Chapter 2: Creating Artwork and Text

In This Chapter

  • Creating shapes and lines
  • Editing and selecting shapes
  • Tweaking and splicing shapes and lines
  • Transforming shapes and artwork
  • Creating and modifying text
  • Working with colors and gradients
  • Using the Brush tool

Many great creations start with the most basic shapes and build from there. In this chapter, you discover the secrets of drawing shapes and lines and working with colors in Flash. If you're accustomed to drawing in other Adobe applications such as Illustrator, you'll find a lot of the same tools and principles apply here.

Drawing Shapes and Lines

To get your creation started, become familiar with the Shape and Line tools on the Tools panel and use them as the starting point for everything from basic buttons to complex illustrations.

When you're ready to create more complex artwork beyond the capabilities offered by the Shape and Line tools, the Pen and Pencil tools are standing by. These tools work quite differently, and for that reason should be chosen based on the kind of artwork you want to create.

The following sections show you how to get started creating basic shapes and lines.

Drawing basic shapes with the shape tools

Image On the Tools panel, locate the Rectangle, Oval, and Polystar tools; also notice a small arrow in the lower-right corner of the Rectangle and Oval icons, which means that more tools are hidden underneath. ...

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