Recipe 1.13. Drawing Other Assorted Shapes

Problem

You want to draw a shape for which there is no built-in tool within Flash.

Solution

Check to see whether there is a drawing tool available that you can add to Flash via the Extension Manager.

Discussion

Flash includes a JavaScript extension layer. What that means for you is that it is possible to find and install additional functionality for Flashincluding extra drawing tools. Though you may not necessarily find a drawing tool that draws exactly what you are looking for, it is worth taking a look. A good resource for finding such extensions is the Flash Exchange at the Macromedia web site. A direct link to the Macromedia Exchange is http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/exchange. Another resource with a few drawing tools is http://www.flashextensibility.com.

As time goes on, more Flash extensions are likely to be available, but at the time of this writing, the following are some of the most seemingly relevant:

Splat

The Splat tool allows you to draw shapes with circular inner shapes with curved shapes extending outward from it. The default settings create what looks like a splat of paint (hence the name).But by adjusting the settings for the tool, you can readily draw flower shapes and other, more abstract shapes. Splat v2 is the same as the first version, but with a few additional options, including random colors and a noise setting that applies a random distortion to each shape drawn with the tool.

Arrow

The Selection tool quite simply allows you to draw arrows without having to composite rectangles and triangles.

Spiral

The Spiral tool does pretty much what it saysit draws spirals.

Dot Spiral

According to a strict definition, a spiral is composed of a curve, and not line segments. So perhaps a more accurate term to describe what the Dot Spiral tool draws would be a spiral-like shape. The shape is composed of line segments that form what turn out to be very near to polygons, except that the angles are just a bit too wide such that the effect is something akin to a spiral. You can specify the number of points around the spiral-like shape. For example, if you specify four points, the spiral-like shape resembles a square.

The preceding drawing tool extensions can each be found at http://www.flashextensibility.com.

In order to install any Flash extensionbe it a tool, behavior, panel, or componentyou'll need the latest version of the Extension Manager. The Extension Manager is a free download from Macromedia, and you can find it at http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/em_download/. Each extension that you download should be packaged in a file with the .mxp file extension. If you have the Extension Manager installed, then your system should recognize the file type and allow you to install the extension with a few mouse clicks. You may need to restart Flash for some of the settings to take effect.