Flash 8 Cookbook

Chapter 1. Drawing in Flash

One of the hallmarks of Flash is the use of vector-based graphics; vector graphics can be scaled to any size without causing the pixelation or scrunched look associated with scaled bitmap graphics. Vector graphics are also compact, because they are described mathematically. For example, to render (draw) a circle, Flash needs to store only the circle’s center point and radius; from this information, it figures out which pixels to draw on the screen. In contrast, bitmap (or raster) graphics describe every point in an image. To draw a bitmap graphic, Flash simply does what it’s told, drawing each pixel in the original image to the screen. The file size for bitmap graphics is generally much larger than that of vector graphics, and bitmaps tend to look jagged or pixelated when scaled. Vector graphics are ideal for line art and curves, offering both high quality and small storage size; bitmaps are more appropriate for photographic images that can’t be described easily with vectors. Although Flash can import and manipulate bitmaps, the drawing tools create vector graphics only. This chapter focuses on how to create your own graphics with Flash’s vector drawing and manipulation tools.

Although Flash’s drawing tools can create straight line segments, curves, and complex shapes, they differ somewhat from those in other vector drawing programs, such as Freehand and Adobe Illustrator. Flash uses a simpler system (quadratic paths) for describing paths than these other ...