- Setting Selection Preferences
- Selecting Lines with the Selection Tool
- Selecting Fills with the Selection Tool
- Using a Selection Rectangle
- Using the Lasso Tool
- Deselecting Elements
- Repositioning Elements Manually
- Repositioning Elements Numerically
- Basic Editing Tasks: Cut, Copy, Paste
- Editing Existing Elements with Assistance
- Moving End Points with the Selection Tool
- Moving Points with the Subselection Tool
- Reshaping Curves with the Selection Tool
- Reshaping Curves with the Subselection Tool
- Converting, Removing, and Adding Points
- Reshaping Fills
- Changing the Size of Graphic Elements
- Reorienting Graphic Elements
- Distorting Graphic Elements
- Changing the Envelope of Selected Elements
- Modifying Strokes
- Using the Eraser Tool in Normal Mode
- Using the Faucet Modifier
- Modifying Fill Colors
- Creating Solid Colors: Color Mixer Panel
- Creating New Gradients
- Creating Color Sets
- Putting Gradients to Work
- Modifying Applied Gradients
- Applying Attributes of One Graphic Element to Another
- Converting Lines to Fills
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Repositioning Elements Manually
If you aren't happy with the position of an element, you can always move it.
To reposition an element with the selection tool:
- Position the selection tool over the element you want to move. The element doesn't need to be selected, although it can be. The selection tool displays the selection icon as it hovers over the element.
- Click the element, and drag it to the desired location (
Figure 3.14
).
An outline preview appears to help you position the element as you drag it.
Figure 3.14 Use the selection tool to select and drag an element to a new location.
- Release the mouse button. The element is now selected and in its new location.
)
TIPs
- Turn on rulers (View > Rulers) to help you position your element. As you drag the element around the Stage, guide lines indicating the height and width of the element's bounding box (see the sidebar "How Flash Tracks Elements") appear in the ruler area (
Figure 3.15
).
Figure 3.15 The longer lines in the ruler area indicate the edges of the element you are dragging.
-
When Snap Align is active, as it is by default, Flash displays guidelines for aligning your selection with other objects on the Stage as you drag ( Figure 3.16 ).
To learn more about Snap settings, see Chapter 1.
Figure 3.16 With Snap Align turned on, Flash displays guidelines as you drag a selection when you have more than one element on the Stage.
)
)
To reposition an element with the arrow keys:
- In the Toolbar, select the selection tool.
- Select the element you want to move.
- Use one of the four arrow keys on the keyboard to move the element in 1-pixel increments. The up-arrow key moves the element toward the top of the Stage. The down-arrow key moves the element toward the bottom of the Stage. The right-arrow key moves the element toward the right side of the Stage. The left-arrow key moves the element toward the left side of the Stage.
How Flash Tracks Elements
To keep track of an element's size and position on the Stage, Flash encloses each element in a bounding box—an invisible rectangle just big enough to hold the element. Flash then treats the Stage as a giant graph, with the top-left corner of the Stage as the center of the x and y axis ( Figure 3.17 ). Flash locates elements by means of x and y coordinates on that graph. The units of measure for the graph are the ones currently selected in the Document Properties dialog (to learn more about document properties, see Chapter 1). The Shape Property Inspector and the Info panel show you the x and y coordinates for an element's current position and also display the height and width of the element's bounding box. Flash calculates an element's position on the Stage either from the top-left corner of the element's bounding box or from the element's center point (the point at the exact center of the bounding box).
)
Figure 3.17 The dotted line here represents the x-y axis of the Stage. The origin—the 0 point both horizontally and vertically—is the top-left corner of the Stage.
By entering new x and y coordinates for Height and Width in the Shape Property Inspector or the Info panel, you can change an element's position and size. (For more information on resizing elements, see "Changing the Size of Graphic Elements" later in this chapter.)