RE: Outlining Text (was:FLASH: combining movies)

[Marc Hoffman, Poison Dart Frog Media]

At 07:27 AM 3/8/00 , you wrote:

>Hi all!

>         Is there anyway to make outlined text?  I would like to have the

>text outlined on the stage and then use a gradient mask to fill it with

>a colour, but the only way that I've found of outlining the text is to

>break it all apart and then do a Curves>Soften edges which makes the

>file real BIG!  Does anyone know of a nicer way of doing this?

>         Many thanks for any help!

>         crystal


If you break the text apart, you can use the ink bottle to apply an outline 

to it, then delete the fill. Of course you'll lose text editability and 

every instance of every letter will be its own shape in the .swf, rather 

than letting Flash store the shsape of one letter only once.


If what you want to do is fill the letter with a gradient, try this instead:


Put the gradient as a large rectangle in one layer.

In the layer above, type the text you want. It can be any color.

Turn the upper layer into a mask. When you lock both layers, you'll see 

that the gradient shows through only where the letters occur.


Marc Hoffman


Poison Dart Frog Media: Specializing in Flash Animation and Digital Audio 

Production

Our latest Flash job is on display at <http://www.dartfrogmedia.com/rickfrnd>

See our Flash portfolio at <http://www.dartfrogmedia.com/portfolio>

(featured in Flash 3 Web Animation, by Ken Milburn)



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