Flash CS4 for Dummies by Ellen Finkelstein & Gurdy Leete

Author:Ellen Finkelstein & Gurdy Leete [Ellen Finkelstein & Gurdy Leete]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: General, Computers, Computer Graphics, Digital Media, Image Processing, Web, Web sites, Site Design, Internet, Web Page Design, ActionScript (Computer program language), Computer Animation, Interactive & Multimedia, Flash (Computer file), Interactive multimedia, Design, Video & Animation
ISBN: 9780470381199
Publisher: For Dummies
Published: 2008-09-26T04:00:00+00:00

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176 Part III: Getting Symbolic

8. Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) the Down frame and choose Insert Keyframe.

9. Create the graphic for the Down frame.

Repeat as in Step 7. Note that if the button functions as navigation to another page, your viewer will see this state for only a split second.

10. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) the Hit frame and choose Insert Keyframe.

11. If necessary, create the shape that defines the active area of the button.

This shape should completely cover all

the graphics of the other state. Usually, a

rectangle or circle is effective. If you

ignore the Hit frame, Flash uses the

boundary of the objects in the Up frame,

which might be what you want. Figure 8-3

shows the Timeline when a button is

completed.

Figure 8-3: When you complete

a button, all four frames are

If you use text for the button, viewers

keyframes.

have to click the letters precisely unless

you create a rectangular hit area around

the text. To cover an area of text, create a filled-in shape on a new layer.

(We explain how to create shapes in Chapter 3.)

12. Click the scene name at the upper left of the screen (or the Back arrow to the left of the scene name) to return to the regular Timeline and leave symbol-editing mode.

13. If the Library isn’t open, choose Window➪Library and drag the button symbol that you just created to wherever you want it on the Stage.

You created a button!

A button is a symbol, but when you want to place a button on the Stage, you must drag the button from the Library to create an instance of the symbol.

See Chapter 7 for a full explanation of symbols and instances.

Putting Buttons to the Test

After you create a button, you need to test it. You can choose from several methods. The fastest way to test a button is to enable it on the Stage. An enabled button responds to your mouse as you would expect — it changes as 14_381199-ch08.qxp 8/22/08 9:58 AM Page 177

Chapter 8: Pushing Buttons

177

you specified when you pass the mouse over it or click it. To enable the buttons on the Stage, choose Control➪Enable Simple Buttons. All the buttons on the Stage are now enabled. Have fun with your button! Pass the mouse over it, click it, and watch it change.

After you test your button, suppose that you want to select the button to move it. You try to click it to select it, and it only glows at you, according to the Down frame’s definition. Choose Control➪Enable Simple Buttons again to disable the buttons. Now you can select a button as you do any other object. In general, you enable buttons only to test them.

However, if you really want to select an enabled button, you can do so with the Selection tool by dragging a selection box around it. You can use the arrow keys to move the button. If you want to edit the button further, choose Window➪Properties➪Properties to open the Property inspector and edit the button’s properties, as we explain in Chapter 7.

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