Recipe 1.15. Drawing Complex Lines and Shapes

Problem

You want to draw a line or shape, comprising any combination of straight and curved line segments.

Solution

Use the Pen (P) tool.

Discussion

The Pen tool, also found in the Tools panel, is used to plot the points that make up a line or shape. The Pen tool can create straight or curved line segments.

To draw lines or shapes made of straight line segments, as discussed in Recipe 1.1, click with the mouse to add points, and Flash will connect them with straight line segments. To add curvature to the lines as you draw, rather than pressing and releasing immediately with the mouse, press and drag to create a new point and drag out control points, which control the curvature of line segments adjacent to the point. When you release, the curve is set, and continued clicking or dragging will create new points.

To close the path, click again on the first point in the path (or any point in between). To leave a path unclosed, double-click when adding the last point. After closing a shape or double-clicking with the Pen tool, clicking the mouse on the stage again starts a new path. If you forget to double-click when adding the last end point, you can click a second time on the end point or you can switch to a different tool instead; when you switch back to the Pen tool, Flash also starts a new path.

Mastering the Pen tool takes practice; however, it is the most precise and flexible drawing tool that Flash offers. Bear in mind that you can modify any part of a path, including the location of points and the curvature of the adjacent line segments, in the future.

The Pen tool is one of several ways to create complex shapes. You can also build complex shapes from primitive shapes, as shown in Recipe 1.14, and use the Pencil tool, as shown in Recipe 1.17. You can also combine these approaches. For example, you can rough out the path using the Pencil tool or the Pen tool in simple connect-the-dots fashion, and after the path is created, go back and add/modify the curves in a second pass, as shown in Recipe 1.3.

See Also

Recipe 1.16, Recipe 1.3