ptg 210 Chapter 6 When you export a Flash movie, you can decide how much color infor- mation to include in each exported bitmap. This is called compression. The more compression you apply, the less color information is included and the lower the size and quality of the image. Lossy compression reduces the file size by removing color information, while lossless com- pression reduces the file size (not as much) without removing informa- tion. You can choose to set a global compression for all bitmap files used in a Flash movie or you can set a separate compression for each image. As with all image compression, file size needs to be weighed against image quality. It is always best to experiment until you get the results you want. Setting Bitmap Compression Set Compression for a Bitmap Open the Library panel. Select the bitmap from the Library item list in which you want to set compression. Click the Properties icon in the bottom of the panel or double-click the bitmap file in the list. Select the Allow Smoothing check box to anti-alias the edges of the image, making it appear smoother. Click the Compression popup, and then select from the following options: ◆ Lossless (PNG/GIF). Compresses the image without losing any information; remains in its highest quality. ◆ Photo (JPEG). You can choose to use the compression information contained by selecting the Use Document Default Quality check box. By deselecting this feature you can set the level of JPEG compression applied to the bitmap. The values are 1-100. The higher the number, the less compression applied, producing a higher quality image. Click OK. 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 6 5 4 Thumbnail preview Click to test and preview the image in thumbnail. 1 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 6 Importing Graphics 211 By default, when you import a bitmap into Flash and drag it to the Stage, you are limited in how you can edit it. Break Apart the image to remove the image from its bounding box and enable you to cut into the image, remove parts, select regions, and use it as a fill pattern. The bitmap is still linked to its parent in the Library. Any edit made to a bitmap only affects the copy on the Stage. For example, if you break an image and then edit it down to a tiny portion, in the exported movie the image appears exactly as you edited it. However, it will still have the same file size of the image you imported (less any compression you may have applied). It is always best to do your most severe editing in a bitmap or paint program outside of Flash. Using Break Apart to Create Fill Patterns Create a Bitmap Fill Pattern Drag a copy of a bitmap to the Stage from the Library panel; make sure the bitmap is selected on the Stage. Click the Modify menu, and then click Break Apart. TIMESAVER Press A +B (Mac) and Ctrl+B (Win) to quickly break apart a bitmap on the Stage. Click the Eyedropper tool on the Tools panel. Position the eyedropper over the image, and then click to select it. The bitmap is a selected fill that you can use to fill vector shapes. Click the Rectangle or Oval tool on the Tools panel. Click and drag on the Stage to create a new shape with the bitmap fill. 6 5 4 3 2 1 3 4 6 5 Bitmap becomes the selected fill. Did You Know? You can select the bitmap fill in the Color Mixer panel. In the panel, click Bitmap from the Fill Style popup, and then select a thumbnail fill (bitmaps from the Library appear). From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 212 Chapter 6 Flash defaults to tiling a bitmap fill. Tiling is simply when an image is repeated in a grid until it fills the entire object. If you have applied a bitmap fill to a vector object, you can continue to edit its characteris- tics and placement. You can resize, skew, or rotate the fill or change its center point within the shape with the Gradient Transform tool. This tool allows you to dynamically make these changes when it is applied to any editable shape. As with most of the assets Flash stores in the Library, any change you make to the application of the fill does not affect the master object stored in the Library. In this way, bitmaps like video clips and sounds, behave similarly to symbols in that their master object is not affected. Although when you use a bitmap in your movie Flash refers to this as a copy, not an instance, because there are no built-in controls for bitmaps. Modifying a Bitmap Fill Change the Center Point Create a shape on the Stage with a bitmap fill. Click the Gradient Transform tool on the Tools panel. The pointer changes to an arrow with a small gradient box in the right-hand corner. TIMESAVER Press F to quickly select the Gradient Transform tool. Click the shape to select it. A bounding box appears on the tile. Position the pointer over the white circle in the center of the bounding box. The cursor becomes a Move icon. Click and drag the center point to a new position. The tile accommodates to the new position of the center point. 5 4 3 2 1 4 Bitmap fill in new location 1 Bounding box 5 2 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 6 Importing Graphics 213 Modify the Orientation and Size of a Bitmap Fill Create a shape on the Stage with a bitmap fill. Click the Gradient Transform tool on the Tools panel. The pointer changes to an arrow with a small gradient box in the right-hand corner. Position the pointer over the shape, and then select it. A bounding box appears on the tile. Do one of the following: ◆ Bottom-left-corner square. Drag this to resize the fill proportionally. ◆ Left-center square. Drag this to resize width of fill. ◆ Bottom-center square. Drag this to resize height of fill. ◆ Top-right-corner circle. Drag this to rotate fill. ◆ Top-center circle. Drag this to skew fill horizontally. ◆ Right-center circle. Drag this to skew fill vertically. 4 3 2 1 2 3 Resize proportionally Resize width Resize height Rotate Skew horizontally Skew vertically Circle handle Square handle Samples of various fills From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 214 Chapter 6 When you use Break Apart on a bitmap, the bitmap becomes a fill and its content is editable. You can select specific regions of it with any of Flash's selection tools and procedures. If you want to remove parts of the bitmap or replace them with different fills you can select those parts with the Magic Wand tool. The Magic Wand tool selects regions of similar colors. Clicking on other parts adds those parts to the selec- tion. The color threshold (or sensitivity) for this tool can be set in the Magic Wand options popup menu. Editing a Bitmap with the Magic Wand Use the Magic Wand Select a bitmap on the Stage. Click the Modify menu, and then click Break Apart. TIMESAVER Press A +B (Mac) or Ctrl+B (Win) to quickly break apart a bitmap on the Stage. Click on the Stage to deselect the broken bitmap. Click the Lasso tool on the Tools panel. Click the Magic Wand Mode button in the Options section of the Tools panel. The pointer becomes a small magic wand. Position the pointer over regions of the image you want to select. The color region you clicked on is selected. Subsequent clicks on other regions are added to the selection. 6 5 4 3 2 1 4 5 6 Color regions selected and deleted from bitmap fill. 3 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 6 Importing Graphics 215 Set the Magic Wand Options Click the Lasso tool on the Tools panel. Click the Magic Wand Properties button on the Tools panel. Enter a color threshold between 0 and 200. This number defines how close adjacent colors have to be to the selected color before they are added to the selection. A higher number selects a broader number of colors. Click the Smoothing popup, and then select from the following options: Pixels, Rough, Normal, and Smooth. This sets the smoothness of the edges of the selection. Click OK. 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 5 4 1 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 216 Chapter 6 Flash provides a procedure to convert bitmaps into vector art. When Trace Bitmap is used, Flash interprets the pixel information in the bitmap and converts it into vector shapes. The results can be unpre- dictable in quality and have unwieldy file sizes if the bitmaps are very complex. However, there are several parameters in the Trace Bitmap dialog box that can be modified to strike a balance between file size and quality. Using Trace Bitmap to Create Vector Shapes Trace a Bitmap Drag a copy of a bitmap to the Stage from the Library panel; make sure the bitmap is selected on the Stage. Click the Modify menu, point to Bitmap, and then click Trace Bitmap. TROUBLE? The Trace Bitmap command is disabled if you select a broken bitmap (a bitmap fill). Specify values and options to determine how close the vector shape resembles the bitmap: ◆ Color Threshold. If the difference in the RGB color value for two pixels is less than the color threshold, the pixel colors are considered the same. Enter a value between 1 and 500. The higher the value, the lower the number of colors. ◆ Minimum Area. Determines how many neighboring pixels to include in the threshold calculation. Enter a pixel value between 1 and 1000. ◆ Curve Fit. Determines how smoothly Flash creates vector outlines. ◆ Corner Threshold. Controls whether to preserve sharp edges or create more smooth contours. Click OK. 4 3 2 1 4 3 Vectorized bitmap Creating Vectors Closest to the Original Bitmap Adobe recommends using the following settings in the Trace Bitmap feature to produce a vector version that is closest to the original bitmap: Color Threshold = 10, Minimum Area = 1 pixel, Curve Fit = Pixels, and Corner Threshold = Many Corners. However, depending on the complexity of the bitmap, this can produce very large and unwieldy file sizes and, in some cases, take a long time for Flash to complete the operation. For Your Information From the Library of Wow! eBook . default, when you import a bitmap into Flash and drag it to the Stage, you are limited in how you can edit it. Break Apart the image to remove the image from. your most severe editing in a bitmap or paint program outside of Flash. Using Break Apart to Create Fill Patterns Create a Bitmap Fill Pattern Drag a copy