Adobe Flash Professional CS6 Adobe Flash Professional CS6 Classroom In A Book | Page 66

Using gradient and Bitmap Fills
The fill is the interior of the drawn object. Currently, you have a solid tan color, but
you can also have a gradient or a bitmap image (such as a JPEG file) as a fill, or you
can specify that the object has no fill at all.
In a gradient, one color gradually changes into another. Flash can create linear
gradients, which change color horizontally, vertically, or diagonally; or radial gradi-
ents, which change color moving outward from a central focal point.
For this lesson, you’ll use a linear gradient fill to add three-dimensionality to the
coffee cup. To give the appearance of a top layer of foaming cream, you’ll import a
bitmap image to use as the fill. You can import a bitmap file in the Color panel.
creating gradient transitions
You’ll define the colors you want to use in your gradient in the Color panel. By
default, a linear gradient moves from one color to a second color, but you can use
up to 15 color transitions in a gradient in Flash. A color pointer determines where
the gradient changes from one color to the next. Add color pointers beneath the
gradient definition bar in the Color panel to add color transitions.
You’ll create a gradient that moves from tan to white to dark tan on the surface of
the coffee cup to give it a rounded appearance.
1 Choose the Selection tool. Select the fill that represents
the front surface of the coffee cup.
2 Open the Color panel (Window > Color). In the Color
panel, choose the Fill color icon and select Linear
gradient.
The front surface of the coffee cup is filled with a color
gradient from left to right.
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