Modifying Symbol Instances


You can change the appearance of individual symbol instances without changing the master symbol itself. As with any other element, you can resize and reposition an instance (for example, scale and rotate it) by using the tools in the Tools panel, panels, and the Properties tab of the Property inspector (see Chapter 4).

You can also change a symbol instance's color and transparency, but the method differs from the methods you've learned for assigning colors to merge-shapes and drawing-objects. You modify the color, intensity, and transparency of a symbol instance via the Color menu in the Properties tab of the Property inspector.

To change an instance's brightness

1.

On the Stage, select the symbol instance you want to modify.

2.

Access the Properties tab of the Properties inspector.

Settings for the symbol instance appear.

3.

From the Color menu, choose Brightness.

A field for entering a new brightness percentage appears (Figure 7.21).

Figure 7.21. Use the Brightness settings in the Color section of the Properties tab to change the intensity of a symbol instance. Enter a high value to make the symbol instance lighter or a low value to make it darker.


4.

Enter a value in the Brightness field.

A value of 100 makes the symbol black; a value of 0 leaves the symbol at its original brightness; a value of 100 makes the symbol white (Figure 7.22).

Figure 7.22. At its extremes, the Brightness setting lets you turn a symbol instance completely black or completely white.


5.

Press Enter.

Flash applies the brightness setting to the selected symbol on the Stage.

To change the instance's color

1.

On the Stage, select the symbol instance you want to modify.

2.

In the Properties tab of the Property inspector, from the Color menu, choose Tint.

Tint settings appear (Figure 7.23).

Figure 7.23. Use the Tint settings in the Color section of the Properties tab to change the color of a symbol instance.


3.

To choose a new color, do either of the following:

  • In the Red, Green, and Blue fields, enter new RGB values.

  • Click the Tint Color control, and choose a color from the pop-up swatch set.

4.

Type a percentage in the Tint Amount field.

The tint percentage indicates how much of the new color to blend with the existing colors. Applying a tint of 100 percent changes all the lines and fills in the symbol to the new color. Applying a lesser percentage mixes some of the new color with the existing colors in the symbol. It's almost like placing a transparent film of the new color over the symbol.

5.

Press Enter.

Flash applies the tint settings to the selected symbol on the Stage.

To change the instance's transparency

1.

On the Stage, select the symbol instance you want to modify.

2.

In the Properties tab of the Property inspector, from the Color menu, choose Alpha (Figure 7.24).

Figure 7.24. Use the Alpha settings in the Color section of the Properties tab to change the transparency of a symbol instance.


3.

Enter a new value in the Alpha field.

A value of 0 makes the symbol completely transparent; a value of 100 makes the symbol completely opaque.

4.

Press Enter.

Flash applies the alpha setting to the selected symbol on the Stage.

To change the instance's tint and alpha simultaneously

1.

On the Stage, select the symbol instance you want to modify.

2.

In the Properties tab of the Property inspector, from the Color menu, choose Advanced.

A Settings button appears to the right of the menu.

3.

Click the Settings button.

The Advanced Effect dialog appears (Figure 7.25). This dialog contains sliders and text boxes for changing red, green, blue, and alpha values.

Figure 7.25. Click the Advanced Settings button in the Properties tab (top) to access the Advanced Effect dialog (bottom). Enter new values to change the color and transparency of a symbol instance.


4.

Adjust the values to fine-tune the color and transparency of the symbol instance.

5.

To apply the color effect, click OK.

The Mystery of Advanced Effect Settings

The Advanced Effect settings allow you to change the RGB values and alpha values for a symbol instance simultaneously. The sliders in the left-hand column control what percentage of the RGB and alpha values that make up the colors in the original symbol appear in the symbol instance. The sliders on the right add to or subtract from the red, green, blue, and alpha values of the original colors.

Imagine a symbol with three ovals. One is pure red, one is pure green, and one is pure blue. The alpha setting is 50 percent. Changing the red slider in the left-hand column (the percentage of the current red value) affects only the red oval. The green and blue ovals contain 0 percent red; doubling the value makes no visible change. Moving the right-hand slider upwards adds red to everything, including the green and blue ovals. These ovals start to change color when you increase the red value. (If you move the right-hand slider downward, decreasing the red value, you'll see no difference in the green and blue ovals where there was no red to begin with.)


Tips

  • Instead of pressing Enter to confirm a value you enter in one of the fields on the Properties tab of the Property inspector, you can click elsewhere in the Properties tab or click the Stage.

  • To preview new color values interactively, click and drag the triangle to the right of an entry field. Flash updates the symbol on the Stage as you drag the slider lever. When you release the slider, Flash confirms the change; you don't need to press Enter.

  • You can change the transformation point of individual symbol instances. Using the free-transform tool, click the small white circle in the middle of the symbol instance. Drag the circle to a new location. Flash uses the transformation point for rotating and scaling the symbol.

  • When you use the free-transform tool to scale a symbol instance, it scales in relation to the instance's transformation point (by default, the center of the symbol instance). Hold down the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) to scale relative to the corner diagonally opposite the one you're dragging.


Timeline Effects: A Dubious Source of Symbols

Flash's Timeline Effects commands (found in the Insert menu) are Macromedia's attempt to help less-experienced Flash users create a few common special effects and simple animations. If you use Timeline Effects, Flash creates symbols for you (some are static symbols, such as the ones described in this chapter; others are animated symbols, which are described in Chapter 11). You should not reuse or modify timeline-effects symbols according to the methods described in this chapter; doing so risks interfering with the effect. If you attempt to edit such symbols, you'll see a warning dialog; if you attempt to reuse such symbols, however, you won't be warned. In general, Timeline Effects are not a good option for creating animation and effects in Flash. For a brief description of how Timeline Effects work, see the sidebar "A Note About Timeline Effects," in Chapter 11.





Macromedia Flash 8 for Windows & Macintosh Visual QuickStart Guide
Macromedia Flash 8 for Windows & Macintosh
ISBN: 0321349636
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 204

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