Flash 101 - Part 1: The Hammer and The Chisel

Erasing Past Mistakes

To err is human - and Flash is particularly forgiving of errors. The Eraser tool lets you rub out past mistakes, and can be activated with the keyboard shortcut E.

The Eraser tool has many of the same modifiers you've just seen in the Brush tool - it allows you to erase either fills or lines, erase everything, or erase inside selected objects, leaving the rest of the image untouched. Erasing is accomplished by holding and dragging the mouse across the area you wish to erase - take a look:

You can select an eraser "brush size" as well - perfect for situations when you need precise control over what you're wiping out (didn't they use this technology in Desert Storm too?).

An interesting feature of the Eraser tool is its "faucet" modifier, which allows you to erase everything within a specific area with a single click - try it out and you'll see what I mean.

And, of course, Flash also offers an Undo tool, which allows you to revert to a previous version of your composition at any time.

Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

Now, that pretty much covers the various drawing tools available in Flash 5 - but there are a few other tools you should know about as well. For example, the Arrow and Lasso tools (keyboard: V and L respectively) both come in handy when you need to select an object, or a bunch of objects, on the Stage.

The Arrow tool allows you to select an object by clicking on it with your mouse; you can also use it to select a group of objects by click-dragging to surround them with a rectangular selection box.

The Lasso tool works in a similar manner - it allows you to select groups of objects by drawing a freehand or polygonal box around them.

The Lasso tool comes with a "polygon mode" modifier that allows you to use it in a manner similar to the Pen tool - click to set a start point for a line segment, then click to set the end point. Continue until the object(s) is(are) completely enclosed, and double-click to close the box and select the items within it.

Alternatively, you can draw a freehand box around the object(s) by dragging the Lasso tool around it(them).

If you need to view or modify control points on line segments or curves, Flash offers the Subselection tool, activated with the keyboard shortcut A.

The Subselection tool offers a simple and elegant way of making all the important control points on a line segment or curve visible so that they can be easily modified. To use it, simply click on an object on the Stage, and watch as its control points immediately become visible. You can then manipulate these control points to alter the size, shape or position of the object.

Copyright Melonfire, 2000. All rights reserved.