FLASH CS3
User Guide
197
Select objects with the Selection tool
The Selection tool
lets you select entire objects by clicking an object or dragging to enclose the object within a
rectangular selection marquee.
Note:
To select the Selection tool, you can also press the V key. To temporarily switch to the Selection tool when another
tool is active, hold down the Control key (Windows) or Command key (Macintosh).
To disable the Shift-selecting option, deselect the option in Flash General Preferences. See “Set preferences in Flash”
on page 27. Instances, groups, and type blocks must be completely enclosed to be selected.
•
To select a stroke, fill, group, instance, or text block, click the object.
•
To select connected lines, double-click one of the lines.
•
To select a filled shape and its stroked outline, double-click the fill.
•
To select objects within a rectangular area, drag a marquee around the object or objects to select.
•
To add to a selection, hold down the Shift key while making additional selections.
•
To select everything on every layer of a scene, select Edit > Select All, or press A (Windows) or
A (Macintosh). Select All doesn’t select objects on locked or hidden layers, or layers not on the current
Timeline.
•
To deselect everything on every layer, select Edit > Deselect All, or press Shift+A (Windows) or
Shift+A (Macintosh).
•
To select everything on one layer between keyframes, click a frame in the Timeline.
•
To lock or unlock a group or symbol, select the group or symbol, and then select Modify >
Arrange > Lock. Select
Modify > Arrange > Unlock All to unlock all locked groups and symbols.
Select objects with the Lasso tool
When you use the Lasso tool and its Polygon Mode modifier, you can switch between the freehand and straight-
edged selection modes.
Draw a freehand selection area
1
Drag the Lasso tool
around the area.
2
End the loop approximately where you started, or let Flash automatically close the loop with a straight line.
Draw a straight-edged selection area
1
Select the Lasso tool’s Polygon Mode modifier
in the options area of the Tools panel.
2
Click to set the starting point.
3
Position the pointer where you want the first line to end, and click. Continue setting end points for additional line
segments.
4
To close the selection area, double-click.
Draw a selection area with both freehand and straight-line edges
1
Deselect the Polygon Mode modifier of the Lasso tool.
2
To draw a freehand segment, drag the Lasso tool on the Stage.
3
To draw straight-edged segments, hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Macintosh) and click to set
start and end points for each new line segment.
