area can link to the first, next or previous slide in a presentation. With the help of such links you can navigate back and forth through self-designed areas, for example. Find out about the details here: Linking Possibilities at a Glance
To link an area, click on "Link". A small submenu will appear, which offers you different possibilities of linking. To get the above actions, select "To first slide" (1), "To previous slide" (2) or "To next slide" (3). You can tell if a section is already linked when the "Link" symbol is turquoise.
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 background templates, because their effects refer to all resulting slides without exceptions. 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 in the previously selected area. Find out about the details here: Linking Possibilities at a Glance
Link overlays (4) on individual areas in the background template to ensure that they are then available on each resulting slide. You can find more about overlays in the article: What is an Overlay?
presono's tip:
Use a linked overlay as a menu in your presentations. Place a menu icon on the template and link it. Use this background in all slides of a presentation. So you have the possibility to access your menu at any time. Overlays, which should be linked, have to be created before. The necessary steps can be found in the article: Create & link overlays
Similar to other links click on "Link". In the submenu select the function "To Overlay". As with slides and presentations, a menu opens 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. Find out about the details here: Linking Possibilities at a Glance
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. Create a linked area for the default language as well, so that you can switch back again afterwards.
From slide to overlay
The difference between slide and overlay lies in the background template. If a background contains an close overlay link, every slide based on it will automatically become an overlay. More information in the article: What is an overlay?
So you can set an overlay close link in the background template. To do this, select the area that should be linked. Click on "Link" and select the function "Close overlay link" (1).
presono's tip:
Unfortunately, it's not always that easy with the overlay-closing areas. Since they lie in the background template, it might happen that when creating a slide areas from a layout template cover the linked close area in the background. The result is that a background template is always placed behind a layout template and a slide is created from it. So that exactly such important areas with overlay-close links are not covered, however, there are stencil layers. A stencil layer refers to an area in the background template which is then displayed in a slide above the areas in the layout. An area becomes a stencil layer by moving it in the layer list on the right side over the grey bar "Place section layer above" (2). This gray bar only appears when you start moving an area. If there is already a section set as stencil layer, this grey area is always visible. All stencil sections are provided with a small scissor icon (3).
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.
Usage of Background Templates
Background templates must be linked to a layout template in order to be able to use them in a slide. Backgrounds do not have to be selected individually during slide creation, they are automatically merged with the layouts in which they are linked. So when you create a slide, the background is automatically displayed in combination with a layout. You will always find your background in the template set in which you created it at the beginning.
In the overview of a template set in the Backgrounds section you will find a list of all backgrounds assigned to this set. Each background template has a three-dot menu. It contains the most important functions like "Edit", "Duplicate", "Copy to other template set" or "Remove".
In a nutshell
Here once again in a nutshell the most important points for the creation of a background template:
- Open a template set or create a new one.
- Click on "+" in the backgrounds to add a new template.
- Draw an area with the Design section tool.
- Switch to the selection tool and drag the areas larger, smaller, or move it.
- Define the appearance of your areas and assign background image, color, border, and curved corners.
- Link desired areas to other content or turn your background template into an overlay background by assigning an close overlay link.
- Click on "Save" and assign a suitable name for your background template.
- Click "Back" to go to the Template set view.