How to Draw in Flash

One of the most interesting (and often overlooked) applications for the Adobe Flash program is drawing. You can make anything from cartoon figures to intricate illustrations. The advantage to using its internal tools is that it will be a small file size within your shockwave exports, since it is already vector. Furthermore, you will find that the tools are intuitive and easy to use.

• Save often. There's nothing worse than working on a complicated section of your work and losing it.

• If you are working on a complex image, you may want to turn on outlines in a layer. It reduces the clutter while allowing you to still see the structure. To use this feature, simply click the hollow box icon on the layer in question.

• To hide a layer completely, hit the dot that lines up with the eye icon on the one you want hidden.

• If you want to export a bitmap of your graphic, go to Export -> Export Image. In the dialog box, just enter whatever size you need. Extremely large sizes can take a little while to save.

• If you find your Bezier nodes instantly snapping when working in a small detail area, turn it off in View -> Snapping.

This how to is suitable for all skill levels, and you should be able to complete it in 30 minutes to one hour depending on your artistic skill. All that is required is a general knowledge of Flash's tool set. Although the drawing process may seem foreign at first, you will find that it is easy to catch on to after only a few tries. Don't become intimidated by the animation timeline. For this tutorial, you will only use it to create work layers.

If you have never taken a pen and paper drawing class before, you may find it difficult to start your drawing off without some form of reference. This is even more apparent when reproducing human figures or complex real world objects such as cars. Your first option is to use photographs. This works exceptionally well for technical drawings. However, if you are working on a fantasy alien for example, you may need to draw your creation on paper first and scan it in. A final choice is to use a 3D program such as Poser or DAZ Studio to create a mannequin that can be posed in any manner you need. These programs can export a bitmap that can be brought into Flash like any other image.

• Importing an image:

1. Type Ctrl + R to import your image to the stage. (Say no if it asks to import a sequence, since you aren't making a movie.)
2. With the picture selected, click F8 to turn it into a moveclip.
3. In the property window, pick Alpha from the Color dropdown menu. Change it to 50 %.
4. Rename the layer ref. To change the name, just double click the text and type your new wording.
5. Lock this layer by clicking the dot that corresponds with the lock icon on the interface. This insures that the image won't be moved by mistake.

With shape manipulation, you will use items like circles and squares to make all your foundations. Then, you will add points to mold the basic shape into an elaborate one. In this example, an eye will be constructed.

1. Add a new layer above ref. (Pick the small paper icon in the bottom left corner of the timeline interface.) Name the layer sclera.
2. To activate the circle tool, use the shortcut O.
3. Draw a black circle over the reference eye.
4. Now, you'll want to turn the layer into outlines so that you can see your graphic underneath. Click the hollow rectangle on the sclera layer.
5. With the selection tool active (Hit shortcut V), hover your mouse near the edge of the shape. You should see an arc icon above your cursor. This lets you know that you can alter the curve. Simply click and drag the curve to move it to match your guide picture.
6. Once you have your shape, copy it with Crtl + C. Create a new temporary layer and paste in place with shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V.
7. With it still active, change the color to white by clicking the color next to the bucket on the side toolbar.
8. Then, scale it 90% with Ctrl + Alt + S . Move it around until it looks like the white of an eye with an angled black line around it.
9. Cut the shape with Ctrl + X. Paste it in place on the sclera layer. The black and white shapes are now merged. If you were to delete the white, it would leave a cut out in the black.
10. Turn off outlines then select both circles and make them a moveclip with F8. Name it scleraMC.

Let's see how you can make a more complicated shape with this method.

1. Repeat steps 1 through 5 from above. But this time, you will trace the lash line. Name your new layer lashes and drag it below sclera.
2. As you can see, you need to add points to the circle. This time when you hover your cursor near the edge, hold down Ctrl and click. You've created a new point. Drag this to a corner of the lash.
3. Continue adding points and moving them to match the lash on the reference image.
4. Now, you can click and drag sections of the curve to smooth it out along the contours.
5. If you need even more direct control over a point, you can use the subselection tool. Hit shortcut A. With this tool, you can directly manipulate the Bezier curve handles.
6. After you have what you like, turn it into a movieclip named lashesMC.

You continue this process with the iris and pupil of the eye. Then, select all the eye movieclips and make them into one large movieclip together named wholeEye.

If you feel more comfortable drawing and painting like you would with traditional mediums, the brush tool method may be the right fit for you. In this technique, you use the pressure sensitive brush tool like a real paintbrush. To do this effectively, you have to use a graphics tablet that can register various levels of pen pressure.

1. Activate the brush tool by clicking B.
2. At the bottom of the side toolbar, there's a icon that looks like an angled ink drop. Pick this to turn on pressure sensitivity.
3. The boxes above this let you change the brush size and tip shape.
4. Once you have what you want, you draw in your image following along your guide beneath. Note that these strokes are not lines. They are still shapes just like any other shape in Flash. Once shapes touch each other, they merge into one. If you lay a different color on them, that color will make a cutout if moved. Likewise, you can use the subselection tool to tweak the Bezier nodes.

Often it is more advantageous to use a combination of all the techniques to complete a project in the most efficient way. To use the eye as an example, it would be easier to make lashes with finer detail with the brush tool method. If I were making a technical drawing, I would want to lay the frame down with the pen tool or use the shape method to get more precision than the brush can give. Of course, the brush tool is excellent when you want to replicate a free form, hand drawn style.