Flash

[ The Workspace ] [ The Toolbox ]

The Workspace

a) The Stage

• depicted as a white rectangle
• used to create, assemble and edit the graphics and text that become the integral components of your Flash movie.
• defines the size of each frame in the movie
• if oblects are dragged from the stage they will not appear in the Flash Player file
• displays the current frame or the frame playing at a particular moment which could have the same contents as the previous frame or totally new elements.
• viewing the movie:
  • utilize the zoom in or out commands, the zoom control or the Zoom Tool (found in the Tool Box) to enlarge a portion of the stage which helps when editing or drawing an element
  • to move around the stage use either the scrolling arrows and scrolling bars on the bottom and right side of the Flash window or use the Hand Tool (found in the Tool box).
  • with increasing complexity of a movie greater demands are placed on the processor the commands of Outlines, Fast, Antialias and Antialias Text found in the View menu will speed up a movie's dsiplay in the authoring mode.
• the grid

• used as a visual reference when manually aligning objects to grid intersections and as a virtual reference when Flash (View / Grid / Snap to Grid) snaps objects to intersecting grid points. "Snapping to" occurs based on the handle chosen (corner or center) because each object has a bounding box with handles (unfilled dot) at its center and at the extremities.As you move closer to a grid the dot becomes darker and slightly larger.
• the grid can be edited in regards to color, grid spacing and snapping accuracy (View / Grid / Edit Grid). Select a color that contrasts with the background. The effect of snapping accuracy is dependent on grid spacing and movie size. Normal works almost all the time but it is recommended that Must be Close or Always Snap when using a wide grid spacing.

the ruler another tool for aligning objects in a movie found in the View menu displays both a vertical and horizontal ruler the Flash default units is in pixels units can be modified by using the Document Properties dialog box when objects ar emoved on the stage two small lines appear on each of the rulers that correspond to the objects height and width. These reference points move as an object is moved reporting the current position of the object rulers can be used to help create guides within the document

• the guides

• guides are visual references that are created and positioned where needed to help align and position objects and are not visible when a movie is published
• there is no limit ot the number of guides created
• visibility, locking, snapping to and editing are found in the View menu.
• vertical guides are created by clicking on the vertical ruler and dragging it to the right and are formed when the mouse is released. A small line appears on the horizontal ruler indicating the guides position.
• horizontal guides are created by clicking on the horizontal ruler and dragging it down and are formed when the mouse is released. A small line appears on the vertical ruler indicating its position.
• objects can be snapped to the guides. "Snapping to" occurs based on the handle chosen (corner or center) because each object has a bounding box with handles (unfilled dot) at its center and at the extremities.As you move closer to a guide the dot becomes darker and slightly larger.
• guides can be moved and locked when they are in the desired locations
• guides can be edited in regards to color and snapping accuracy

b) Work Area

• the grey area surrounding the white rectangle
• any element placed in this area can not be seen on the stage
• used as a storage area to move components in and out of a movie as required

The Toolbox

a) Line Tool

• a tool used to draw straight lines
• the line is not set until the mouse button is released
• the line can be lengthened, shortened or its angle changed by dragging until the mouse is released
• if the shift key is also held down the line is constrained to the vertical, horizontal or the 45-degree angle position
• to use:
  • move the pointer to the spot on the stage where you want the line to begin (pointer changes to a crosshair as it moves onto the stage)
  • click and drag the line out from your starting position (Flash displays an outline of the line that does not include color, style and height and a circle beneath the crosshair cursor indicates the endpoint)
  • release the mouse and the line will be drawn using the current settings for color, style and line height
• to set the stroke settings (attributes) select the Properties Panel from the Window Menu and click on the Line Tool

  

  Color Setting

  Height Setting

  Style Setting

• To select a Color
  • click on the Stoke Box (pointer witches to an eyedropper and the Swatches Panel opens)
  • to select the required color clcik on the color directly below the eyedropper tip
  • this can also be accomplished by selecting the Line Tool in the Toolbox and then using the Stoke Color Box
• To select a Height Setting (Weight)
  • a number can be entered from 0.25 to 10 and when you click on the stage the new value is applied or
  • the slider can be used by clicking on the small triangle to the right of the Height field.and the new value is applied as soon as the slider level is released
• To select a Line Style
  • click on the Style pop-up menu
  • select from one of seven styles: hairline, solid, dashed, ragged, stippled and hatched
  • Note: hairlines do not change thickness when a symbol is resized but the other styles chnage in thickness as you scale up or down.
• To Customize
  • click on Custom and a stroke style box appears
  • choose the required style from the Type Menu
  • the settings (parameters) appropriate to the Type appear and selections can be made in regards to amount of spacing between dots, thickness (enter a value between 1 and 10 or use pop-up menu) and placing a dot at each corner of a line,
  • a preview of the selections appears. See example below

• Note: the Custom settings remain in effect until that style is customized again or until you exit Flash and stroke height does not affect any other Custom settings