Tutorial > Create media
Create mediaIn addition to importing media, Flash offers a variety of tools to create high-quality graphics and text. In the completed tutorial, text appears offering background information about each selected kite. You'll create a symbol that tells customers about the inventor of the box kite.
Note: While completing the tutorial, you may find it useful to undo a change you've made. Flash can undo several of your recent changes, depending on the number of undo levels you have set in Preferences. To undo, choose Edit > Undo or press Control+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Macintosh). Conversely, you can redo what you've undone by choosing Edit > Redo or pressing Control+Y (Windows) or Command+Y (Macintosh).
1 | Choose Insert > New Symbol. |
2 | In the Symbol Properties dialog box, name the symbol box TEXT.
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3 | For Behavior, verify that Graphic is selected, then click OK. |
Flash switches to symbol-editing mode. Note that the name of the symbol you're editing appears in the upper left corner of the window. The window background remains the same shade of gray that you selected in Movie Properties. | |
4 | In the toolbox, select the Text tool. |
5 | If the Character panel is not open, choose Window > Panels > Character. |
6 | In the Font pop-up menu of the Character panel, select _sans. |
Your Flash movie will replace your font with your user's default sans serif font, such as Arial or Helvetica. | |
7 | In the Font Size pop-up menu, use the slider to select 12 pt. |
8 | Select the Bold button. |
9 | Click the color box to display the pop-up window and select white, with the hexadecimal value of # FFFFFF.
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10 | Click the Text tool anywhere on the left side of the window and type this text: The box kite was invented by an Australian, Lawrence Hargrave, in 1893. He used the kite to carry weather instruments aloft. |
Although you selected white text, it appears gray so that it will show up against the white text box. | |
11 | With the Text tool still selected, click the resizing handlethe small circle in the upper right corner of the text blockand drag it to the left so the text breaks after the word invented.
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The text wraps into several lines. Once you move the sizing handle, it changes from a circle to a square to indicate that the type block now has a defined width. | |
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Change the text block registration point
Each text block, like other elements in Flash, has a registration point that the application can use to position it. You will check the registration point of your text block to verify that it matches the registration point of the other text blocks in the movie; this ensures that all the text blocks align consistently.
1 | In the toolbox, select the Arrow tool. |
On the Stage, the text block is selected. | |
2 | To open the Info panel, choose Window > Panels > Info, or click the Info Panel button in the Launcher bar.
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3 | The Info panel contains a small grid, with a black square that indicates the registration point. If the black square is not in the upper left corner of the grid, click the upper left square to move the registration point to that position.
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4 | Enter 0 for both the X and Y coordinates, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh); then close the Info panel. |
5 | Click Scene 1 in the upper left corner of the window to return to movie-editing mode.
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In Flash, you can create different scenes using the Insert > Scene command. This tutorial uses one scene only. | |
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At any point during authoring, you can test how your movie will look and behave as a SWF file.
1 | Save your movie and choose Control > Test Movie. |
Flash exports a SWF copy of your movie. | |
2 | In the SWF file, click the Box Kite button and notice that, instead of seeing text about the box kite as expected, you see text about the rokkaku kite. Oops! You need to replace rokkaku TEXT with the correct text about the box kite. |
3 | Close the SWF file and return to the Flash authoring environment. |
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During authoring, it is common to replace one instance with another, especially when you decide to change artwork or text. Flash simplifies the process by letting you replace one instance with another while maintaining the attributes of the original instance.
1 | In the Timeline's labels layer, click the first frame of Box Red (Frame 21) to move the playhead to the section of the movie that displays information about the box kite. |
The selected frame number appears in the status display at the bottom of the Timeline.
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2 | With the Arrow tool selected, click the text instance on the Stage that reads "The rokkaku is a Japanese fighting kite ..." |
This is the text that you want to replace with the text you created about the box kite. | |
3 | If the Instance panel is not visible, choose Window > Panels > Instance. |
The Instance panel appears. | |
4 | In the Instance panel, click the Swap Symbol button.
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5 | In the Swap Symbol dialog box, double-click box TEXT in the list of symbols. |
You might need to scroll through the list to find the symbol.
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On the Stage, the new symbol replaces the previous one. Instance attributes from the previous symbol are applied to the new symbol. | |
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