Line and Text

Flash Course

Lines

The Line tool is on the "Tools panel", it draws perfectly straight lines in the direction you drag your mouse.
Line tool also has the two modes of drawing: Merge Drawing and Object Drawing.
In Merge Drawing when a line overlaps another line on the same layer, it essentially cuts it into two pieces that can be edited as separate objects.
In Flash, a line is called a stroke and there is a variety of thicknesses (0-200 pixels), styles, colors, and gradient fills that can be applied to it, from the Properties panel (see the image below).

Line properties

If you hold Shift while you draw the line, you can easily draw lines perfectly vertical, horizontal or at 45 degrees.

Creating Text

To create text in Flash, click the Text tool on the Tools panel (the pointer becomes a crosshair with a small "T" in the corner), then click the Stage where you want to create a text line or drag to create a text box the size you want that automatically wraps.
To deselect a text box, click anywhere on the Stage outside it.
The text area can anytime be moved and resized after it waz selected with the Selection Tool.

Creating text

To modify a text in a deselected text area, select the "Text tool" then click on the text (or double-click on it).
To break editable text boxes into shapes, click Modify -> Break Apart. Then you can edit them with any of the selection tools or pen modifiers.

- In Flash, you can create two types of text: TLF (Text Layout Framework) or Classic.
The options in the Properties panel change according on the type of text chosen.

1. TLF provides advanced text capabilities for text in Flash targeted for Flash Player 10 and ActionScript 3.0 or later.
TLF is indicated when you want to create 3D animated text or a text with a graphic artistic aspect.
TLF has three types: Read Only (text that doesn't change), Selectable (the user will can select and copy the text) and Editable (the user will can modify the text, it can be used for input fields).
You can create columns, rotate text, indent text, change text direction and orientation, change text case, adjust the text baseline, and apply text blending and color effects from the Property panel (see the pictures below).
- Because the Properties panel of the TLF text is too long to be displayed in a single image, I divided it into three images, but in Adobe Flash all these options are in a single panel.

TLF text properties

2. Classic Text provides the standard capabilities available for a simple text: size, color, font, etc. (see the image below).
There are three types of Classic text: Static (text that doesn't change), Dynamic (text that updates with ActionScript), and Input (text used for form fields).

Classic text properties

You can use the Free Transform tool to transform text boxes in the same ways you transform other objects. You can scale, rotate, skew and flip text boxes.
In the presentation below you can see an example of how to use some of the text properties.

Using text properties

- After the presentation starts, to Stop / Play it, right click on it and select / deselect Play option.

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