Recipe 1.17. Freehand Drawing

Problem

You want to draw directly on the stage using your input device (mouse or graphics tablet).

Solution

Use the Pencil tool (Y).

Discussion

If you don't want to deal with the intrinsic constraints of the simple drawing tools (the Line, Oval, and Rectangle tools) or the painstaking perfectionism of the Pen and Subselection tools, consider the Pencil tool. When using the Pencil tool, as you drag the mouse (or stylus on a graphics tablet), Flash draws a vector path on screen.

In most vector applications, the freehand drawing tool works much better with a graphics tablet than with a mouse. However, Flash's automatic smoothing and shape recognition system is much more forgiving than those in most drawing applications. Flash has three different Pencil drawing modes: Straighten, Smooth, and Ink. The Straighten Pencil mode excels with the straight lines. If you want to draw freehand, but you want straight line segments, use the Straighten mode because it will automatically convert the paths to the nearest straight line segment approximations. Yet if you want to draw smooth paths, you will likely find that Straighten mode will yield effects counter to what you are trying to accomplish. For smooth lines, use the Smooth Pencil mode. Use Ink mode when you want to most closely represent what you have drawn. Because precision is necessary with Ink mode, it is best left to users with graphics tablets or those adept at drawing with a mouse.

The Pencil Mode option appears at the bottom of the Tools panel when you select the Pencil tool, as discussed in Recipe 1.2. Press and hold the Pencil Mode button to select from the three options. Flash uses Straighten mode by default.

As you work, you may find that you like the smoothing or straightening of the Flash Pencil tool, but the straightening or smoothing is too heavily (or too lightly) applied for your needs. You can control the degree to which Flash applies them using the Smooth Curves, Recognize Lines, and Recognize Shapes options under Edit Preferences Drawing.

The four settings for the Smooth Curves option are Off, Rough, Normal, and Smooth. The four Recognize Lines and Recognize Shapes options are Off, Strict, Normal, and Tolerant. Even when the Smooth Curves and Recognize Lines options are set to Off, Flash still smoothes paths drawn with the Pencil tool somewhat.

These Drawing Settings affect the behavior of all three Pencil modes (Smooth, Straighten, and Ink) and both Selection tool modes (Straighten and Smooth) as discussed in Recipe 1.18.

See Also

Recipe 1.18