Persuasion: Hints and Tips


Computers in Communication
Boston University College of Communication
Copyright © 1996 by Professor Jim Lengel

The best source of information on using Persuasion to develop interactive projects is found in the Aldus Persuasion User Manual, copies of which are located in the Persuasion packages in the cabinets in COM 206. Here is a summary of the most commonly-asked questions about Persuasion, along with brief instructions.

How to...

make a slide open with a dissolve or a wipe.
Choose Transitions... under the Slide Show section of the View menu. In the top box, select the slide whose opening transition you want to change. Squeeze the pop-up button on the lower left to assign a transition to this slide. (The "fade" transition works only in 256-color mode. Don't use it.)

put music or sounds sounds under several slides.
Choose Transitions... under the Slide Show section of the View menu. In the top box, select the slide where you want the music to start. Squeeze the pop-up button on the lower right to import a sound; then change the Wait button to Continue. When this slide appears the music will start; the music will continue under subsequent slides until the music is over. You may have to adjust the delay on the slides to match the duration of the music.

jump to another slide.
Select the text or picture or button you want the user to click to initiate the jump. Choose Autojump from the Draw menu. Click the Jump to slide button, and select the slide you want to jump to. If you want the user to return to where he started, put an x in the Jump and Return box.

put a movie on a slide.
Use the View menu to get the slide you want up on the screen. Use Import...Movie under the File menu, then find the movie you want. (It should be in the project folder on your desktop.) When the move appears on the screen, you may drag it to the desired location. But don't stretch or shrink it; movies play better if they are left in their original size. As soon as this slide appears, the movie will play.

put a sound on a slide.
Use the View menu to get the slide you want up on the screen. Use Import...Sound under the File menu, then find the sound you want. (It should be in the project folder on your desktop.) The sound will appear on the screen as a QuickTime movie icon, which will not show when the slide show is run. As soon as this slide appears, the sound will play.

force the user back to the main menu.
To keep a user from going on to the next slide when she clicks, make a big button, covering the entire slide, that autojumps back the the main menu. Use the Autojump tool (twisted arrow) and drag from one corner of the slide to the other. This creates a big transparent button that you can set to autojump to the main menu.

animate objects on a slide.
Select the item you want to animate. Choose Autoanimate from the Draw menu, and set the animation direction and speed. When the slide opens, the animated items will travel to their places from the edge of the screen.

continued...
make items appear on a slide one after another.
This is done by setting layers on the slide. Items on layer 1 display as soon as the slide appears; items on layer 2 appear when the mouse is clicked, and so forth. To make this happen, Import all the items onto the slide and drag them to the proper location. Select an item, then use the Set Layer command from the Layer button in they gray area at the bottom of the screen. Assign each item to the layer it belongs on. When you run the slide show, these items will appear one after the other as they mouse is clicked.

use text as an interactive menu.
Use the text (A) tool to create each line of text as a separate item. Drag each item to its place on the slide. Select the first item, then use Autojump from the Draw menu to select a slide for it to jump to. Do the same for the other lines of text. (Make sure the user can return to this main menu from wherever he jumps to.)

create forward and back arrows.
Use the View menu to view the background. Import a picture of a right-facing arrow, or draw one with the drawing tools. Place it in the corner where you want it to appear. Select it, then use Autojump from the Draw menu and assign this item to jump to the next slide. Next, copy the arrow, and paste it. Then flip it horizontally using the Draw menu. Then use the Autojump item from the Draw menu to make this left-facing arrow jump to the previous slide.

make a musical multi-slide introduction, leading to a menu.
Create, for example, three introductory slides before the slide with the menu. Import the music as a transition on slide #1, and select Continue. Using the transitions menu, set the delays for slides 1, 2, and 3 to add up to the duration of the music. When you run the slide show, set it to show slides 1 to 4 only, and set it for Automatic running. In this way, the music will play and the first three slides will show. The show will stop when it reaches slide four, the main menu.

make a navigation button.
Use the drawing tools to make a button of the color you wish. Drag the button to its desired location. With the button selected, use the Autojump item in the Draw menu to choose a slide for this button to jump to.

put a shadow under a graphic.
Use the drawing tools to make a box just a little bigger than the graphic. Select the color for this box. With the box selected, use Send Backward under the Draw menu to place this box just under your graphic but above the background.

use Persuasion clip art.
There is a file of about 200 graphic Persuasion drawings on the Room 206 File Server. They are located in the Persuasion Clip Art folder within the Digital Library folder. First, use Chooser to connect to the file server. Then go to the slide on which you want the clip art to appear. Under the File menu, use Import...Graphic, then find your way to the proper folder in the file server. There you will find lots of little pictures to choose from. They will appear on the slide, where they can be repositioned and resized to fit your purposes. Put the File Server icon in the trash as soon as you are done.

use a photograph as a backdrop on a slide.
Use PhotoShop to change the Image Size of the picture to 640 x 480 pixels. Lighten or darken it as necessary to fit the nature of your slide show. Save it as a PICT file into the project folder on your desktop. In Persuasion, go to the slide where you want the picture to appear. Use Import...Graphic under the File menu to import the picture you just saved. It will cover the slide. You can import other pictures over this one, or create text that will appear on top of the picture.