Skip to content

How to Insert A Zoom Region in Articulate Storyline

As the name indicates, a zoom region provides learners a close-up view of a specific part or region of the slide at any given point of time.

And this is one of the best ways to draw your learner’s attention to important content on the screen, be it a particular part of an image or video, an object, a character, specific text, etc., that you want to emphasize on.

For instance, recently I was working on a course on Handling Machinery or Equipment. And I wanted to emphasize a particular part of an image that shows how to operate the tool, in sync with the narration. In this instance, the Zoom Region option helped me a lot.

We can add as many Zoom Regions on a slide as needed; you can also add sequential zoom regions to create a panning effect (depends on the instructional requirement).

Whenever you add a zoom region, it will have the same aspect ratio as your slide, this helps the zoomed region remain as it is without being skewed or stretched.

Let us now see how to insert a Zoom Region in Articulate Storyline.

Here, I’ll show how to add a Zoom Region to an image.

Initially, insert the image you want; in this case I’ve taken an image of an operator working on a machine.

How to Insert A Zoom Region in Articulate Storyline

Once you have your image onscreen, you need to go to the “Insert” tab on the Storyline ribbon and select “Zoom Region” as shown in the screenshot given below.

Go to insert and select zoom region

Once you click it, Storyline inserts a rectangular green dotted outline on the slide which represents the Zoom Region. You will also see that the whole slide, except the Zoom Region dims out, this indicates you are in the zoom edit mode.

Storyline inserts a rectangular green dotted line

Here, you can adjust the size of the Zoom Region by dragging its corners. Once you set the desired zoom region, you can click anywhere in the gray area or on the stage to come out of the zoom edit mode. Once you do this, you will able to see a green dotted border. Just in case you are not ok with the set zoom region, you can adjust the region again by clicking on the green border present on the slide. The green outline won’t be visible when you actually publish the course; it’s only for your understanding.

Adjust the size of zoom region

After setting the desired zoom region, you can adjust the timing of the zoom. Just like the other objects on the slide, the Zoom Region also appears as the topmost item on the Storyline timeline. You can set the start and end of the zoom by dragging the left and right boundaries on the timeline.

Set the start and end of the zoom

Another interesting thing here is that you can also adjust the zoom transition speed. By default, the speed of transition is set to “medium”, but you can always adjust the speed from slow to fast, depending on your requirement.

All you need to do is, right-click the Zoom Area of the slide and select the “Zoom Transition Speed”; from there you can choose the speed which suits your need.

Right click zoom area and select zoom transition slide

Have a look at the screenshot given below and check the difference between the normal and zoomed image.

Difference betwen the normal and zoom image

In this way, you can insert a Zoom Region in Articulate Storyline. Hope you find this blog informative.

Have you tried doing this in your courses? If NOT, do try and share your views.

Authoring Tool Finder - Find the Best Suited Authoring Tool for Your Needs