| Flash gives you several ways to resize, or scale, graphic elements. You can scale selected elements interactively on the Stage. You can also set specific scale percentages or dimensions for your element in the Transform panel, the Properties tab of the Property inspector, and the Info panel. To resize a graphic element interactively 1. | In the Tools panel, select the free-transform tool (Figure 4.15). Figure 4.15. The free-transform tool enables you to select and scale elements interactively. | 2. | On the Stage, click the element you want to resize. Flash selects and highlights the element and places transformation handles on all four sides and at the corners of the element's bounding box. | 3. | In the Tools panel, choose the Scale modifier. | 4. | Position the pointer over a handle. The pointer changes to a double-headed arrow, indicating the direction in which the element will grow or shrink as you pull or push on the handles. | 5. | To resize the graphic element, do one of the following: - To change the graphic element's width, click and drag one of the side handles.
- To change the element's height, click and drag the top or bottom handle.
- To change the size of the element proportionally, click and drag one of the corner handles.
Dragging toward the center of the element reduces it; dragging away enlarges it (Figure 4.16). Figure 4.16. Activating the free-transform tool's Scale modifier places a set of handles around a selected element. Click and drag the handles to change the size of the element. |
Tips If you have made a selection with the selection tool, you can activate transformational handles for the selection by choosing Modify > Transform > Scale. Flash chooses the free-transform tool and its Scale modifier in the Tools panel. In the default scaling mode, the selection scales graphic elements from the control point opposite the one you're dragging. To scale relative to the center of a selection, hold down the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) as you drag. Both handles move away from the center of the selection as you drag. For symbols (see Chapter 7), it's the reverse: the default mode scales the symbol from its transformation point (which is the center by default) and pressing the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) lets you scale from the opposite control point. Don't use the subselection tool to select an element by its path when you want to scale it. Choosing the free-transform tool automatically deselects the selected path.
To resize an element by using the Transform panel 1. | With the Transform panel open, on the Stage, select the element you want to resize. A value of 100% appears in the Width and Height fields of the Transform panel. | 2. | To resize the element, do either of the following: - To resize proportionally, select the Constrain check box next to the Width and Height fields, and enter a new value in either field (Figure 4.17). As you enter the value in one field, Flash automatically updates the other field.
Figure 4.17. Enter new values in the Transform panel's Width and Height fields to resize an element. (The transform panel also lets you enter values for scaling, rotating, and skewing selected elements). or - To allow the aspect ratio to change, in the Transform panel, deselect the Constrain check box; enter new percentages in the Width field and Height field.
A value less than 100% shrinks the element; a value greater than 100% enlarges the element. | 3. | Press Enter. Flash resizes the element. |
Tips As long as a shape remains selected on the Stage, the Transform panel resizes the shape on an absolute scale (always applying the percentage you enter into the panel to the element's original size). To make changes on a relative scalefor example, to shrink the shape to 50 percent and then shrink the shrunken shape to 20 percentyou must deselect the element after the first transformation and then select it again and enter the percentage for the second transformation. To scale several elements at the same time, select all the elements and then use any of the scaling methods described earlier in this section. The bounding box that contains the elements scales relative to its center point, and the entire selection grows or shrinks to fit the new box. To undo a Transform panel's transformation quickly, click the Reset button in the bottom-right corner of the Transform panel or press Ctrl-Shift-Z (Windows) or Shift--Z (Mac). For merge-shapes, you must not have deselected the element; for drawing-objects, text boxes (see Chapter 3), groups (see Chapter 5), and symbols (see Chapter 7), you can select the object and click Reset in the Transform panel at any time to restore the item to 100% size. To transform a copy of the element, click the Copy and Apply Transform button in the Transform panel. This feature can be tricky if you use it with merge-shapes, because Flash doesn't offset the copy it makes. You must be sure to move the copy yourself before deselecting it. The Transform panel always resizes drawing-objects, text boxes, groups (see Chapter 5), and symbols (see Chapter 7) on an absolute scale. If you deselect the resized item, then select it again, you still see the new values for width and height. You can also enter specific width and height values for a selected element in the (Shape) Properties tab of the Property inspector (Figure 4.18) and the Info panel (Figure 4.19). To constrain proportions in the Properties tab of the Property inspector, click the lock button to the left of the Width and Height fields. (The lock button settings on the Property inspector and the Transform panel work in synch; changing one panel's lock button also changes the other's.) Figure 4.18. The Properties tab of the Property inspector displays the width and height of the bounding box of a selected element. Enter new values to resize the element. Figure 4.19. You can enter precise dimensions for an element's width and height in the Info panel. The coordinate grid shows whether changes will be relative to the transformation point or to the top-left corner of the element's bounding box. To apply the values you entered in the panel to the selected graphic element, click the Stage or press Enter. The Info panel lets you change the element's size relative to the top-left corner of its bounding box or relative to the element's transformation point. (For graphic-objects, the transformation point is always the center of the object, you can set the point's location for symbols, see Chapter 7.) Click the upper-left corner on the coordinate grid in the Info panel to transform in relation to that corner of the element; click the center of the grid to transform in relation to the element's transformation point. The Info panel's coordinate grid setting persists and applies to each element you select on the Stage, whether the panel is open or not. If you use the Property inspector to enter new height and/or width values for an element, and it resizes from the corner when you wanted the center, open the Info panel and change the coordinate grid setting.
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