Use the Macromedia Flash drawing tools

Edit drawings

Work with objects

Work with text

Work with layers

Unit 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 MX

Native to Flash

Represent an image using lines and 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

Vector objects have a stroke, 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

The Drawing ToolsARROW-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 an object– Anchor Points

LINE-Used to draw straight lines

LASSO- Used to select objects or parts of objects

The Drawing ToolsPEN- Used to draw lines and curves by creating a series of dots

TEXT-To create and edit text

OVAL-To draw oval and circular shapes

RECTANGLE- To draw rectangular and square shapes

PENCIL-Used to draw freehand lines

BRUSH- Used to paint with brushlike strokes

The Drawing ToolsFREE TRANSFORM-Used to transform objects by rotating, scaling, skewing, etc

FILL TRANSFORM-Used to transform a gradient fill

INK BOTTLE-Used to apply line colors and thickness to a stroke

PAINT BUCKET-Used to fill enclose areas of a drawing with color

The Drawing ToolsEYEDROPPER-Used to copy stroke, fill and text attribute from one object to another

ERASER-Used to erase lines and fills

MANY OF THE TOOLS HAVE OPTIONS THAT YOU SHOULD BECOME FAMILIAR WITH

Point to a tool todisplay its name

Description of thetool

Tool options

Pencil ToolOptions

Changing theBrush Size

Selecting Objects

Before you can edit a drawing, you first must select the object

Strokes and Fills can be selected independently

Strokes can have several segments

Using the Selection Tools

Arrow Tool -Used to select part or all of an object– to select multiple objects hold down

“Shift”

Lasso Tool -Provides more flexibility when selecting an area of the stage– Freehand– Polygon

Using the Selection Tools

UnselectedStroke

selectedFill

selectedStroke and Fill selected

Group selected

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 Gradients

The position of the PaintBucket Tool determines the direction of the gradient fill

Fill Transform Handles

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 rectangular handles and center circular transformation point.

– Rotate and Skew, Scale, Distort, Envelope

Free Transform Tool

Scale withCornerhandles

Drag corner handle toRotate anobject

Rotate anObject around itsTransform-ation point

Drag middle handle toskew anobject

Reshaping a segment of an Object

The arrow tool can be used to reshape the edge of an object– The pointer is context-sensitive– The Arc pointer drags out curved

shapes– The L shaped pointer drags out

corners of the object

Distorting with the Arrow and sub-selection tools

Using the Arrow Tool’sArc Pointer to reshapean object

Using the SubselectionTool to drag a handle andreshape an object

Other transformations

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

Treating textFlash provides a lot of flexibility when formatting text– Font

– Size

– Style

– Color

– Transformation

Entering Text and altering the Text BlockText 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 Attributes

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

The Properties Panel when a text object is selected

Working with Paragraphs

Flash acts similar to a word processor

You can align paragraphs– left, right, center, justified

Use the Properties panel to set– Margins, indents, line spacing

Transforming Text

Text is an object, and can therefore be transformed like other objects in Flash

The entire block gets transformed

Use “Break Apart” command to transform individual letters

Transforming Text

Skewing a text block

Reshaping a letter after the textblock has been “broken apart”

Introduction to Layers

Layers are used on the timeline to organize objects

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

Six layer types

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

The Six Layer Types

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 Layers

Working with Layers

Using the Layer Properties Dialog box, and the Layer section, you can– Name a layer

– Lock a layer

– View layers as outlines

Using a Guide Layer

Used to align objects– 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

– Guide is not visible in exported swf

Distributing Text to Layers

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

Distributes text to its own respective layer

Distributing textto layers

Using Folder Layers

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

A folder layer

Unit TasksUse the Macromedia Flash drawing tools

Edit drawings

Work with objects

Work with text

Work with layers