Flash Web Design oder: the art of motion graphics

Now that the horizontal guides are completed, we're ready to make the vertical guides.

1. Paste the vertical line currently on the clipboard by choosing Ctrl-V / Cmd-V.

   The new line overlaps the existing center line temporarily, but you'll turn it horizontally in the next step.

2. Select Modify > Transform > Scale and Rotateor use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Alt-S / Cmd-Option-S.

3. In the Scale and Rotate dialog, enter 90 in the Scale field and click OK.

   The line rotates to a horizontal position; however, because it is 400 pixels long and the stage is 550 pixels wide, you need to extend its size . (see figure 02:09).

   Figure 02:09.

4. In the Object Inspector, check the Use Center Point option and change the w (width) field to 550. Click Apply when you're ready.

   With the Use Center Point option enabled, the line grows from the center.

5. Duplicate the horizontal line by pressing Ctrl-D / Cmd-D.

6. With the Object Inspector, deselect the Use Center Point option and move the new line to near the top by changing the x value to and the y to 10.

   One more guide line and you're done.

7. Duplicate this line and, in the Object Inspector, enter in the x field and 390 in the y (10 pixels fewer than the height of the stage, 400).

Now we have a fully defined guide system (see figure 02:10) that we can use to keep the movie action within set margins and working off a center point. The guides will not export and can be turned off at any time by selecting the Eye symbol in the Guide layer.