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====== The Stage ======
The Stage displays the layers of the currently selected slide. The layers can be freely zoomed, positioned, and rotated on the Stage. In addition to the slide layers, there may also be an optional background layer and an optional foreground layer (watermark). Both can be set by selecting the command from the menu.
If animation is enabled for a slide, the stage is displayed twice. The start of the animation is displayed on the left side, and the finish of the animation is displayed on the right side. That way you can quickly drag around the layers to create the desired animation effect.
===== Dragging to the Stage =====
Dragging files from the Finder or from the media browser in the Sidebar adds new layers to the currently selected slide:
* **Image File** - Adds a new image layer to the currently selected slide. If the ⌥ key is pressed, the layer below the mouse highlights in yellow, and its image file will be replaced instead when you drop it.
* **Movie File** - Adds a new movie layer to the currently selected slide. If the ⌥ key is pressed, the layer below the mouse highlights in yellow, and its movie file will be replaced instead when you drop it.
* **RTF Text File** - Adds a new title layer to the currently selected slide. If the ⌥ key is pressed, the layer below the mouse highlights in yellow, and its title will be replaced instead when you drop it.
* Dragging an image or movie file to a placeholder layer of a snippet replaces the media file of that layer. It highlights in yellow, without the need to press the ⌥ key.
===== Positioning Visual Items =====
You can position, zoom, and rotate items on the stage in several different ways:
* Click on an image, movie, or title layer to select it. The item displays a thin white outline and four resizing handles at the corners to indicate that it is selected. This item will also be selected in the Storyboard or Timeline.
* Drag the layer around on the Stage to position it.
* Click on one of the resizing handles at the corners and drag to resize the layer. Not that this modifies both the position and zoom values.
* Use the jog wheels at the bottom of the Stage to change the zoom or rotation values of the selected layer.
* Optionally, you can also enter the zoom and rotation value numerically in the text fields above the jog wheels.
* Press the ⌥ key and click on a layer and drag up/down to change the zoom value.
* Press the ⌘ key and click on a layer and drag around the center to rotate it.
* Click just outside a layer’s boundary and drag to rotate the layer.
{{ en:jogwheels.png }}
===== Guidelines =====
As image, movie, or title layers are positioned, zoomed, or rotated on the Stage, guidelines will appear to help you align the items. By default items snap to these guidelines:
* Green guidelines help to snap to the center or the edges of the Stage.
* Yellow guidelines help to align an image, movie, or title with itself - on the other side of the Stage. This is helpful when creating certain animation effects, e.g. a completely horizontal pan across an image, without any vertical motion and no zooming effect.
* Press the ctrl key to suppress automatic snapping to the guidelines.
Use the yellow guidelines to create perfectly horizontal or vertical panning animations.
===== Editing Masks =====
When a selected layer has a mask, a switch will be displayed next to the zoom and rotation jog wheels. With this switch you can select whether the jog wheels affect the layer geometry, or the mask geometry. Switching from "Layer" to "Mask" turns the white selection frame to a blue selection frame - indicating we are now in mask editing mode. Using the jog wheels, or any dragging with the mouse now affects the mask, instead of the layer.
Double-clicking a layer with a mask selects it and directly enters mask editing mode.
===== Contextual Menus =====
Right-click or ctrl+click on an item reveals a contextual menu. The commands in this contextual menu depends on whether an image, a movie, or title was clicked:
==== Clicking on a Layer: ====
|**Menu** |**Submenu** |**Description** |
| | | |
|Animation|Enabled |Enables or disables the animation for the selected slide. |
| |Reverse |Exchanges the start and finish state of the selected slide, thereby reversing the animation. |
| |Randomize |Sets a random animation for the selected visual item. |
| |Zoom In |Creates a zoom in animation for the selected visual item. |
| |Zoom Out |Creates a zoom out animation for the selected visual item. |
| |Pan |Pans across a panorama image or a vertical image. |
| | | |
|Zoom |Fill Stage Completely|Fills the Stage with the selected item, so that no part of the Stage background is visible. |
| |Show Whole Image |Displays the entire image. If the aspect ratio of the image differs from the Stage aspect ratio, then some of the Stage background will be visible. |
| |Show at 100% |Displays the selected image at 100%. |
| |Smaller |Decreases the zoom factor. |
| |Bigger |Increases the zoom factor. |
| | | |
|Layer |Send to Front |Sends the selected layer to the front. |
| |Send Forward |Sends the selected image forward. |
| |Send Backward |Sends the selected image backwards. |
| |Send to Back |Sends the selected layer to the back. |
| |Locked |Locks the selected layer. A locked layer cannot be modified or deleted. |
| |Hidden |Hides the selected layer. A hidden layer is invisible during playback, but still visible during authoring. |
| |Mirrored |Flips the selected layer horizontally. |
| |Discardable |Makes the selected layer discardable. This option is only needed when creating new snippets. |
| | | |
|Mask |None |Removes the mask from the layer. |
| |Rectangle |Adds a rectangular mask with the size of the layer at its smallest zoom level. |
| |Oval |Adds an oval mask with the size of the layer at its smallest zoom level. |
| |Left Half of Stage |Adds a rectangular mask that reveals the left half of the Stage. |
| |Right Half of Stage |Adds a rectangular mask that reveals the right half of the Stage. |
| |Top Half of Stage |Adds a rectangular mask that reveals the top half of the Stage. |
| |Bottom Half of Stage |Adds a rectangular mask that reveals the bottom half of the Stage. |
| |1:1 Square |Adds a square mask. |
| |4:3 Portrait |Adds a 4:3 vertical mask. |
| |16:9 Landscape |Adds a 16:9 horizontal mask. |
| | | |
|Match |Title Width to Action Safe Area|Sets the width of the selected title the action safe area of the Stage. |
| |Title Width to Title Safe Area|Sets the width of the selected title the title safe area of the Stage. |
| | | |
|File |Get Info |Opens or closes the Get Info panel for this item. |
| |Quick Look |Opens or closes the Quick Look panel for this item. |
| |Show in Finder |Reveal the media file in a Finder window. |
| |Replace Media File...|Lets you choose a different media file (image, movie, or text) for this item. All other parameters will be kept intact. If you choose an image or movie file with different dimensions, you will have to make some additional modifications to restore the previous appearance.|
| |Is Placeholder |In a slideshow snippet some images can be marked as placeholders. These placeholder images are easier to replace via drag and drop. Refer to the chapter [[creating_a_template_slideshow|Creating a Template Slideshow]] for more information. |
| | | |
|Edit Geometry | |Opens a sheet that lets you edit position, zoom, and rotation numerically. |
|Copy Geometry | |Copies all geometry parameters (position, zoom, rotation) of the selected layer to the clipboard. |
|Paste Geometry | |After changing the selection, the geometry parameters can be pasted onto another layer. That way layers can be precisely aligned within a single slide or across multiple slides. |
|Copy Animation | |Copies all animation parameters of the selected layer to the clipboard, so that they can be pasted to other layers. |
|Paste Animation| |After changing the selection, pastes previously copied animation parameters onto the selected layer. That way animation effects can be transferred between slides. |
| | | |
|Copy | |Copies the selected layer to the clipboard. |
|Paste | |Pastes the previously copied layer on top of existing layers. |
|Delete | |Deletes the selected layer. |
|Locked | |Locks the selected layer. A locked layer cannot be modified or deleted. |
==== Clicking on Stage background: ====
|**Menu** |**Submenu** |**Description** |
|Show Action Safe Area | |Displays a dashed rectangle indicating the area of the stage that is 'safe' for displaying action (animation).|
|Show Title Safe Area | |Displays a dashed rectangle indicating the area of the stage that is 'safe' for placing titles. |