Drawing Tools

Arrow and Lasso Tools

You may wonder why we didn’t start from the first button in the toolbox –Arrow tool. It’s simply because we had nothing to point to and select!

Now when you have your first lines drawn on the stage you may use Arrow to manipulate them.

Depress Arrow button on the toolbox and after that move the mouse cursor on the Stage. You will see that cursor looks like arrow . Click on one of the line – it will be highlighted. Now you can drag the line and drop it at the another spot on the Stage.

If the line is highlighted you may use Properties Inspector and change it’s color, size (thickness) and stile.

If you accurately move the mouse cursor close to the middle of the line (it should not be highlighted ! Click somewhere else on the Stage to deselect the line) you will see that arrow has changed to the arc or bow. Now press the mouse left button and pull the line. You will be able to bend the line. It is not straight anymore.

If you move cursor close to the end point of the line you may stretch it.

Those manipulation examples demonstrate that drawings in vector graphics are not became the part of the whole “canvas” as it happens with bitmap drawings. They “lives” separately and can be changed after they are drawn. Actually by changing line shape we only change an equation which describes it.

Now change back to the line tool and draw two or three crossing lines of the same size and color.

Back in the Arrow tool click on these lines - a single click will highlight only the segment of the line up to the fist crossing. Double click will select the whole line, but not necessary all the crossing lines. Flash has some sort of “memory” and consider by itself what is the “whole line” means.

If you will bend the fragments of crossed lines they will change independently. Try to drag a crossing point.

If you press the mouse outside the lines and then drag the cursor you will be able to highlight the area inside the dragged rectangle. Everything on the stage, that was inside the rectangle will be selected.

Also you may try to select separate lines by holding Shift on the keyboard and clicking mouse.

There is one Option in the lower part of the Tools panel for the Arrow – “Snap to object”. If it is turned on your drawings will “magnetically sticking” to each other if you draw them too close… your cursor will “fill” the proximity of the objects. Also if you drew “not exactly” horizontal (or vertical) line Flash will fix it to you and make it perfectly horizontal. Sometimes it’s convenient sometimes is not – you should choose this option depending on your drawing task.

One more thing about selected lines or anything – you may delete them by pressing Delete button on the keyboard.

Lasso tool allows to select the object of the complex shape. Draw a free closed line with Lasso and you will select everything that is inside this contour.

If you feel that Flash Arrow and Lasso works a bit awkward for you, experiment more with these tools.

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