Adobe Flash Professional CS3 - Manual (Page 166)

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Chapter 6: Drawing
The drawing tools in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional let you create and modify shapes for the artwork in your
documents.
Before you draw and paint in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional, it is important to understand how Adobe® Flash® CS3
Professional creates artwork, how drawing tools work, and how drawing, painting, and modifying shapes can affect
other shapes on the same layer.
Drawing Basics
About drawing
The drawing tools in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional let you create and modify shapes for the artwork in your
documents.
For a text tutorial about drawing, see “Draw in Flash” on the Flash Tutorials page at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials .
For a video tutorial about drawing, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0119 .
About vector and bitmap graphics
Computers display graphics in either vector or bitmap format. Understanding the difference between the two
formats helps you work more efficiently. Using Flash, you can create and animate compact vector graphics. Flash also
imports and manipulates vector and bitmap graphics that were created in other applications.
Vector graphics
Vector graphics describe images by using lines and curves, called vectors, that also include color and position
properties. For example, the image of a leaf is described by points through which lines pass, creating the leaf ’s outline.
The color of the leaf is determined by the color of the outline and the color of the area enclosed by the outline.
Lines in vector art
When you edit a vector graphic, you modify the properties of the lines and curves that describe its shape. Move,
resize, reshape, and change the color of a vector graphic without changing the quality of its appearance. Vector
graphics are resolution independent; that is, they can be displayed on output devices of varying resolutions without
losing any quality.