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zoom in on a MacBook

Submitted by sks23cu on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 11:21

TestGen's font displayed on screen is too small on my MacBook.

Other apps have a zoom capability.

Since I want to print the tests, I don't want to change the actual font size, since that will change the printed font size.

Using the Mac Accessibility Zoom makes navigating around cumbersome. And you run into pixel size resolution problems.

Is there a zoom feature in the works for TestGen?

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TestGen

cschultz Mon, 11/17/2008 - 12:10

It's true that on the Mac, text displays on-screen at a smaller size than the size that it prints. We appreciate your suggestion to add a Zoom feature to our "wish list" for future versions of TestGen.

One thing you might try, if you haven't already, is to set your display to a lower resolution, temporarily, so that the text displays at a larger size in TestGen. The resolution setting is found on the System Preferences control panel under Hardware / Displays. Try dropping the resolution down one step from where it is currently set to see if you like the results. This will not affect the printing size of TestGen tests.

Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/08/2011 - 11:39

And three years later, we're still waiting. I could go blind with the tiny type on my monitor! Changing the screen resolution gobbles up screen real estate. Letting users change the view is a no-brainer that should be a high priority.

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/06/2013 - 15:51

I simply cannot read the text without a great effort! It is far too hard to work this way, it can't be too difficult to fix!
Could you please fix this soon!

Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 01/19/2014 - 13:47

Agreed. An EASY way to click one button and make the display font larger or smaller as needed is a basic feature that is lacking in this software.

TSI Support Mon, 01/20/2014 - 16:41

I agree as well. The default font/size as shipped with many TestGen Testbanks is difficult to read on a Mac. It turns out adding a "zoom" feature to TestGen is a non-trivial task due to the way it was designed internally. We have it on the list for v8 and hope that we can included it in that release.

For now, the best solution is to globally change the font size on the test to something more readable. Do this to change your font size on your test:

  1. Open your test.
  2. Go to "Tools->Global Style Replacement" to open the Global style replacement dialog.
  3. Select everything under "In All" and check "Size To" and set your desired font size. (See attached pic.)
  4. Click the "Reformat" button to do the replacement.
  5. Rinse and repeat until you are happy with the font.

You could also change the font family in the same dialog. I like Times New Roman...you choose. If you want to make new questions you add to the test to appear in the desired font/size for all future tests:

  1. Open your test.
  2. Go to "Tools->Preferences->Test Options" and click the "Default Styles" tab.
  3. Set the test component (eg: Questions) to the style you want.
  4. Click the "Set as default" button.
  5. Close the dialog.

Lastly, you can do a Global Style Replacement on the testbank so those questions are readable and transfer to tests with that font/size:

  1. Go to "Preferences->Application Preferences" and click the "Testbank Editing" tab.
  2. Enable testbank editing and click OK to save.
  3. Highlight the testbank in the library that you want to modify, and choose "Edit Testbank" from the File menu.
  4. The testbank should appear in the right pane. You can now do a Global Style Replacement on the testbank like you did on the test.
  5. Close the testbank to save your changes.

Hope that helps for now.

Jeff

qinqin (not verified) Thu, 10/15/2015 - 20:28

is it so hard to make it larger for easy reading?

Fyfi Fendir (not verified) Sat, 04/01/2017 - 11:01

This thread started 9 years ago and still no solution! that is pretty ridiculous.
OK, let's imagine it too hard to add a zoom. Then surely just changing the font to something like twice as big isn't that hard. Surely doesn't make me want to try any of your other products... :-(

TSI Support Mon, 04/03/2017 - 13:54

Adding zoom to the current TestGen architecture is non-trivial, sorry.

The font size in the Testbank is dictated by the textbook publisher (not us). They could choose to release it in a large font size, but don't for some reason (we have advised them on the readability issue on Macintosh).

If you want the testbank content to be in a larger font size, you can change it yourself by enabling "Testbank Editing" and then doing a "Global Style Replace" on the font/font size. (See above in the thread for step-by-step details.)

Jeff

Stacy Tri9sler (not verified) Fri, 09/14/2018 - 10:11

Agreed - this is ridiculous! I cannot read this text!!

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