How To Create Custom Shapes/Graphics in Articulate Storyline

Last week I posted a bunch of custom shapes I created using Articulate Storyline in the e-Learning Heroes Forum. Two things have come of this: 1) people seem to really like the shapes (yay!), and 2) I’ve since developed a new obsession with creating custom shapes in Storyline. In case you’re wondering what I mean by “custom shapes” I simply mean that using shapes that are available within Storyline I created the items you see below:

Everything in the images was created by me (except the wood texture background) simply by using shapes and lines with the appropriate gradients and shadows, right in Storyline. The fun thing about this is that since they are really just groups of shapes, you can de-construct them, edit them as you please, change the colors, etc. You can also do a right-click on the group, Save as Picture, and then save the shape as a .PNG file that can be used in projects you create using other applications, like PowerPoint or Captivate. As pointed out to me in the forum,  it’s a fun way to extend the functionality of Storyline from an e-learning development tool to a graphic design tool, by using what’s available to you in the right way.

All you need to do to create your own custom shapes is create your individual shapes, color them (using shadows and gradients, such as the path gradient used on orange rectangle below, is critical to making it look realistic), line up your shapes, and then group them together.  The image below breaks down how I created the pencil.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, I’ve now developed a bit of an obsession with creating fun new shapes. It’s given me all these ideas for fun projects and themes I can create using the shapes I’ve made. For example, I created a really cool looking desk phone (which I will share in a future post) and now I’m working on adding some functionality wherein you press numbers on the keypad, and it links to various slides. I also find that now I’m often challenging myself to see how far I can go “re-creating” simple items right in Storyline. My latest challenge was creating the Microsoft system calculator using shapes in Storyline. You almost can’t tell the difference between the two!

Since the shapes I created last week were a hit, I decided to make a few more this weekend. I created a couple of folders, a notepad, and a clipboard. I’ve posted these files in the e-Learning Heroes forum as well, so check it out, and if you use Storyline, by all means, save them for your own projects. Here’s a photo below to show you what the new shapes look like.

I hope this has inspired some of you guys to create your own custom graphics in Storyline! And if anyone has any suggestions or ideas for future shapes or challenges for me — bring it on!