Graphic Symbols

Introduction to Symbols

Every time we drawing something on the stage it may be used only in current file. While we are working with very simple shapes, texts and lines it doesn’t really influence our work performance – you need couple seconds to draw a new “fresh painted” rectangle. Also simple shapes consume only a few bites and even if we repeat the same rectangles or ovals or straight lines several times inside one movie it woudn't increase our file too much.

However you will not going to be an apprentice for too long – you’ll become a master soon. And you may use quite complicated drawing for your file, they may take many hours to draw and significant space to store. If you wish to use such drawing several times and simply copy and paste them your file becomes larger and larger with every drawing copy.

This problem may be solved by using Symbols.

Symbol is a corner stone of Flash design. It has many advantages and first of them – it can be utilized again and again – both in the same file and shared between files. It means, for example if you’ve done a designer logo, title or signature – you may use it on as many pages as you want. If you are working on the night sky animation you may create a star symbol and place 100 stars on your stage. And even if you created a centipede you need only one leg Symbol to draw. Even if this leg is exceptionally complex you consume not so much memory, because only for the single Symbol Flash will store all the details, but for each copy it needs only several bytes of memory describing the position and some properties of the copy of symbol.

Look at this kaleidoscopic stars – it includes only one star symbol repeated many time

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