110.Working with Theme Colors

Theme colors control the default color options throughout Articulate Storyline. Several built-in themes are provided for you, but you can also create your own custom themes.

Understanding Theme Colors

Theme colors determine the default color choices for Storyline objects such as text, shapes, captions, outlines, and buttons. In the following example, theme colors appear across the top row of the selection window with shades of each color below. (Color selection windows also include 10 standard colors and options to define custom colors.)

To see your gallery of theme colors, go to the Design tab on the Storyline ribbon and click Colors.

If you've created any custom theme colors, they'll appear at the top of the list in the Custom section. Built-In theme colors appear beneath that. The theme colors currently in use for the selected slide have a thin orange outline.

Each theme shows a palette of eight colors. The first two apply to text and backgrounds. The last six are accent colors—for example, shape fill options. To see the entire color palette for any theme or to modify a theme, jump to the section on Customizing Theme Colors later in this tutorial.

Applying and Managing Theme Colors

Hover over a set of theme colors to preview what they'd look like if applied to the current slide. Just click a theme to actually apply it. (Tip: Clicking a theme applies it to all slides that share the same slide master as the current slide.)

Right-click a theme to see these additional options:

• Apply to Matching Slides: This applies the theme colors to all slides in your course that are based on the same slide master as the current slide. (You can achieve the same thing by left-clicking the theme colors in the list.)
• Apply to All Slides: This applies the theme colors to all slides in your course.
• Apply Only to This Slide: This applies the theme colors only to the currently selected slide(s).
• Edit: This opens the theme colors editor. (See Customizing Theme Colors below.) This option is only available for theme colors you've created, not any of the built-in theme colors.
• Delete: This removes the selected theme colors from Storyline. This option is only available for theme colors you've created, not any of the built-in theme colors.

Creating New Theme Colors

Here's how to create a new set of theme colors:

1. Go to the Design tab on the ribbon and click Colors.
2. Select Create New Theme Colors at the bottom of the drop-down list.
3. When the theme colors editor appears, use the color selectors to assemble your palette.
   • The Text/Background items make text easily readable when applied to shapes. For example, dark text is designed to be readable when placed in lighter-colored shapes.
   • Accent 1 is the default fill color for shapes, captions, check marks in check box styles 1 and 2, and dots in radio button styles 1 and 2.
   • Accents 2-6 are colors you can choose in style galleries and color selectors throughout Storyline.
   • Hyperlink is the color used for text hyperlinks.
   • Control 1 is the hover color for buttons and answer choices.
   • Custom 1 is the default fill color for buttons.
   • Custom 2 is the default color for check marks in check box styles 3 and 4, and dots in radio button styles 3 and 4.
4. For each item you want to change, use its color selector to assign a different color. If you don't see a color you want, use the Eyedropper option to select any color on visible on your screen, or choose More Colors and do any of the following when the Colors window appears.
   
   
   • Click the color you want (either a square color swatch or a color in the spectrum area).
   • Create a custom color by entering values in the Hue/Sat/Lum fields, the Red/Green/Blue fields, or the Html field.
   • Use the color picker to choose a custom color from anything on your screen. Just click the eyedropper, hover over an area of your screen, and click it to choose that color.
   If the color you've chosen is something you want to save for easy selection later, click Add to Custom Colors. The color will get added to the bank of Custom Colors in the lower left corner of the window.
   
   Click OK when you're done.
5. In the Name field, enter a name for your new theme colors.
6. Click Save.

 Customizing Theme Colors

It's easy to modify custom theme colors you previously created. Here's how:

1. Go to the Design tab on the ribbon and click Colors.
2. Right-click the custom theme colors you want to modify and select Edit.
3. When the theme colors editor appears, use the color selectors to modify your palette.

Tip: You'll notice that built-in theme colors can't be modified. However, you can create your own theme colors based on built-in themes. Here's how:

1. First, apply the built-in theme colors you want to use as your base colors to your course (i.e., left-click the theme).
2. Then, click the Colors drop-down again and choose Create New Theme Colors. The theme colors editor will open, and the colors will default to those from the built-in theme you're currently using (from step 1).
3. Just edit the colors to your liking and save the theme colors under a new name.

You Might Also Want to Explore:

Using Themes
Working with Theme Fonts