Creating Unique Shapes with the Pencil Tool

The Pencil Tool

You use the Pencil tool to draw freehand shapes. You need to draw a tree trunk and a treetop to create a tree.

Create the Tree Trunk

• Choose View > Grid > Edit Grid from the menu.

• Deselect Snap to Grid.

• Click OK to close the Grid dialog box..
• Choose the Pencil tool.

• Click the Stroke color box and choose brown as the stroke color.
• Click the Fill color box and choose brown as the fill color.
• On the Modifier panel, if Object Drawing is selected, deselect Object Drawing. On the Modifier panel, choose the Smooth option. This option rounds the corners of your drawing.

• Draw the tree trunk. Make sure the starting point and the ending point connect.

• Choose the Paint Bucket tool. You use the Paint Bucket tool to fill enclosed areas with color.

• Click inside the trunk to fill the trunk with color.

Note: If your tree trunk does not fill with color, you might have gaps. To close the gaps, click on the Gap Size modifier and choose Close Large Gaps.

Create the Tree Top

• Choose the Selection tool and make sure you click off of the tree trunk.
• Choose the Pencil tool.
• Click the Stroke color box and choose green as the stroke color.
• Click the Fill color box and choose green as the fill color.
• Draw a treetop like the one shown here.

• Choose the Paint Bucket tool.
• Click inside the treetop to fill the treetop with color.

Create the Tree

• Choose the Selection tool.
• Click the treetop to choose the treetop.
• Drag the treetop over the tree trunk.

Grouping

Flash Professional 8 views the tree as two objects, the treetop and the tree trunk. In the next exercise you will group the treetop and the tree trunk to cause Flash Professional 8 to view the tree as a single object. Then you will turn the tree into a symbol.

• Click off the treetop to deselect it.
• Choose the Selection tool. Use the Selection tool to create a rectangle around the tree. This selects the tree. You should now see two blue squares, one around the top and one around the trunk:

• Choose Modify > Group from the menu to make the treetop and the tree trunk a single object.

• Choose Modify > Convert to Symbol from the menu. The Symbol Properties box will open.
• Type Tree in the Name field.
• Choose Graphic as the Behavior type.
• Click OK. The tree now appears in the Library.
• Press the Delete key to remove the tree from the Stage.