How to Set a Background Border in Flash 8
A missing feature in Flash is the ability to set a background border, or frame, from the "Document Properties" panel or "Document" dialog box. You can change the stage color, but can’t apply a frame to the stage. You can, however, easily put a border around your movies by drawing a rectangle shape and giving it frame, or “stroke.” This method works in all versions of Flash.
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Instructions
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Using a Rectangle Shape to Create a Border
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Open an existing Flash FLA file or create a new one in Flash. Go to the layer and frame in which you want to create the border. Click the frame to select it.
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Right-click the frame and choose “Insert Keyframe” from the fly-out menu. (If this frame already has a keyframe, you can, of course, skip this step.)
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Select the “Rectangle Tool” from the Tools panel. Click the “Drawing Object” button (an icon of a circle inside a square near the bottom of the Tools panel). This places Flash in Drawing Object mode. When in Drawing Object mode, this button is gray, or appears depressed. The Rectangle Tool Properties panel label changes to “Drawing Object.”
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Click the “Stroke Height” field in the Drawing Object Properties panel and set the stroke thickness, or “weight” value. (In Flash CS versions, this option is named “Stroke.”) By default, Flash measures stroke weights in pixels, since most Flash documents are designed for viewing on a monitor.
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Click the “Stroke Style” drop-down in the Drawing Object Properties panel and choose the style of stroke you want. In Flash CS versions, this option is named “Stroke.” Most of the time, depending on your design, you would choose “Solid.”
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Click the “Stoke Color” color swatch in the Drawing Object Properties panel. It is beside or below the pencil icon, depending on your version of Flash and choose a color for the stroke. This is your border.
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Click the “Fill Color” color swatch in the Drawing Object Properties panel (beside or below the paint bucket icon, depending on your version of Flash), and choose the fill color. This is your movie’s background color.
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Draw a rectangle on the stage.
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Change the “W” and “H” fields in the Drawing Object Properties panel to match the dimensions of the stage. (Most often the border will frame the entire stage, but this really is a design decision.)
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Click the “Window” menu and choose “Align” to open the Align panel. Click the “To stage” button in the far-right section of the Align panel. This tells Flash to align the selected object to the center of the stage. This button appears depressed when it’s active. Click the “Align horizontal center” button (second icon in the “Align” section), and then click the “Align vertical center” button (fifth icon in the “Align” section).
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Tips & Warnings
When you finish drawing and placing your background rectangle, you can lock into place, so that you don't accidentally select and change it while working on your movie. Select the shape and click the "Modify" menu, choose "Arrange." Select "Lock" from the Arrange fly-out menu. You can also lock the shape by placing it on its own layer and locking the layer in the Timeline. You can add a special effect, such as bevel, drop shadow, or glow, to your border by applying a filter to the shape.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
