- Changing Drawing Settings
- Drawing with the Line Tool
- Drawing with the Pencil Tool
- Drawing Shapes with the Rectangle and Oval Tools
- Using the Polystar Tool
- Understanding Selections
- Selecting Strokes with the Arrow Tool
- Selecting Strokes and Fills with the Arrow Tool
- Making Selections with the Lasso Tool
- Zooming In and Out with the Magnifying Glass
- Moving Around with the Hand Tool
- Displaying Rulers
- Using Grids and Guides
- Modifying Grid and Guide Settings
- Using Snap Align
- Changing Stroke and Fill Colors
- Creating Custom Colors
- Editing Strokes with the Ink Bottle
- Editing Fills with the Paint Bucket
- Editing Strokes and Fills with the Eyedropper
- Creating Gradients
- Using the Fill Lock
- Using Paint Brush Modes
- Drawing with the Pen Tool
- Drawing Curves with the Pen Tool
- Modifying Shapes with the Arrow Tool
- Modifying Shapes with the Sub-Selection Tool
- Using the Free Transform Tool
- Using Transform Options for Shapes
- Transforming Gradient Fills
- Cutting and Pasting Graphics Between Layers
- Working with Graphics on Different Layers
- Distributing Graphics to Layers
- Working With Object Drawing
Modifying Grid and Guide Settings
The need for grids and guides varies depending upon the type of document you are working on. They are useful for aligning text and graphics to interface elements and are an invaluable tool for creating a well composed and proportioned layout. Every project is different and has different requirements, so Flash allows the display, behavior, and characteristics of guides and grids to be altered to fit your needs. They are only visible in the Flash development environment, and are not exported in the Flash movie.
- Click the View menu, point to Grid, and then click Edit Grid.
TIMESAVER Press Option+ +G (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+G (Win) to quickly access the Grid dialog box.
- Click the Color popup, and then click a grid line color.
- Select or clear the Show Grid check box to show or hide grid.
- Select or clear the Snap To Grid check box to enable or disable snapping.
- Enter values for horizontal and vertical dimensions for the grid lines.
- Click the Snap Accuracy popup, and then select a level of sensitivity for snapping to the grid. Select from Must Be Close, Normal, Can Be Distant, and Always Snap.
- To make the current grid settings the default for new Flash files, click the Save Default button.
- Click OK.
- Click the View menu, point to Guides, and then click Edit Guides.
TIMESAVER Press Option+Shift+ +G (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G (Win) to quickly access the Guides dialog box.
- Click the Color popup, and then click a guide line color.
- Select or clear the Show Guides check box to show or hide guides.
- Select or clear the Snap To Guides check box to enable or disable snapping.
- Select or clear the Lock Guides check box to enable or disable editing of guides.
- Click the Snap Accuracy popup, and then select a level of sensitivity for snapping to the guides. Select from Must Be Close, Normal, Can Be Distant.
- To remove all guides from the active scene, click Clear All.
- To make the current guides the default guides for new Flash files, click Save Default.
- Click OK.
TIMESAVER Press +; (Mac) or Ctrl+; (Win) to toggle between showing and hiding guides; press Option+ +; (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+; (Win) to lock and unlock guides; or press Shift+ +; (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+; (Win) to turn Snapping on and off.