Viewing at Various Magnifications

Flash offers several ways to adjust the magnification of elements on the Stage.

To view elements at actual size

• Choose View > Magnification > 100% (Figure 1.36), or press -1 (Mac) or Ctrl-1 (Windows).
  
  

  Figure 1.36. Choose 100% magnification to display graphics at the size they will be in the final movie.

  

  
  or
  
  
• In the Zoom Control field at the right side of the Stage's Edit Bar, type 100%. Press Enter.
  
  At 100%, Flash displays elements as close as possible to the size they will be in the final movie. (Some monitors and video cards may display elements at a slightly different size than the system on which you created the element.)
  
  

To zoom in or out on the Stage

1.	In the Zoom Control field, type the desired percentage of magnification (Figure 1.37). Figure 1.37. Enter a percentage greater than 100 in the Zoom Control field to magnify elements on the Stage. The pop-up menu to the right of the field offers several common magnification levels.
2.	Press Enter.

Tip

• Click the scroll button next to the Zoom Control field to open a menu that duplicates the View > Magnification submenu. Choose a percentage from this menu to change magnification immediately. This menu also lets you choose Fit in Window (to display the full Stage area in the current window, without scroll bars), Show Frame (to display the full Stage area in the current window, with scroll bars), and Show All (to scale the Stage so that all elements on the Stage and in the Pasteboard appear in the current window).

To reduce or enlarge specific areas

1.

In the Tools panel, select the zoom tool (or press M or Z on the keyboard). The pointer changes to a magnifying glass.

2.

To enlarge an area or element, click and drag to create a selection rectangle that encompasses the area or element. Flash fills the window with your selection (Figure 1.38). This technique works whether the zoom tool is set to Enlarge or Reduce mode. Figure 1.38. Use the zoom tool (top) to draw a selection rectangle around an element (middle). Flash places the element at the center of the enlarged view (bottom).

To zoom in or out

1.	With the zoom tool active, in the Tools panel's Options section, select one of the tool's modifiers: Enlarge (the magnifying glass icon with the plus sign) Reduce (the magnifying glass icon with the minus sign)
2.	On the Stage, click the area or element you want to enlarge or reduce. Flash places the spot you clicked at the center of the viewing window and changes the percentage of magnification specified in the Zoom Control field. With the zoom tool set to Enlarge, Flash doubles the percentage; with the zoom tool set to Reduce, Flash halves the percentage.

Tips

• When you have the zoom tool selected, you can switch temporarily from Enlarge to Reduce, and vice versa, by holding down the Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) key.

• To access the zoom tool in Enlarge mode temporarily while using another tool, press -spacebar (Mac) or Ctrl-spacebar (Windows). To access the tool in Reduce mode, press -Shift-spacebar (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift-spacebar (Windows).