Move Navigation Symbols (and Section Names) Up in the Beamer Class

Question

I have the following minimal working example, which produces a set of slides with the navigation symbols a bit to close to the next graphical segment for my taste. I would like to move them up a bit, perhaps by ~.2em — any idea how I can do this?

I have consulted the beamerclass documentation, and apparently these symbols are called “mini frames”, but none of the available options seem to control their vertical positioning.

\documentclass[xcolor=table,aspectratio=169,dvipsnames,english]{beamer}
\usepackage{bm}
\usepackage{color}

% Custom beamer styling and colors
\setbeamersize{text margin left=0.8em,text margin right=0.8em}

\usecolortheme[RGB={199,199,199}]{structure}
\usetheme{Dresden}

\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}

\title[subtitle]{title}
\begin{document}
    \begin{frame}
        \titlepage
    \end{frame}
    \section{Introduction}
        \subsection{Key concerns}
            \begin{frame}{Raw Data Recourse}
                \begin{itemize}
                    \item Required for data integration (e.g. multi-center studies) and data reuse.
                    \item Prevents undocumented “fixes”, such as:
                \end{itemize}
            \end{frame}
    \section{Workflow}
        \subsection{Features and overview}
            \begin{frame}{Repositing Strucure}
                \begin{itemize}
                    \item Bruker Paravision directory structure is automatically resolved
                    \item Corresponding text files are automatically queried for BIDS fields
                \end{itemize}
            \end{frame}
\end{document}

Answer 1

Based on the definitions in the file beamerouterthememiniframes.sty you can create your own headline template.

In the original template \vskip2pt\insertnavigation{\paperwidth}\vskip2pt is used:

You can modify it according to your needs \vskip1pt\insertnavigation{\paperwidth}\vskip3pt:

or \vskip0pt\insertnavigation{\paperwidth}\vskip4pt:

Here is the full exmple code in which I have highlighted the important line with %<-----:

\documentclass[xcolor=table,aspectratio=169,dvipsnames,english]{beamer}
\usepackage{bm}
\usepackage{color}

% Custom beamer styling and colors
\setbeamersize{text margin left=0.8em,text margin right=0.8em}

\usecolortheme[RGB={199,199,199}]{structure}
\usetheme{Dresden}

\setbeamertemplate{navigation symbols}{}

\makeatletter
\defbeamertemplate*{headline}{my miniframes theme}
{%
  \begin{beamercolorbox}[colsep=1.5pt]{upper separation line head}
  \end{beamercolorbox}
  \begin{beamercolorbox}{section in head/foot}
    \vskip0pt\insertnavigation{\paperwidth}\vskip4pt  % <-----------------
  \end{beamercolorbox}%
  \ifbeamer@theme@subsection%
    \begin{beamercolorbox}[colsep=1.5pt]{middle separation line head}
    \end{beamercolorbox}
    \begin{beamercolorbox}[ht=2.5ex,dp=1.125ex,%
      leftskip=.3cm,rightskip=.3cm plus1fil]{subsection in head/foot}
      \usebeamerfont{subsection in head/foot}\insertsubsectionhead
    \end{beamercolorbox}%
  \fi%
  \begin{beamercolorbox}[colsep=1.5pt]{lower separation line head}
  \end{beamercolorbox}
}
\makeatother



\title[subtitle]{title}
\begin{document}
    \begin{frame}
        \titlepage
    \end{frame}
    \section{Introduction}
        \subsection{Key concerns}
            \begin{frame}{Raw Data Recourse}
            \end{frame}
\end{document}