- Setting Selection Preferences
- Making Selections
- Resizing Graphic Elements
- Positioning Graphic Elements
- Flipping, Rotating, and Skewing
- Distorting Graphic Elements
- Modifying Fills and Strokes
- Modifying Shapes: Natural Drawing Tools
- Modifying Shapes: Bzier Tools
- Modifying Primitive-Shape Paths
- Converting Shape Types
- Practice Session
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Making Selections
Merge-shapes, drawing-objects, and primitives all behave slightly differently when being selected. What you think of as a single shape may contain several segments. The rectangle tool creates a square whose stroke is actually four separate line segments. Clicking one side of a merge-shape square’s stroke selects just that segment. To fully select the square’s stroke, you must select each segment (you could use Shift-click to add the remaining sides to the initial selection). If you create the square as a drawing-object or a rectangle-primitive, Flash treats the four stroke segments as a unit. Clicking the stroke on any side of a drawing-object square or rectangle-primitive selects the entire stroke.
Flash highlights selected areas of merge-shapes with a pattern of tiny dots. Make sure all the parts of the merge-shape stroke or fill you intend to select display this pattern.
To make selections by clicking:
- In the Tools panel, choose the selection tool, or press V on the keyboard.
- To select elements created as merge-shapes, do one of the following:
- To select a merge-shape fill, position the pointer over the fill and click.
The selection icon appears next to the selection pointer when it is over the fill. Flash highlights the selected fill with a dot pattern
.
- To select a merge-shape stroke, position the pointer over a line segment and click.
Flash appends a little arc or a little right-angle icon to the selection tool
.
These modifier icons indicate that the tool is over a point in a line segment and show what type of point it is: a curve point or a corner point. (For more information about points, see the sidebar “About Curve and Corner Points,” later in this chapter). Flash highlights just the segment you clicked, using a dot pattern
.
- To select a merge-shape fill, position the pointer over the fill and click.
- To select elements created as drawing-objects, position the pointer over any portion of the shape and click.
The arc or angle modifier icon appears next to the selection pointer as described above for merge-shape fills and strokes. Flash selects the entire shape and highlights it by displaying the bounding box—a rectangle that encloses the shape
.
- To select elements created as primitives, position the pointer over any portion of the shape and click.
The selection icon appears next to the selection pointer whether it’s over a fill or a stroke. Flash selects the entire shape and highlights its bounding box
.
- To add elements to a selection, do one of the following:
- With Shift Select (Flash’s default selection style) active, hold down the Shift key as you click each item you want to add
.
- If you turned off the Shift Select option in the General category of the Preferences dialog, click each item you want to include.
Flash highlights each new item and adds it to the selection.
- With Shift Select (Flash’s default selection style) active, hold down the Shift key as you click each item you want to add
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To use a contact-sensitive selection rectangle:
- Make sure the selection preferences are set for contact sensitivity (see “Setting Selection Preferences,” earlier in this chapter).
- In the Tools panel, select the selection tool.
- Click and drag to pull out a selection rectangle
.
This rectangle isn’t a graphic element; it just defines the boundaries of your selection.
- Continue dragging until the rectangle encloses all the merge-shapes you want to select and at least some part of each drawing-object.
- Release the mouse button.
Merge-shapes. Flash highlights any portions of fill or stroke that fall inside the selection rectangle; portions of merge-shape fills or strokes that lie outside the rectangle remain unselected
.
Drawing-objects and primitive-shapes. If the selection rectangle touches any part of a drawing-object or primitive, Flash selects the entire thing, highlighting its bounding box.
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To use a non–contact-sensitive selection rectangle:
- Make sure contact sensitivity is turned off (see “Setting Selection Preferences,” earlier in this chapter).
- Follow Steps 2–5 in the preceding exercise, but this time, fully enclose the drawing-objects you want to select.
Merge-shapes. Flash highlights any portions of fill or stroke that fall inside the selection rectangle; portions of merge-shape fills or strokes that lie outside the rectangle remain unselected
.
Drawing-objects and primitive-shapes. Flash selects only those drawing-objects or primitives that are completely enclosed within the selection rectangle. If the selection rectangle touches or includes just a part of a drawing-object or primitive, Flash leaves the entire object deselected.
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TIP
If the lines or shapes you want to select are located close to other lines, you may have difficulty selecting just what you
want with a rectangle. The lasso tool can create an irregular selection outline. In the Tools panel, select the lasso tool,
or press L. Click and draw a free-form line around the elements you want to select 
. Close the selection outline by bringing the lasso pointer back over the spot where you began the selection outline. Release
the mouse button. Flash highlights whatever falls inside the shape you drew with the lasso.
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TIP
The lasso’s Polygon mode lets you define a selection area with a series of connected straight-line segments. With the lasso
tool selected, click the Polygon Mode button in the Tools panel. Now you can click your way around the elements you want to
select 
. Double-click to end the selection outline.
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To deselect individual items:
- In the Tools panel, select the selection tool.
- Hold down the Shift key.
- Click any highlighted drawing-objects, primitives, or merge-shape strokes or fills you want to remove from the current selection.
Flash deselects the items you clicked
. No matter which method you used to select items, you must Shift-click with the selection tool to remove items from a selection.
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