Glittering Text Tutorial

(For my tutorial you MUST have a paint shop program and Jasc Animation shop)

We will be making this:

First, you need some glitter. I found a whole bunch at Design by Aylana:

Don’t worry that the glitter is sparkling. Just right click and save the picture of the glitter.

For this tutorial, feel free to use the glitter below. Just Right click and save it.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Now open Paint shop (any version) and Jasc Animation shop. Open the glitter file in Animation Shop ONLY. In this case, “orange-002″. You will now see all the frame that make the glitter move and sparkle. Some glitters have a lot of frames, some have only two. Our glitter has 3 frames.

Now we have two chioces:
ONE: For a permanent copy of each of the frames, click and highlight ONE of the panels. There will be a blue and red circle around the one you have selected. (see above) RIGHT CLICK and choose “SAVE FRAME AS”. Choose a name (orange1.gif, orange2.gif, etc.) and save the new files somewhere you can find them.
TWO: For a temporary copy, RIGHT CLICK and choose COPY.

Now, we open these panels in PSP.

If you used ONE, open each individual glitter frame in PSP.

If you used TWO, simply paste the frame into PSP.

There MUST be more than ONE GLITTER frame. There should be at least two, if not more than that. For our example, there should be five frames now in PSP, waiting for you to use. Make sure all the frames are open at this time, sitting on your PSP desktop.

Open a new document. A good one for font work is 500×200. If you plan to use the document for signing emails, or putting on “any” background, be sure you choose TRANSPARENT. For this tutorial, you need a TRANSPARENT background, 500×200.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Fill Method

1. Click on the FILL button and change it from solid color to PATTERN.

That’s the circle of dots, if you don’t already know. If you’re having trouble getting to this box, just hold your mouse down a little longer on the color. Release the mouse when you’ve chosen the PATTERN feature.

2. A bizarre pattern is now in the FILL area. CLICK IT.

This box will now open. We’re going to change the “leopard” pattern to glitter by clicking on that and scrolling UP until we see our glitter.

Basically, any picture or pattern currently on your desktop becomes a ‘pattern’ you can choose. (This is true in regular fill/color patterns as well as for text ones.) Chose the first picture in this list, in my case “image 2″.

3. Switch your materials around so the pattern is on the bottom, and a solid color is on the top. The solid color will be a border for your image, and helps to anchor the text and give it a little edge.

4. Click the TEXT tool. Time to choose a font. You can visit my Using Fonts in PSP page for links and instructions about fonts.

Write something in the box provided. For this tutorial, I just used my name. Choose any size you like. You can always resize later. Be sure to choose a WIDE font. You are going to FILL this font, so you can’t choose something small and thin.

5. CROP the image to where you want it. This is good to get out of the way now.

6. SAVE the image.

7.Repeat step 2, choosing the SECOND FRAME this time. Watch out! Be sure you’re choosing the right frame. “Current Pattern” is what you already have selected, which was “image2″. You want “image3″ this time. Watch your text. You should see the pattern change when you get a new one.

9. Repeat step 6 (save). Repeat step 9 (this step). Continue until all frames for your glitter have been used. Remember to save each under a NEW name. “kristen2″ etc.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Now we go back to Animation Shop.

If you closed it, open Animation shop.

Easiest thing? Use the ANIMATION WIZARD. That’s the first button on the toolbar, or FILE and WIZARD.

Follow the Wizard instructions. Choose “Same size as the first image frame”, click next. Choose “transparent” if you want no background to appear, click next. Leave defaults, click next. Choose “repeat indefinitely” and change the frame display time to “20″ (see note below).

*Display time: You can check the rate of movement of the original glitter by clicking on a frame, choosing “frame properties” and seeing the rate. Our example moves at a rate of “20″. Click “add image” and choose all four of your saved PSP image files.

If you like, you can now reorder the frames so they appear in the right order. Use “move up” or “move down” to move the frames around. When they’re where you think you’ll want them, click next and then finish.

You have an animation!

If you click the “VIEW ANIMATION” button (at the far right edge of the toolbar, or VIEW and ANIMATION) you will see your text move around.

Play with the speeds of the frames!

Now save your image!

Follow the Wizard defaults to the end. This will compress your file a little so it’s not so big. Choose “File” and “Save As” and save your animation.

Labels: Glittering Text Tutorial

Introduction into Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Publisher 2000 helps you easily create, customize, and publish materials such as newsletters, brochures, flyers, catalogs, and Web sites. Publish easily on your desktop printer

This tutorial will help you get started with Microsoft Publisher and may solve some of your problems, but it is a very good idea to use the Help Files that come with Microsoft Publisher, or go to Microsoft's web site located at http://microsoft.com/office/publisher/default.htm for further assistance.

Back to top

Starting Microsoft Publisher

• Two Ways

1. Double click on the Microsoft Publisher icon on the desktop.

1. Click on Start --> Programs --> Microsoft Publisher

1. On the File menu, click New
2. Click the Publications by Wizard tab
   
3. In the Wizards pane, click the type of publication you want
4. In the right pane, click the design you want
5. Click Start Wizard
6. To make changes to the publication's color scheme, layout, or personal information now, click Next and step through the wizard's questions to make the desired changes.
7. When you finish making changes, click Finish
8. In you publication replace the placeholder text and pictures with your own or with other objects.
9. On the File menu, click Save
10. In the Save In box, select the folder where you want to save the new publication
11. In the File name box, type a name for your publication
12. Click Save

1. On the File menu, click New
2. In the Catalog, click Blank Publications
3. Click the publication type you want and then click Create
4. In the Quick Publication Wizard pane, click the option you want
5. In the bottom pane, follow the instructions provided
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each option
7. On the File menu, click Save
8. In the Save In box, select the folder where you want to save the new publication
9. In the File name box, type a name for your publication
10. Click Save

1. On the File menu, click New
2. Click Templates
3. Double-click the template you want to use for your publication. (Publisher opens a copy of the template)
4. Make the changes you want to create a new publication
5. On the File menu, click Save
6. In the Save In box, select the folder where you want to save the new publication
7. In the File name box, type a name for your publication
8. Click Save

1. On the File menu, click New
2. Click the Blank Publications tab
3. Click the publication type you want and then click Create OR If you do not see the type of publication you want, click Custom Page at the bottom of the Catalog, and then choose the options you want
4. On the File menu, click Save
5. In the Save In box, select the folder where you want to save the new publication
6. In the File name box, type a name for your publication
7. Click Save

1. On the File menu, click Open
2. Click the publications you want to open, and then click Open. If you do not see the file you want, switch to the drive or folder you previously saved it in.

1. On the Objects toolbar, click the Table Frame Tool
   
2. Position the pointer where you want a corner of the table to appear, and then drag the mouse diagonally
3. In the Create Table dialog box, choose the options you want. As you click different table formats, the Sample box displays them
4. Click OK
5. In the table, click where you want to add text, and then start typing. (The table automatically expands when your text fills the cell, unless you lock the table)
6. Move to the next cell you want to type in

1. On the File menu, point to Pack and Go, and then click Take to Another Computer. The Pack and Go Wizard takes you through each step of the packing process. Click Next to move to the next step.
   If you haven't saved your publication already, the wizard will ask you to save it
2. If you're taking your publication on disk to another computer, when the wizard asks you to choose a location for saving your file, click A: OR If you're putting your files on an external drive, on a network, or on your computer's hard disk, click Browse, choose the drive and folder you want, and then click OK
3. Click Next
4. To embed TrueType fonts and to create links for embedded graphics, click the options you want and add a check mark. OR To not include linked graphics, click to remove the check mark.
5. Click Next
6. Click Finish
7. In Publisher cannot find a linked graphic while packing your publication do one of the following:
   • Click Retry after you insert the disk or CD-ROM containing the original graphic into the appropriate drive.
   • Click Skip to leave the current link and replace the graphic later
   • Click Browse to locate a graphic that has been moved or to select another graphic and link it.
8. Insert another disk if Publisher prompts you, and click OK. Remember the ordering of your disks for when you unpack them
9. Click OK
10. Unpack.exe is the program you use to unpack your files, which will be on the first disk.

1. On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Color Printing.
   • Black and White Printing
     1. In the Print all colors as box, click Spot color(s), and then click Change Spot Color.
     2. In the Choose Spot Color dialog box, click Black and white only.
     3. Click OK twice
   • Process-color printing
     1. In the Print all colors as box, click Process colors (CMYK).
     2. Click OK
   • Spot-color printing
     1. In the Print all colors as box, click Spot color(s), and then click Change Spot Color.
     2. In the Choose Spot Color dialog box, click the arrow next to Spot color 1, and then choose the color you want.
     3. To choose a color that is not currently used in the publication, click More Colors, choose the color you want, and then click OK
     4. To choose a second spot color, click the check box to the left of Spot color 2, and then click the arrow to the right and click the second spot color
     5. Click OK twice

• Two Ways


1. Double click on the Microsoft Excel icon on the desktop.


2. Click on Start --> Programs --> Microsoft Excel

1. Click the cell that you want to enter the formula.
2. Type = (an equal sign).
3. Click the Function Button
4. Select the formula you want and step through the on-screen instructions

1. Make sure you have the Formatting toolbar visible
   • Click on View --> Toolbars --> Formatting
2. Select cells you wish to format by left clicking on them and highlighting them
3. Click the button to shade a cell and/or the to give a cell a border

1. Select over the text you want to make your chart with
   
2. Click Insert --> Chart
   
3. Select the type of chart you want
   
4. Confirm or change your data range
5. Update the Chart Options
   
6. Select if you want to put it into the current worksheet or into a new worksheet
   

Introduction into Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint is a powerful tool to create professional looking presentations and slide shows. PowerPoint allows you to construct presentations from scratch or by using the easy to use wizard.

This tutorial will help you get started with Microsoft PowerPoint and may solve some of your problems, but it is a very good idea to use the Help Files that come with Microsoft PowerPoint, or go to Microsoft's web site located at http://microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/default.htm for further assistance.

Back to top


Starting Microsoft PowerPoint

* Two Ways

1. Double click on the Microsoft PowerPoint icon on the desktop.

1. Click on Start --> Programs --> Microsoft PowerPoint



Creating & Opening a Presentation
After you open up Microsoft PowerPoint, a screen pops up asking if you would like to create a New Presentation or Open An Existing Presentation.

• AutoContent Wizard
  • Creates a new presentation by prompting you for information about content, purpose, style, handouts, and output. The new presentation contains sample text that you can replace with your own information. Simply follow the directions and prompts that are given by Microsoft PowerPoint.
• Design Template
  • Creates a new presentation based on one of the PowerPoint design templates supplied by Microsoft. Use what is already supplied by Microsoft PowerPoint and change the information to your own.
• Blank Presentation
  • Creates a new, blank presentation using the default settings for text and colors. Go to next step: Creating A Blank Presentation

1. Select Open An Existing Presentation from the picture above
2. Click on your presentation in the white box below step 1
   • If you do not see your presentation in the white box, select More Files and hit OK.
   • Locate you existing Presentation and hit the Open button

Back to top

Create a Blank Presentation
After you select Blank Presentation a window pops up asking you to select the layout of the first slide.



Pre-Designed Slide Layouts (Left to Right)

* Title Slide
* Bulleted List
* Two Column Text
* Table
* Text & Chart
* Chart & Text
* Organizational Chart
* Chart
* Text & Clip Art
* Clip Art & Text
* Title Only
* Blank Slide

NOTE:If you already know what you want in your next slide, it is a very good idea to choose one of the pre-designed layouts from above. However if you do not, then you can still insert what you want in throughout your Presentation anytime you desire. Just choose Blank Slide and insert items as you see fit.
Back to top

Different Views That PowerPoint Demonstrates
There are different views within Microsoft PowerPoint that allow you to look at your presentation from different perspectives.

Normal View	Outline View	Slide View	Slide Sorter View	Slide Show View
Switches to normal view, where you can work on one slide at a time or organize the structure of all the slides in your presentation	Switches to outline view, where you can work with the structure of your file in outline form. Work in outline view when you need to organize the structure of your file.	Switches to slide view, where you can work on one slide at a time	Displays miniature versions of all slides in a presentation, complete with text and graphics. In slide sorter view, you can reorder slides, add transitions, and animation effects. You can also set the timings for electronic slide shows.	Runs your slide show in a full screen, beginning with the current slide if you are in slide view or the selected slide if you are in slide sorter view. If you simply want to view your show from the first slide: Click Slide Show at the top of the screen Select View Show

Slide Manipulation

* Inserting A New Slide
1. Click Insert at top of screen
2. Select New Slide
.
* Formatting A Slide Background
o You can format your slide to make it look however you would like, whether it be a background color, picture, or a design template built into Microsoft PowerPoint. The next step will show you how to apply a Design Template, but the other items mentioned above can be accomplished the same way.
1. Click Format at the top of the screen
2. Select Apply Design Template

• 1. 
     
  2. Select Design you wish to apply
  3. Click Apply Button


• Inserting Clipart & Pictures
  
  1. Display the slide you want to add a picture to.
  2. Click Insert at the top of the screen
  3. Select Picture
  4. Select Clip Art
  5. Click the category you want
  6. Click the picture you want
  7. Click Insert Clip on the shortcut menu
  8. When you are finished using the Clip Gallery, click the Close button on the Clip Gallery title bar
  9. Steps 1-4 are very similar when inserting other Pictures, Objects, Movies, Sounds, and Charts

1. In slide or slide sorter view, select the slide or slides you want to add a transition to.
2. On the Slide Show menu at the top of the screen, click Slide Transition
   
3. In the Effect box, click the transition you want, and then select any other options you want
4. To apply the transition to the selected slide, click Apply.
5. To apply the transition to all the slides, click Apply to All.
6. Repeat the process for each slide you want to add a transition to.
7. To view the transitions, on the Slide Show menu, click Animation Preview.

1. Click Slide Show at the lower left of the PowerPoint window.
2. On the Slide Show menu, click View Show.
3. On the View menu, click Slide Show.
4. Press F5 on the keyboard

• Forward Navigation
  • Simply click on the left Mouse Button or hit the Enter Button on your keyboard
• Reverse Navigation
  • Hit the Backspace on the keyboard
• Exiting the show
  • Hit the Esc Button on the keyboard

1. Open the Presentation you want to pack
2. On the File menu, click Pack and Go
3. Follow the instructions in the Pack and Go Wizard.

1. Insert the disk or connect to the network location you packed the presentation to
2. In My Computer, go to the location of the packed presentation, and then double-click Pngsetup
3. Enter the destination you want to copy the presentation to

• Two Ways


1. Double click on the Microsoft Word icon on the desktop.


2. Click on Start --> Programs --> Microsoft Word

1. Click View
2. Select Toolbars
3. Select Standard, Formatting, and Drawing
4. Other toolbars can be selected if you wish
   

Name	Icon	Description
New Blank Document		Creates a new, blank file based on the default template.
Open (File menu)		Opens or finds a file.
Save (File menu)		Saves the active file with its current file name, location, and file format.
Mail Recipient		Sends the contents of the document as the body of the e-mail message.
Print (File menu)		Prints the active file or selected items. To select print options, on the File menu, click Print.
Print Preview (File menu)		Shows how a file will look when you print it.
Spelling and Grammar (Tools menu)		Checks the active document for possible spelling, grammar, and writing style errors, and displays suggestions for correcting them. To set spelling and grammar checking options, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Spelling and Grammar tab.
Cut (Edit menu)		Removes the selection from the active document and places it on the Clipboard.
Copy (Edit menu)		Copies the selection to the Clipboard.
Paste (Edit menu)		Inserts the contents of the Clipboard at the insertion point, and replaces any selection. This command is available only if you have cut or copied an object, text, or contents of a cell.
Format Painter (Standard toolbar)		Copies the format from a selected object or text and applies it to the object or text you click. To copy the formatting to more than one item, double-click , and then click each item you want to format. When you are finished, press ESC or click again to turn off the Format Painter.
Undo (Edit menu)		Reverses the last command or deletes the last entry you typed.
Redo (Edit menu)		Reverses the action of the Undo command.
Hyperlink		Inserts a new hyperlink or edits the selected hyperlink.
Tables and Borders		Displays the Tables and Borders toolbar, which contains tools for creating, editing, and sorting a table and for adding or changing borders to selected text, paragraphs, cells, or objects.
Zoom		Enter a magnification between 10 and 400 percent to reduce or enlarge the display of the active document.
Office Assistant		The Office Assistant provides Help topics and tips to help you accomplish your tasks.

Back to top

Creating A New Document

1. Click on File
2. Select New
   • To create a blank document, simply select Blank Document. To create a document based on one of the templates provided in Microsoft Word, select which one you would like to create and select OK

1. Highlight the text that you want to format by dragging your mouse over while holding down the left mouse button
2. Change the text to your desire
   • 

1. Click where you want your table to go
2. Click Table at top of screen
3. Select Insert
4. Select Table
5. Give your table dimensions

1. Click where you want your picture to go
2. Click Insert at top of screen
3. Select Picture
4. Select Clip Art or From File
5. Select picture and click Insert

1. Click Insert at top of screen
2. Select Page Numbers and/or Date & Time

1. Click Tools at top of screen
2. Select Spelling and Grammar

This is a little animation that
plays a simple animation whenever the mouse hovers over the
area:

Less than 2kb, this is great
for loading screens or just cool effects to put on your
website. Of course, the animation doesn't have to be squares
growing and fading out. After mastering this, experiment
with different animations. Well enough chit-chat, let's get
started!

1. First off, open Flash 5 (for
   Flash 4 users, I'll note what you need to change, if
   necessary).
   
   


2. Hit CTRL+M to open up the movie
   properties.
   
   


3. Change the width AND height to
   150; change the background color to whatever you want; hit
   Ok.

4. Next, Click Insert >
   New Symbol; type "box" (w/o quotations), then click
   Graphic.
   
   


5. Now you should be in the edit
   screen of your new symbol, create a box with a transparent
   background. To select a transparent background, click and
   hold the bucket, then click the button with a red line
   drawn across:

6. Next draw the square; any size will do for
   now since we'll be modifying that later on. Select the
   entire square, press CTRL+K to bring up the Align box,
   click "To Stage" then click the middle buttons of "Align"
   and "Distribute", this centers the box. This method is how
   you'll be centering other objects throughout this
   tutorial.

Note for Flash 4 users: this
is how your window should look (after hitting CTRL+K, press
these buttons):

7. Next create another symbol called "spin_box"
   and make it a Movie Clip.
   
   


8. Open up your library (CTRL+L) and drag "box" into the
   movie clip.
   
   
   


9. Select the box, then resize ()
   it to a smaller size. Then center it.


10. Next, select frame 15 and hit F6. This creates a new
    Keyframe for the animation.
    
    


11. Select frame 15, this selects all the objects in it
    (which in this case is the box).
    
    



12. Next, resize that box again, but make it a lot bigger
    this time.

Flash 4 Users, skip to
14a.

13. Select the box, then open up the Effects
    Panel (Window > Panels > Effects).
    
    
    


14. In the drop-down box, select Alpha, then change 100%
    to 0%. Skip ahead to 15.
    
    
    
    
    
    1. Next, right-click the symbol, and choose
       properties. Choose the Color Effects tab, choose Alpha
       from drop-down box, then move the slider all the way to
       the left (0). Click OK. Skip to 16a.
    
    
    
    



15. Next, select this frame (the one with a box in it
    ).
    
    


16. Open up the Frames tab (Window > Panels > Frame). From
    the Tweening drop-down box, select Motion. Skip to Next
    page.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    1. Double-click any frame in between 1 and 15,
       a dialog box should pop up. Select Tweening, then Motion
       from drop-down. Then OK.
    
    
    
    

17. Next, create a new Button symbol and name it
    "trigger". For this symbol, make a square with a
    background (i'd make it red outline, blue background just
    for reference). The colors won't really matter, you'll
    see...
    
    



18. Now, go back to spin_box's edit window. Select frames
    1 through 15 and shift them all one frame so frame 1 will
    be empty.
    
    


19. Put "trigger" in frame 1. Give frame 1 a stop
    action...

Flash 5: Double-click
frame 1, + > Basic Actions > stop

Flash 4: Double-click
frame 1, Actions tab > + > stop

20. Select the trigger, center it, and set it's
    alpha to 0 like we did with the box on the
    previous page.
    
    



21. Now we'll actually make it a trigger to play the movie
    by giving it some actions...

Flash 5: Select the
trigger, Right-Click, then Actions. + > Basic Actions >
Play. Next, select "on (release)" in the script window,
refer to the bottom of the dialog box, unlick, Release, and
click "rollover". Click Ok.

Flash 4: Double-click
trigger, select Actions tab > + > Play. Select "On
(Release)" unclick Release, then click Roll Over.

22. Now go back to the main stage (nothing
    should be there). Drag spin_box from your library and
    position it at the bottom left corner of the movie.
    
    


23. Next, select it, hold CTRL, then drag it to the right.
    Repeat this step until you have the whole row filled up
    with it.
    
    


24. Now select the entire row, hold CTRL, then drag up.
    Repeat until the whole movie is filled.

This is how the movie should
look like if you select all the symbols:

25. 
    

    Now Save the fla, then press CTRL+Enter to
    save the swf. Don't test the movie here cause it might be
    slow. Open the directory you saved it to, then
    double-click the swf. YOU'RE DONE!!!
    

Here are the fla's if you
still don't understand something:

Flash 5

Flash 4

Now, that wasn't too hard was
it? This is actually my first flash tutorial I've ever
written, so sorry if it looks real sketchy, I'll be glad to
answer some questions you may have by
emailing me,
contacting me in IM (thoriphes2k1 or thoriphes2k2), or
posting on the
forums.

Manny Dimatulac


malocadi@hotmail.com

This is a little animation that
plays a simple animation whenever the mouse hovers over the
area:

Less than 2kb, this is great
for loading screens or just cool effects to put on your
website. Of course, the animation doesn't have to be squares
growing and fading out. After mastering this, experiment
with different animations. Well enough chit-chat, let's get
started!

1. First off, open Flash 5 (for
   Flash 4 users, I'll note what you need to change, if
   necessary).
   
   


2. Hit CTRL+M to open up the movie
   properties.
   
   


3. Change the width AND height to
   150; change the background color to whatever you want; hit
   Ok.

4. Next, Click Insert >
   New Symbol; type "box" (w/o quotations), then click
   Graphic.
   
   


5. Now you should be in the edit
   screen of your new symbol, create a box with a transparent
   background. To select a transparent background, click and
   hold the bucket, then click the button with a red line
   drawn across:

6. Next draw the square; any size will do for
   now since we'll be modifying that later on. Select the
   entire square, press CTRL+K to bring up the Align box,
   click "To Stage" then click the middle buttons of "Align"
   and "Distribute", this centers the box. This method is how
   you'll be centering other objects throughout this
   tutorial.

Note for Flash 4 users: this
is how your window should look (after hitting CTRL+K, press
these buttons):

7. Next create another symbol called "spin_box"
   and make it a Movie Clip.
   
   


8. Open up your library (CTRL+L) and drag "box" into the
   movie clip.
   
   
   


9. Select the box, then resize ()
   it to a smaller size. Then center it.


10. Next, select frame 15 and hit F6. This creates a new
    Keyframe for the animation.
    
    


11. Select frame 15, this selects all the objects in it
    (which in this case is the box).
    
    



12. Next, resize that box again, but make it a lot bigger
    this time.

Flash 4 Users, skip to
14a.

13. Select the box, then open up the Effects
    Panel (Window > Panels > Effects).
    
    
    


14. In the drop-down box, select Alpha, then change 100%
    to 0%. Skip ahead to 15.
    
    
    
    
    
    1. Next, right-click the symbol, and choose
       properties. Choose the Color Effects tab, choose Alpha
       from drop-down box, then move the slider all the way to
       the left (0). Click OK. Skip to 16a.
    
    
    
    



15. Next, select this frame (the one with a box in it
    ).
    
    


16. Open up the Frames tab (Window > Panels > Frame). From
    the Tweening drop-down box, select Motion. Skip to Next
    page.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    1. Double-click any frame in between 1 and 15,
       a dialog box should pop up. Select Tweening, then Motion
       from drop-down. Then OK.
    
    
    
    

17. Next, create a new Button symbol and name it
    "trigger". For this symbol, make a square with a
    background (i'd make it red outline, blue background just
    for reference). The colors won't really matter, you'll
    see...
    
    



18. Now, go back to spin_box's edit window. Select frames
    1 through 15 and shift them all one frame so frame 1 will
    be empty.
    
    


19. Put "trigger" in frame 1. Give frame 1 a stop
    action...

Flash 5: Double-click
frame 1, + > Basic Actions > stop

Flash 4: Double-click
frame 1, Actions tab > + > stop

20. Select the trigger, center it, and set it's
    alpha to 0 like we did with the box on the
    previous page.
    
    



21. Now we'll actually make it a trigger to play the movie
    by giving it some actions...

Flash 5: Select the
trigger, Right-Click, then Actions. + > Basic Actions >
Play. Next, select "on (release)" in the script window,
refer to the bottom of the dialog box, unlick, Release, and
click "rollover". Click Ok.

Flash 4: Double-click
trigger, select Actions tab > + > Play. Select "On
(Release)" unclick Release, then click Roll Over.

22. Now go back to the main stage (nothing
    should be there). Drag spin_box from your library and
    position it at the bottom left corner of the movie.
    
    


23. Next, select it, hold CTRL, then drag it to the right.
    Repeat this step until you have the whole row filled up
    with it.
    
    


24. Now select the entire row, hold CTRL, then drag up.
    Repeat until the whole movie is filled.

This is how the movie should
look like if you select all the symbols:

25. 
    

    Now Save the fla, then press CTRL+Enter to
    save the swf. Don't test the movie here cause it might be
    slow. Open the directory you saved it to, then
    double-click the swf. YOU'RE DONE!!!
    

Here are the fla's if you
still don't understand something:

Flash 5

Flash 4

Now, that wasn't too hard was
it? This is actually my first flash tutorial I've ever
written, so sorry if it looks real sketchy, I'll be glad to
answer some questions you may have by
emailing me,
contacting me in IM (thoriphes2k1 or thoriphes2k2), or
posting on the
forums.

Manny Dimatulac


malocadi@hotmail.com

Tools:

Selection Tool - V
Sub Selection Tool - A
Free Transform Tool - Q
Gradient Transform Tool - F
Line Tool - N
Lasso Tool - L
Pen Tool - P
Text Tool - T
Oval Tool - O
Flash Rectangle Tool - R
Pencil Tool - Y
Brush Tool - B
Ink Bottle Tool - S
Paint Bucket Tool - K
Flash Eyedropper Tool - I
Flash Eraser Tool - E

Zoom
Zoom In - CTRL + ‘+’
Zoom Out - CTRL + ‘-’

Frames

Add Frame – F5
Delete Frame – SHIFT + F5
Add Key Frame – F6
Add Blank Key Frame – F7

Symbol (MovieClip, Button, Graphic)

Turn Into Symbol – F8
Insert New Symbol - CTRL + F8

File

New Document - CTRL + N
Open Document - CTRL + O
Close Document - CTRL + W
Close All - CTRL + ALT + W
Save - CTRL + S
Save as… - CTRL + SHIFT + S
Import to Stage - CTRL + R
Publish - SHIFT + F12
Exit - CTRL + Q

Modifying and Editing

Undo - CTRL + Z
Redo - CTRL + Y

Cut - CTRL + X
Copy - CTRL + C
Paste - CTRL + V
Paste in Place - CTRL + SHIFT + V

Testing Your Movie

Test Movie - CTRL + ENTER
Debug Movie - CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER

Source: http://www.myflashresource.com/category/articles/flash-shortcut-keys/

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Learn how to get a cool alpha fading, onion skin type of effect used by many websites.

Start off by starting a new movie: File » New. Then go to Modify » Movie and change the width and height to whatever your prefference might be. The one I'm making is Width: 550 Height: 400. Then using the text tool, write whatever you want the text to say.

Okay great, next you want to highlight the text, so the blue border is around it, and go Insert » Convert to Symbol. Choose name: "Text" and behavior as a Movie Clip.

Right Click on the text and choose Edit In Place. Now we're in the movie clip. On the timeline, you should see on the top left, the name of the layer entitled, "Layer 1". Double click that and rename it "Moving Text". Now select the text like we did before and Insert » Convert to Symbol again. This time name it "Text Over" and behavior as a graphic.

Now you want to select the text and press Edit » Copy and make a new layer. Name the layer "Static Text". Ok, add a keyframe on both the layers up to 20. On the Moving Text, right click on the first frame and choose "Create Motion Tween". On the 20th Frame of the Moving Text, go to the effect tab, select Alpha from the drop down and choose 0% Opacity.

Finally, click the scale button and click the middle right white box on the text, and drag it as far as you want the effect to go. Go File » Publish and you're done. Not too hard was it? You can click the image on the left to see a larger picture.
Download the editable Flash File.

1.

Start with a new image with a white background, and to be on the safe side make it about 800x800 px. The tentacles in this tutorial's example will be plastic-looking, but you can create any type you want... chrome, shiny, various colors... whatever you can come up with. Start by selecting the Polygon Lasso tool from the toolbar and, as neatly as you can, draw a triangle pointing down. You will probably need to zoom out (shrink the image view) while doing this.
Once you have your triangle, fill the selection in with your color of choice - the example uses #8FCFFF. Deselect (CTRL+D).

Next go to Filter » Distort » Shear. What you need to do here is click along the line and drag parts to make it "squiggle" like in the example below. Keep an eye on the preview window and once you're happy with the results, click OK.

Now use Free Transform (CTRL+T) to rotate or resize your tentacle to taste, and press enter to apply it. No doubt you're quite impressed with your, eh... squiggly... but it still looks rather flat and dull at this point (sorry to burst your bubble). It's time to grab the Airbrush (first select the Paintbrush tool, and choose the Airbrush icon in the Options bar). Select the tentacle shape (hold CTRL and click on the layer), then create a new layer above the tentacle one. Set the Airbrush to a size of around 200-300px with 100% opacity, and paint around the edges of the tentacle to give it a rounded beveled effect. You may want to mess with the layer's opacity to get this to look how you like it. Refer to the sample below if you need to.

Now it's just a case of using the airbrush to paint highlights and shadows. Hold CTRL and click on the tentacle layer to select it, and make a new layer (you will want to do each of the following parts on their own separate layer). Next, choose an aqua color from your color palette, and begin adding highlights to the tentacle.
As you complete each layer of highlights, you should blur the parts you've airbrushed a bit using Filter » Blur » Gaussian Blur (that's why you must do each part on a new layer). In the example below, an aqua highlight and a white highlight have been added.

Now we're going to darken up the edges a bit. Hold CTRL and click on the original tentacle shape layer (Layer 1). Set a darker blue shade as your foreground color and go to Edit » Stroke - use a setting of about 2 or whatever you feel looks best.
You can now add a faint drop shadow (in the example, the drop shadow is a faint dark blue shade... if your tentacle is a different color, you will probably want to use a darker shade of whatever color you used).

If one tentacle is cool, wouldn't lotsa tentacles be even better? If you think you might want to go back and change things later, you should first make a set of copies of your tentacle's layers (drag each one to the New Layer icon... if you like to stay organized, you might want to move these copies into a Layer Set to group them together... Layer » New » Layer Set). Now, merge the layers of your tentacle together into one single layer and make several copies of that layer. Once you have your duplicate copies, begin to rotate and transform each of them in unique ways (see Edit » Transform). You may even want to do the "Shear" filter on some of them again to reshape them (see Step 2). Remember to keep the flat non-pointy side of the tentacles positioned "outside" of the visible work area of your image or underneath part of another tentacle, or things will look rather strange. You also don't have to always have the point of the tentacle showing on all the copies (notice the one below that only has its middle section visible).

Here's another example of what you might come up with using this technique. Remember you don't have to stick with making the tentacles look like translucent plastic... you could make them solid, shiny, metallic, rough, etc. Have fun.