How do I select an asset in Synthesia?
Learn how to quickly select one or more elements in your scene — even when they're overlapping.
Select a single element:
Click directly on the element in the canvas.
Select multiple elements:
Hold down Shift and click each element you want to select.
Select all elements in a scene:
Click anywhere on the canvas, then press:
⌘ + A on Mac
Ctrl + A on Windows
Select overlapping or hidden elements:
Right-click anywhere on the canvas.
Choose Select from the top of the menu.
Hover over any item in the list to highlight it in the scene.
Click the item in the list to select it.
To learn about asset selection, see the Scene assets documentation.
How do I lock/unlock assets?
Locking assets helps keep your video layout organized by preventing accidental changes to elements on the canvas. You can lock and unlock assets either directly on the scene canvas or from the timeline view.
To lock an asset:
Select the element on the canvas that you want to lock.
Right-click the asset and choose Lock from the dropdown menu.
A 🔒 icon will appear on the asset to show it is locked.
To unlock an asset:
Right-click the locked asset on the canvas.
Select Unlock.
Lock or unlock an asset from the timeline view
You can also manage asset locks from the timeline view:
Switch to Timeline view at the bottom of the screen.
Locate the asset in the asset list.
Click the lock icon next to the asset to toggle locking on or off.
To learn more about the timeline view check out the How can I use the Timeline to edit scenes in Synthesia? article.
How do I group / ungroup assets in a scene?
Group different assets within a scene to manipulate them together.
To group assets in a scene:
Hold the Shift button on your keyboard.
Select the assets you wish to group.
Right click on your scene to open the menu.
Select Group.
💡 Locked elements cannot be grouped.
To ungroup assets:
Select the asset group.
Right click your selection to open the menu.
Click Ungroup.
How do I improve slide layout using the Tidy feature?
With a single click, you can automatically align and evenly distribute selected elements. Use this tool to streamline your workflow, especially when working with slides that have lots of items or bullet lists.
How To Use the Tidy Button:
Select multiple elements on the scene that you'd like to arrange.
Click the Tidy button.
The elements will automatically align horizontally or vertically.
Text elements (like bullet lists) will be left-aligned.