Chapter Lessons

Macromedia Flash 8Revealed

DRAWING OBJECTS INMACROMEDIA FLASH

2Drawing Objects in Flash 8 Chapter 2

Use the Macromedia Flash drawing tools

Select Objects and Apply Colors

Work with objects

Work with text and text objects

Work with layers and objects

Chapter Lessons


Flash creates and manipulates vector graphics

Vector format vs. bitmap format– Bitmap graphics are based on pixels– Altering pixels can result in jagged

edges

Drawing in Flash 8


Native to Flash

Represent images using lines, curves

Can resize without losing image quality

Generally smaller than bitmap images– Good for Web sites

Not as effective at bitmaps for photo-realistic images

Vector Graphics


Modifying Vectors

Objects created using Flash drawing tools have a stroke, a fill, or both

Strokes can be segmented into smaller lines

You can modify the size, shape, rotation, and color of each stroke, fill and segment


Flash Drawing ToolsSelection – Used to select an object or parts of an

object such as the stroke or fill, and to reshape objects

Subselection– Used to select, drag, and reshape

Free Transform– Used to transform objects by rotating,

scaling, skewing, and distorting


The Drawing ToolsGradient Transform– Used to transform a gradient fill by

adjusting the size, direction, or center of the fill

Line– Used to draw straight lines


The Drawing Tools

Lasso– Used to select objects or parts of

objects

Pen– Used to draw lines and curves by

creating a series of dots


The Drawing Tools

Text– Used to create and edit text

Oval– Used to draw oval and circular shapes

Rectangle– Used to draw rectangular and square

shapes


Pencil– Used to draw freehand lines

Brush– Used to paint with brush-like strokes

Ink Bottle– Used to apply line colors and thickness

to a stroke

The Drawing Tools


Paint Bucket– Used to fill enclosed areas of a drawing

with color

Eyedropper– Used to copy stroke, fill and text

attribute from one object to another

The Drawing Tools


Eraser– Used to erase lines and fills

The Oval, Rectangle, Pencil, Brush, Line, and Pen tools are used to create vector objects

The Drawing Tools


FIGURE 1 Macromedia Flash tools


Selecting Objects

Before you can edit a drawing, you first must select the object, or part of the objects– Objects are made up of a stroke(s) and

a fill– Strokes and fills can be selected

independently

Strokes can have several segments


Using the Selection ToolTo select only the fill – Click just the fill

To select only the stroke– Click just the stroke

To select both the fill and the stroke– Double-click the object or draw a

marquee around it


Using the Selection Tool

To select part of an object– Drag a marquee that defines the area

you wish to select

To deselect an item(s)– Click a blank area of the stage


Using the Lasso ToolProvides more flexibility when selecting an area of the stageUse the tool in a freehand manner to select any size and shape of areaUse the Polygon Mode option to draw straight lines and connect them


Using the Selection Tools

UnselectedStroke

selectedFill

selectedStroke and Fill selected

Group selected

Part of Object Selected

FIGURE 9 Objects or parts of objects are highlighted when selected


Object Drawing ModelTwo drawing models– Merge Drawing Model mode

• Stroke and fill are separate• Stroke and fill can be individually selected

– Object Drawing Model mode• Stroke and fill are combined and cannot be

selected individually• Use the Break Apart option from the Modify

menu to separate the stroke and fill


Object Drawing Model

In either mode you can turn off the fill or the stroke when drawing an object

You can toggle between the two modes using the Object Drawing icon in the options section of the Tool panel


Working with ColorsChange color of the stroke or fill

Stroke Color and Fill Color tool– Located on colors section of Tool panel– Click and select a color swatch on the

color palette

The Color palette– Can type in a six character code that

represents the RGB values


Working with Gradients A gradient is a color fill that makes a gradual transition from one color to another

Apply a gradient with the Paint Bucket Tool

The position of the Paint Bucket Tool determines the direction of the gradient fill


Working with Objects

Objects can be copied and pasted

Objects can be transformed with the Free Transform Tool– Select the object, then the tool to

display the eight square-shaped handles and center circular transformation point

– Rotate and Skew, Scale, Distort, Envelope


Working with Objects

Objects can be enlarged or reduced in size– Use the Scale option of the Free

Transform tool• Drag corner handles to resize the object

without changing its proportions• If you drag one of the middle handles,

the object will be reshaped as taller, shorter, wider, or narrower


Working with ObjectsObjects can be rotated and skewed– Select the object, click the Free

Transform tool, click the Rotate and Skew option

Use the Distort and Envelope options to reshape an object by dragging its handles


Drag corner handle to rotate an object

Drag middle handle to skew an object

FIGURE 20 Using handles to manipulate an object


Reshaping a Segment of an Object

The Selection tool can be used to reshape the edge of an object– When you point to the edge, the

pointer displays an arc symbol– You can drag the edge of an object

by using the Arc pointer– If the selection tool points to a corner

of an object, the pointer displays an L-shaped symbol


FIGURE 21 Using the Selection tool to distort an object


Flipping an Object

You can use other options to flip an object horizontally or vertically

The Remove Transform Command allows you to restore an object to its original state


Work with TextFlash provides a lot of flexibility when formatting text– Typeface (Font)– Size– Style (bold, italic)– Color (including gradients)– Transformation


Entering Text and Changing the Text Block

Text is entered into “Text Blocks”

Text Blocks expand as more text is entered and may extend beyond the edge of the stage

You can adjust the size to a fixed width by dragging the handle in the upper right corner


Changing Text AttributesThe Properties panel allows you to change the font, size and style of a single character or an entire text block

FIGURE 32 The Properties Panel when a text object is selected


Working with ParagraphsFlash acts similar to a word processor

You can align paragraphs– Left, Right, Center, Justified

Use the Properties panel to:– Set margins, indents, and line spacing


Transforming TextText is an object, and can therefore be transformed like other objects in Flash– The entire text block gets transformed

Use “Break Apart” command to transform individual letters


Transforming Text

FIGURE 37 Skewing the text

FIGURE 38 Reshaping a letter after the text block has been “broken apart”


Learning about LayersTwo types of spatial organization– Position of objects on the stage– Stacking order of objects that overlap

Layers are used on a timeline as a way to organize objects

Placing objects on their own layer makes them easier to work with


The Six Layer Types

Normal (default layer type)– All objects on these layers appear in

the movie

Guide (Standard and Motion)– Standard guide layers serve as a

reference point for positioning objects on the stage

– Motion guide layers are used to create a path for animated objects to follow


The Six Layer TypesGuided– A layer that contains an animated object,

linked to a Motion Guide layer

Mask– A layer that contains and reveals portions

of another layer

Masked– A layer that contains the objects that are

hidden and revealed by a Mask layer


Folder– A layer that can contain other layers

Show/Hide All Layers

Show All Layers as Outlines

Lock/Unlock All Layers

Lock/Unlock This Layers

Show/Hide this Layer

The Six Layer Types

FIGURE 41 The Layers section of the timeline


Working with LayersUsing the Layer Properties dialog box allows you to:– Specify the type of a layer– Name a layer– Show/Hide a layer– Lock a layer– View layers as outlines


Using a Guide LayerUsed to align objects on the stage– Use the Layer Properties Dialog box to

set the layer as a guide– Turn on “Snap to Guides”– Drag the desired object to the guide line


Distributing Text to Layers

Used when text blocks are made up of more than one character

Distributes text to its own respective layer

FIGURE 44 Distributing text to layers


Using Folder Layers

Allows you to organize layers by creating folders and grouping other layers in them

FIGURE 45 A folder layer


Chapter 2 TasksUse the Macromedia Flash drawing tools

Select Objects and Apply Colors

Work with objects

Work with text and text objects

Work with layers and objects

Documents

Chapter Lessons