Recipe 1.21. Selecting a Shape and Changing Its Attributes

Problem

You want to select a shape and change its fill color.

Solution

Click the fill with the Selection tool.

Discussion

In Flash, fills are associated with shapes, so if you want to change a fill, you need to select its shape. To select a fill, click it with the Selection tool. You can then change its attributes using the Property inspector, the Colors area in the Tools panel, or the Color Mixer panel.

You can also delete a selected shape and fill by pressing the Delete key. If the shape has a stroke, the line surrounding the shape and its stroke remain. Otherwise, the entire shape is deleted.

Note that the fill can be selected separately from the line in which it is contained. That is, if you have a shape with both a stroke and a fill, it is possible to select the shape/fill without selecting the line/stroke surrounding it. Doing so enables you to delete the fill while retaining the closed line and stroke, or separate a shape/fill from its line/stroke.

To select an entire shape that contains both a stroke and a fill, double-click the fill. The shape/fill and line/stroke are both selected.

See Also

Recipe 1.3