Adobe Flash CS4 Professional for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide

Converting Symbol Instances to Graphics

Working with Symbols

209

Figure 7.35 The Property inspector reveals that the

selected graphic is an instance of a symbol named

anteater (top). To break the link with its master

symbol, choose Modify > Break Apart. The Property

inspector reveals that the selection now consists of

shapes; it’s no longer a symbol instance (bottom).

Converting Symbol

Instances to Graphics

At times, you’ll want to break the link

between a placed instance of a symbol and

the master symbol. You may want to redraw

the shape in a speci c instance but not in

every instance, for example. To convert a

symbol back to an independent shape or set

of shapes, break it apart.

To break the symbol link:

1.

On the Stage, select the symbol instance

whose link you want to break.

2.

Choose Modify > Break Apart, or press

#

-B (Mac) or Ctrl-B (Windows)

(Figure 7.35).

Flash breaks the link to the symbol in the

library and selects the symbol’s elements.

 e Property inspector no longer displays

information about the instance of the

symbol; it displays information about the

selected shapes.

If the original symbol contained any

grouped elements, they remain grouped

after you break the link; ungrouped

elements stay ungrouped. Any symbols

that existed within the original symbol

remain as instances of their respective

master symbols. Now you can edit

these elements as you learned to do in

previous chapters.

Chapter 7

210

A Note About Blend Modes

A Note About Blend Modes

Blend modes give designers control over the way graphics in di erent layers and sublayers

interact, letting you create new colors and interesting e ects.  ey can be used for composit-

ing—overlapping multiple images so that parts of each appear in one combined image—or to

enhance or correct  aws in digital photos ( for example, to lighten the areas of a photo where

there is too much shadow). You can use blending with two types of symbols: buttons and

movie clips. Select a button or movie-clip instance on the Stage. In the Display section of the

Property inspector, from the Blending menu, choose a blend mode (Figure 7.36). Blending

changes the selected symbol’s colors on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Whether a particular pixel in

the selected symbol instance actually changes color depends on the type of blend, the color

of the pixel in the symbol instance, and the color of the pixel that lies on the layer below the

movie clip.  e pixels on lower layers may be other buttons, movie clips, graphic elements,

or the background color of the Stage.

Figure 7.36 On the Stage, select a button or movie-clip instance to which you would like to apply a blend;

then choose a mode from the Blending menu in the Display section of the Property inspector.