Recipe 7.10. Superscripting and Subscripting Characters

Problem

You want to change a character so that it is superscripted or subscripted.

Solution

Select the character or characters using the Text tool, and choose either Subscript or Superscript from the character position menu in the Property inspector.

Discussion

Flash allows you to superscript characters (as in mc²) and subscript characters (as in x₀) in your text fields easily. First, select the text you want to superscript or subscript using the Text tool. Then, use the character position menu in the Property inspector to select either superscript or subscript.

Flash subscripts and superscripts don't have any additional settings that allow you to specify the number of points or pixels by which you want them to appear above or below the regular text. You can adjust the font size for subscripted and superscripted fonts, but if you do so you will notice that the placement relative to the other characters may appear "off." If you want to have more control over the placement and size of subscripted and subscripted text, you should create that text within separate text fields that you can overlay on top of the rest of your text. In order to add the correct spacing into the regular text (in order to accommodate the subscripted and superscripted text you are overlaying), you can adjust the kerning values for individual characters.

Alternatively, you can create superscripted or subscripted text using another program such as Freehand or Illustrator, and then import that content into your Flash movie.