Flash CS3: The Missing Manual

Manipulating Graphic Elements

Flash offers you a gazillion tools to modify the drawings that make up your animations. You can stack, rearrange and reposition each individual graphic element, transform (shrink and squish) them, move them, apply color effects, and more until you're completely satisfied with the way they look. It's a cliché, but it's true: When it comes to drawing in Flash, you're pretty much limited only by your imagination.

This section acquaints you with the most powerful tools Flash offers for modifying the lines, shapes, bitmaps, symbols, and other graphic elements you add to your drawings.

Modifying Object Properties

Flash's Property Inspector is a beautiful thing. Select any element on the Stage, and the Property Inspector responds by displaying all the characteristics, or properties, that you can change about that element.

In Figure 5-16, for example, you see several graphic elements on the Stage: a painted fill, a bitmap of a frog, a line of text, and a star. When you select the star, the Property Inspector shows all the properties associated with the star: the color, width, and type of outline, the fill color, and so on. When you select the text, the Property Inspector changes to reflect only text properties.

Note

If you don't see the Property Inspector, choose Windows → Properties and, in the pop-up menu that appears, turn on the checkbox next to Properties. If you still don't see it, check to see whether you've expanded your Stage and pushed it out of the way ...