Objects will scale based on their registration point.
If your object has its registration point at (0,0) you can scale it by
dragging the bottom-right corner or the right or bottom sides.
If, on the other hard, your object is centered on the registration
point, it will scale in all directions.
Once you understand that that little cross you see when you select the
object actually means something, you'll understand how it scales.
If you want more control over how an object scales on the stage, you can
drag the little dot that appears in scaling mode to reposition the
point around which the object is scaled.
It's actually very logical and very flexible...
[quoted text, click to view] sifupeter wrote:
> Is it me or is the scaling tool in Flash completely unpredictable? For example,
> I grab a handle on one side of a rectangular object and drag to extend make it
> longer, sometimes the object grows on both sides. Other times I grab it and
> scale it and the object grows and also moves. Once in a while I can grab one
> side and extend the rectangle just with that one side, which is the behavior I
> expect in the first place, but never seem to get when I need it. WTF? I am
> trying to like drawing in Flash, but it is mostly just pissing me off.
Free transform tool, among other things, is scaling.
you can scale with it - so not understanding your comment:
"...I am using the "Free Transform" tool , not scaling..."
Provide a screenshot of what you are doing? there is no detailed instructions for scaling something
other than to use the scale and rotate feature (Ctrl + Alt + S) or the transfrom panel or the Free
Transform tool - 3 different ways to do this - if you want longer or shorter in any direction use
free transform tool and grab either the handle on any of the sides of the object (just not the
corners as that will scale proportionally - constrained if Shift is selected while dragging).
Chris Georgenes
Animator
http://www.mudbubble.com http://www.keyframer.com Adobe Community Expert
*\^^/*
(OO)
<---->
[quoted text, click to view] sifupeter wrote:
> "Paying attention" to the center point hasn't helped me either, do you have any
> more detailed advice? Like where should the center point be in order to allow
> me to simply resize the object by grabbing one side of it and dragging? BTW, I
> am using the "Free Transform" tool , not scaling, so maybe the center point is
> not the issue? I don't want proportional scaling, I just want to make it longer
> or shorter in one direction.
"Paying attention" to the center point hasn't helped me either, do you have any
more detailed advice? Like where should the center point be in order to allow
me to simply resize the object by grabbing one side of it and dragging? BTW, I
am using the "Free Transform" tool , not scaling, so maybe the center point is
not the issue? I don't want proportional scaling, I just want to make it longer
or shorter in one direction.
Drawing and editing in Flash works a bit different than other applications that
you may be used to like Illustrator, InDesign or Quark. Trust me... I'm from a
print background and it's really frustrating but if you stick with it, you'll
get used to it. Or... maybe they'll implement some of the other Adobe program
functionality into the next version.
In the meantime, get used to using your ALT(Windows) or OPTION(Mac) key to
toggle between resizing from the center or from the center point. I like to
center my symbol when I create it using the align palette unless I specifically
need to line it up to a side or corner in the main timeline. I'm pretty sure
the default alignment is top, left when making a new symbol.
Is this what you mean?
Yes, thanks to both of you. It helps a little to know that some of what I've
learned for Illustrator and Photoshop is useless for Flash. Not sure what the
difference is between resizing from the center or from the center point. It
appears to me that the default for the center point is the center, and then I
have to move the center point to the edge to get the object to resize in one
direction only.
Don't see what you're looking for? Try a search.
