Distributing Graphic Elements to Layers

As you draw elements for your movie, you may not always remember to create a new layer for each one. Using the Cut and Paste in Place commands can be tedious. Flash's Distribute to Layers feature automates the process, putting each element of a selection on a separate layer. This feature comes in handy when you start creating a type of animation called motion tweening, in which each element being animated must be on its own layer. (You'll learn more about motion tweening in Chapter 9.)

To place selected elements on individual layers

1.	Open a new document, and, on the Stage, create several separate shapes on a single layer.
2.	Choose Edit > Select All. Flash highlights all the shapes.
3.	Choose Modify > Timeline > Distribute to Layers, or press Shift--D (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift-D (Windows) (Figure 6.26). Figure 6.26. Selecting elements on the Stage and choosing Modify > Timeline > Distribute to Layers automatically cuts each element and pastes it in place in a new layer. The new layers follow the order in which you placed the elements on the Stage originally. In this series of numbers, the numeral 1 was drawn first, so it winds up at the top of the section of new layers. Flash creates a layer for each shape and adds the new layers to the bottom of the Timeline. Each shape winds up in the same location on the Stage, but on a separate layer.

Tips

• Distribute to Layers works with selected graphic-objects (text boxes, drawing-objects, groups, and symbols) as well as with selected raw shapes. (You learn about symbols in Chapter 7.) Flash distributes each selected graphic-object to its own layer; the various elements of the drawing-object, group, or symbol remain joined.

• When you use Distribute to Layers, any unselected elements remain on their original layer. Only the selected shapes move to new layers.