The Align Panel in Flash MX
by
Hugh Lafferty
F:\NieSite\Flash\FlashMX\TheAlignPanel.doc
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Table of Contents
1.
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
2.
THE ALIGN SET ........................................................................................................................... 1
3.
THE SPACE SET ........................................................................................................................... 5
4.
THE MATCH SET ......................................................................................................................... 5
5.
THE DISTRIBUTE SET................................................................................................................ 6
6.
SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 6
7.
RESOURCES .................................................................................................................................. 6
7.1.
7.2.
8.
BOOKS ....................................................................................................................................... 6
WEB-SITES ................................................................................................................................ 6
SELF TEST .................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
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1. Introduction
The Align Panel is a very handy set of tools for aligning multiple objects on the stage. The tools are
arranged into 4 sets a) Align b) Distribute c) Match Size and d) Space
The Instructor will demonstrate Activities 1..n and then allow you to do Activities 1..n on your own
2. The Align set
ACTIVITY 1. Open the Align Panel from Window-->Align
a) Toggle the To Stage button
The significance of this if To Stage is on then the commands refer to the stage. For example, if you
group a number of objects and then choose Align top, it will align all the tops of the objecst and put
them at the top of the stage.
b) Hover over each of the buttons to get a feel for what this panel provides
ACTIVITY 2. Set up a number of shapes
ACTIVITY 3. Select all the shapes
You should be able to do this in at least two ways.
i) Edit-->Select all (or Ctrl+A). NOTE. Most people remember Ctrl+A
or
ii) Select the shapes one-by-one using the shift key and DOUBLE CLICKING each shape.
Remind yourself what the difference between single-clicking and double clicking a shape is.
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ACTIVITY 4. With all shapes chosen and To Stage off, choose Align top edge and click
Undo that (Ctrl+Z), and put on To Stage, and then Align top edge and you will see that the shapes
are aligned both to their top edges and to the top of the stage.
The grroup os still chosen, so, you can easily move the whole group about.
From that set of Activities you should have learnt
If you use Align top edge to a group of shapes, then the shapes are moved to the highest
one, and then moved to the top of the screen if is To Stage on.
As revision, you should have reminded yourself about 2 ways of selecting shapes.
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ACTIVITY 5. On your own you should now experiment with
Align vertical center and Align bottom edge
a) Align vertical center
b) Align bottom edge
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ACTIVITY 6. On your own you should now experiment with the rest of the Align set.
Align left edge
Move the shapes to be above one another and then choose Align left edge, then Align horizontal
center, then Align right edge.
After Align left edge
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After Align horizontal center
The Align Panel
After Align right edge.
4
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3. The Space set
ACTIVITY 7. On your own you should experiment with a) Space evenly vertically and b) Space
evenly horizontally
After Space evenly vertically
After Space evenly horizontally
(after repositioning the shapes and aligning along bottom
edge)
4. The Match set
ACTIVITY 8. On your own you should experiment with a) Match width b) Match height c)
Match width and height
After Match width
Match width and height
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5. The Distribute set
HELP. I do not understand this set. I do not know what 'distribute' means. How is it different to the
space tools?
6. Summary
The Align Panel allows multiple shapes to be aligned.
7. Resources
7.1.
Books
"Flash MX Bible" by Robert Reinhardt and Snow Dowd. Published by Wiley Publishing 2002.
ISBN0-7645-3656-7. Price £34.99 (+PP) from amazon Sept. 2002.
7.2.
Web-sites
1. flashkit.com
2. macromedia.com
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