Keep verse 4 next to verses 1–3 — Non-target verse dim
On a Bible Verse slide in BibleSlides, verses outside the passage stay on screen and recede. Non-target verse dim, under Layout in Settings, runs from 0% (as bright as the passage) to 100% (fully dimmed). 50% is the previous look, shared by the editor, projector, tablet, and follow-along.
You are in Ephesians 2. The line you will say is verse 4: But God. The room hears that turn when verses 1–3 are still on the wall beside it. A slide with verse 4 alone asks them to remember the paragraph. A slide that keeps the paragraph, with verse 4 bright and the verses around it quieter, lets them see where the sentence came from.
BibleSlides has grayed the verses outside the passage on a Bible Verse slide for a long time. That gray was fixed at half brightness. Non-target verse dim is the slider that sets how far those surrounding verses recede, for the room you are actually in.
Context is the verse beside the one you are saying. The dim decides how quietly it sits there, and then the tool gets out of the way.
Walking a passage in order is the case for keeping the paragraph on the screen. This article is the amount of dim — one control, set for Sunday.
What stays bright
The verses in the reference you typed stay full brightness. Ephesians 2:4 makes verse 4 the target. Ephesians 2:1-10 makes verses 1 through 10 the target. Every other verse still on the slide is a non-target verse. The slider sets their brightness. The reference stays the reference. The translation stays the translation.
| Slider | What the room sees |
|---|---|
| 0% | Surrounding verses as bright as the target. The paragraph reads at one weight. |
| 50% | Half brightness. This is the default, and it is the look Bible Verse slides had before the slider. |
| 100% | Surrounding verses fully dimmed. They cannot be read. They are still in the layout, so the target verse stays where it was. |
A sermon you have never moved the slider on is already at 50%. Leave it there when the room could already read the verse beside the one you taught.
100% is the far end, for a moment when those surrounding lines should not be read. If the argument needs verse 4 sitting next to verses 1–3, stop where those lines can still be read.
Where to set it
- Open the Bible Verse slide. The window title is Bible Verse. The field is Verse.
- On that row, after the reference and the translation abbreviation, is a gear. The hover note is Settings.
- The window title is Settings.
- Under the heading Layout, the note beside the heading reads All verse slides.
- The slider under Column Width is Non-target verse dim. The number beside the label is the percent.
- Done closes Settings.
The preview updates as you move the slider. Every Bible Verse slide in the document you have open takes that same percent. The next Bible Verse slide you add uses it too. A sermon you do not open keeps the dim already stored on its slides.
The translation block in that window is marked This slide only. The dim change leaves each slide on the Bible you chose for it.
Highlights, boxes, and underlines already on the verse stay where you put them.
Restore defaults puts the dim back to 50% and also resets the other formatting in Settings — text size, colors, font, and the rest. Drag the slider to 50% when you only want the previous look.
The same percent everywhere the room looks
The dim is stored with the verse slides. The editor, the slideshow, the tablet, and the congregation’s follow-along phone read that same number. There is no second dim for the phone.
On the projector, the slide counter (4 / 28) and the bar under it sit at the bottom when Progress is on. Open Options from Settings in the top bar, choose the Slideshow tab, and find Progress under Navigation & Controls. The hover note reads "Progress bar and slide counter at the bottom."
A passage of two to twelve verses — a short chapter, or a short range inside a long chapter — shrinks on the slideshow and on the tablet so the verses you asked for clear that counter. One verse stays at the size you set. A chapter or range longer than twelve verses stays at the size you set. The notes editor keeps the size you authored, so judge the fit on the house screen and the tablet.
A gray verse that meets the counter stays visible. A section heading that introduces the verses on the slide stays with them. Non-target verse dim changes how faint the surrounding lines are. The lines remain part of the passage.
For the room you actually have
Set this on the projector you will use Sunday, then leave it. Every verse slide in that document moves together.
| The room | Where to put the slider |
|---|---|
| Bright sanctuary, or a washed-out projector | Lower the dim when the gray disappears into the wall and the context cannot be read. Raise it when the glare flattens the slide and the target no longer leads. Read both from the back row. |
| Livestream or Zoom | Judge the picture the viewers get. A camera and a compressed stream lift or swallow a mid-gray. Projecting Scripture on Zoom covers the rest of that setup. |
| Large room | High enough that the back row finds the verse you are saying. Low enough that the line beside it can still be read. |
| Small group | 0%, or close to it. They are near the screen. A heavy dim hides a paragraph they can already see. |
| Older eyes | Faint gray fails first. Lower the dim. Text Size, under Typography in the same Settings window, is how you make the type larger. The note beside Typography also reads All verse slides. |
| Reading the whole pericope | Put that range in the reference, so those verses are the target. Set 0% when the lines just outside the range should match them. |
| Walking one verse at a time | A higher dim keeps the line you are saying in front. Stay below 100% when the next verse belongs in the argument. |
Annotations still mark the phrase you will explain. The dim is the paragraph around it. The mark is the words.
Sunday-morning checklist
- Open Sunday’s Bible Verse slide. Gear, hover Settings, then Layout, Non-target verse dim. Leave 50% when last week’s room could read the verse beside the one you taught.
- Put the passage on the actual projector. Read a non-target line from the back row, or have someone stand there. The laptop is the wrong light.
- With Progress on, confirm the verses you asked for sit above the counter (
4 / 28and the bar). Confirm the gray lines are still there. A passage of two to twelve verses looks smaller on the projector and the tablet than it does in the notes. - Open the same deck on the tablet. If the congregation follows on a phone, open that view too. The percent should match the projector.
- If you stream, look at the encoded picture and move the slider once. Then stop. Every Bible Verse slide in the document moves with it.
- Drag the slider back to 50% when you want the old look. Use Restore defaults on a day you mean to reset the other verse formatting too.
FAQ
Which verses stay bright?
The verses in the reference on the slide. Verses outside that reference use Non-target verse dim.
Does this change one slide or the sermon?
Every Bible Verse slide in the document you have open. The note beside Layout reads All verse slides. Each slide keeps the translation you set on it.
Do my highlights stay?
Yes. Highlights, boxes, and underlines stay where you drew them.
What if I never move the slider?
The room still sees half brightness. That is 50%, the look these slides had before the control existed.
Does the phone have its own dim?
Follow-along uses the dim stored on the verse slide. Set it in Settings on the Bible Verse slide.
What does 100% do?
The surrounding verses are fully dimmed and cannot be read. They stay in the layout, and the target verse stays where it was.
Related guides
See BibleSlides features
Notes and slides in one document, Bible Verse slides, stepped markup, Verse Analysis, 3D maps, BiblePlaces photos, and tablet presenter apps — built for pastors who teach Scripture.