Selecting Objects

Selecting Objects

Before you can edit any object on the Flash Stage, you need to select it. Flash offers many ways to select objects.

1. Selecting with the Selection tool

To select an object, click the Selection tool (the dark-colored arrow in the Tools panel) and click the object.

If the object doesn’t have an outline and is just a fill, click the object with the Selection tool, and it’s selected.

If the object has an outline and a fill, click on the fill to select only the fill. The outline remains deselected. To select both the fill and the outline, double-click on the fill.

To select the entire object, you can use the Selection tool to create a selection box. Click at one corner and drag to an opposite corner, making sure that the bounding box completely encloses the object or objects that you want to select.

To select just an outline, click the outline with the Selection tool.

If the outline is made up of several objects, double-click it to select the entire outline.

To select several unconnected objects, select one object, then press and hold the Shift key, and select additional objects. When you press Shift key, you can add to already selected objects and select as many objects as you want.

To deselect all selected objects, click any blank area. If you selected several objects and want to deselect one object, press Shift and click that object.

2. Selecting with Lasso tool

(1) Freehand selection

The Lasso tool is used for selecting objects by drawing a freehand selection area. To use the Lasso Tool follow these steps.

1. Click the Lass Tool on the Tools panel.

2. To lasso freehand, make sure that the Polygon Mode modifier (in the Options section of the Tools panel) is not selected.

3. Click anywhere on the Stage and drag around the objects that you want to select. Flash creates a selection area while you drag. Release the mouse button close to where you started it to close the lasso’s loop.

(2) Point-to-point selection

The Lasso Tool can also be used to create point-to-point selection of objects. To create such selection, follow these steps.

1. Click the Lasso Tool on the toolbox.

2. Click the Polygon Mode modifier from the Options area.

3. Click on the stage at a point from where you want to start the selection.

4. Continue click on the stage to form the outline around the objects that are to be selected.

5. Double-click to close the selection.