keeping lines bright inside reduced opacity box

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Level 1

18 points

keeping lines bright inside reduced opacity box

I am using Keynote 6.2.2 and I have some text and arrows labeling a detailed photographic image. I want to put a box over an area of this image, and fill it with gray at about 50% opacity, in order to create an area on which these lines and text can be read more clearly. The problem I have is that, although I can create the box, and reduce the opacity of the color fill to 50% easily, when I put it behind text or arrows it seems to reduce the opacity of them, too, even though they are set to be in front of the box. Is there a way in which I can create a 50% or so background area on my image, but still have the text and lines appear on top of it at full brightness?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9), Threee months old

Posted on Feb 8, 2016 1:50 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Gary Scotland

Level 7

25,856 points

Feb 9, 2016 6:39 AM in response to watcoh

To be accurate, the latest version of Keynote is 6.6.1

Assuming you have done this correctly, the brightness levels of the text will not be changing in Keynote, you can check this with the Digital Colour Meter in Utilities. Iv found using a mid grey to be the least most useful colour as a text background, I tend to use a matching colour to the background or black.

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Answer 2

watcoh Author

Level 1

18 points

Feb 9, 2016 6:39 AM in response to Gary Scotland

Thanks for the response. I have, by accident, found some kind of solution. Apparently, if I create a box to house this text and lines and make it 50% opaque, then whatever I move into the box is dimmed, even if it is brought to the front. However, if I create the box, and then copy and paste the text and lines, and then move the duplicated set into the box, they stay bright. So the order of creation is clearly more important than how the box and figures are arranged. Curious.

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Answer 3

Feb 13, 2016 11:58 AM in response to watcoh

if I create a box to house this text and lines and make it 50% opaque, then whatever I move into the box is dimmed, even if it is brought to the front.

Correct, this is how it is required to work if opacity is to be controlled, any text placed with reduced opacity will have reduced opacity if the box has reduced opacity.

if I create the box, and then copy and paste the text and lines, and then move the duplicated set into the box, they stay bright.

Only if the box has no reduced opacity and you have pasted into the box,

The procedure you require to do is:

1 - create a shape on the slide, change the colour and size as needed and set opacity to 50%

2 - add a text object on to the slide, type in the text and change colour as required, then position the text box over the coloured shape

So the order of creation is clearly more important than how the box and figures are arranged.

No, they are equally important if you need to control the opacity of two different objects, a colour box and text in a text box.

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