Use the Macromedia Flash drawing tools

1
Unit Lessons
OVERVIEW

• Use the Macromedia Flash drawing tools
• Edit drawings
• Work with objects
• Work with text
• Work with layers

2
Drawing in Flash MX
INTRODUCTION

• Flash creates and manipulates vector graphics
• Vector format Vs Bitmap format
• Bitmap graphics are based on pixels
• Altering pixels can result in jagged edges

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Vector Graphics
INTRODUCTION

• 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

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Modifying vectors
INTRODUCTION

• 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

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The Drawing Tools
LESSON 1

• ARROW-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

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The Drawing Tools
LESSON 1

• PEN- 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

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The Drawing Tools
LESSON 1

• FREE 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

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The Drawing Tools
LESSON 1

• EYEDROPPER-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

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LESSON 1
Point to a tool to display its name
Description of the tool
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Tool options
LESSON 1
Pencil Tool Options
Changing the Brush Size
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Selecting Objects
LESSON 2

• Before you can edit a drawing, you first must
  select the object
• Strokes and Fills can be selected independently
• Strokes can have several segments

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Using the Selection Tools
LESSON 2

• 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

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Using the Selection Tools
LESSON 2
Stroke selected
Fill selected
Stroke and Fill selected
Group selected
Unselected
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Working with Gradients
LESSON 2

• 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

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Working with Gradients
LESSON 2
The position of the Paint Bucket Tool determines
the direction of the gradient fill
Fill Transform Handles
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Working with objects
LESSON 3

• 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

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Free Transform Tool
LESSON 3
Rotate an Object around its Transform-ation point
Scale with Corner handles
Drag middle handle to skew an object
Drag corner handle to Rotate an object
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Reshaping a segment of an Object
LESSON 3

• 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

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Distorting with the Arrow and sub-selection tools
LESSON 3
Using the Arrow Tools Arc Pointer to reshape an
object
Using the Subselection Tool to drag a handle
and reshape an object
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Other transformations
LESSON 3

• 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

21
Treating text
LESSON 4

• Flash provides a lot of flexibility when
  formatting text
• Font
• Size
• Style
• Color
• Transformation

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Entering Text and altering the Text Block
LESSON 4

• 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

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Changing Text Attributes
LESSON 4

• 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
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Working with Paragraphs
LESSON 4

• 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

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Transforming Text
LESSON 4

• 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

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Transforming Text
LESSON 4
Skewing a text block
Reshaping a letter after the text block has been
broken apart
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Introduction to Layers
LESSON 5

• Layers are used on the timeline to organize
  objects
• Placing objects on their own layer makes them
  easier to work with
• Six layer types

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The Six Layer Types
LESSON 5

• 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

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The Six Layer Types
LESSON 5

• Guided
• 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

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The Six Layer Types
LESSON 5

• 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
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Working with Layers
LESSON 5

• Using the Layer Properties Dialog box, and the
  Layer section, you can
• Name a layer
• Lock a layer
• View layers as outlines

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Using a Guide Layer
LESSON 5

• 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

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Distributing Text to Layers
LESSON 5

• Used when text blocks are made up of more than
  one character
• Distributes text to its own respective layer

Distributing text to layers
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Using Folder Layers
LESSON 5

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

A folder layer
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Unit Tasks
SUMMARY

• Use the Macromedia Flash drawing tools
• Edit drawings
• Work with objects
• Work with text
• Work with layers