Recipe 1.8. Customizing Join Styles Between Line Segments

Problem

You want to change the way in which two line segments join.

Solution

Select the adjoining line segments, and select the style from the Join style menu in the Property inspector. Both line segments must also have the same Cap style.

Discussion

As with line caps, Flash previously had only one line Join style: rounded. While a round Join style is fairly neutral, it's not appropriate for everything. Starting with Flash 8, you can select from three line Join stylesBevel, Round (default), and Miter. To do so, select the two adjoining line segments, and select from the Join menu in the Property inspector. Note that for Join styles to work, the adjoining line segments must also have the same Cap style.

The Bevel join style makes the joins between line segments flat and angular. The Miter join style causes the joins between line segments to be pointed. When you select the Miter join style, you can also set the sharpness by specifying a value for the Miter field in the Property inspector. The value can range from 1 to 60, and it determines at what point the miter join is beveled. The value is multiplied by the thickness of the line segments to determine how many pixels past the join the miter is beveled. For example, if the line segments have a thickness of 10 and the miter limit is set to 2, the miter can extend up to 20 pixels past the join before it is beveled. If the miter naturally converges at or before that point, the join appears pointed. Other-wise it is beveled at that point.