How to Draw a Lightbulb in Flash

Shed some light on your Flash animation by drawing lightbulbs.

Lightbulbs have long symbolized having a bright idea and adding them to your next Flash animation project may help you "lighten up." Add a drawing of a lightbulb to your movie clips to point viewers' attention to important facts within the animation or to encourage them to go forward with the clip. Flash's drawing tools, all corralled in one convenient spot on the main working area of the software screen, offer everything you need to get plugged in.

Instructions

1. Open Flash and click the "Flash Document" link under the "Create New" section of the main splash screen.

2. Click the "Pencil Tool" on the Tools palette on the left side of the screen. Note the new options in the Property pane below the stage. Click into the color box on the pane and choose a black or dark gray color. Slide the number drop-down to "10."

3. Position the cursor on the stage and draw a shape like the top part of a balloon, without the knotted bottom. Continue drawing the base of the lightbulb by slightly expanding the base in each direction and drawing the line to meet up with the original starting point.

4. Slide the number drop-down to "3." Draw a few squiggled lines in the middle of the top part of the lightbulb as filaments.

5. Click into the colored box and choose a yellow color. Draw a small orb of light inside the bulb in an oval or circle.

6. Switch to a brown, silver or gold color from the color box. Draw lines around the base of the bulb to depict the section of the lightbulb that screws into the lamp.

7. Click the "File" menu. Click "Save As." Type a name for the bulb image, select a place to save it and click the "Save" button.

References

• Bowling Green State University: Adobe Flash CS5 Tutorial