DRAWING Tools ll in Animate

VICTREE MEDIA X

PART B

SUMMARY:

     Macromedia Flash/Adobe Animate offers a comprehensive range of drawing tools, including the Brush Library, Width Tool, and Pencil Tool. The Brush Library stores brushes types and presets, including 6 default brushes under Paint Brush Style. The Width Tool allows users to create strokes by adding widths of varying thickness, adding multiple points, and changing their position. The Pencil Tool allows users to manipulate strokes by pressing the Pencil tool icon or using a shortcut. The Width Tool can be found in the tools panel or by clicking on the three dots icon.

The Pencil Tool is used for free-hand outlines, working on strokes like the Paint Brush tool. It offers options for straighten, smooth, and ink, and can be used to create Object Drawing Modes, break apart, convert to symbols, and convert to paint brushes. The Pencil Tool allows users to change the Width, Height, and Position of their drawing, and can also make it smooth or straighten.

The Eraser Tool is used to erase strokes and fills, with different styles available under properties. The Brush tool allows users to create custom eraser styles, delete or edit them, and sync them with the Classic Brush tool. It also allows zooming with the stage and erasing on active layers. The tool features 'Use Tilt' and 'Use Pressure' options.

 

If you want to know in detail about the drawing tools, read them down below:

 

Introduction:

 

      In Part 1 of Drawing Tools topic, we studied the comparison between three brush of Macromedia Flash/Adobe Animate. Before we come to today's chapter, I will teach you what is Brush Library, and later, we will take in Width Tool, Pencil Tool and Eraser Tool.

BRUSH LIBRARY:

     Flash gifts us with three libraries: Library, Brush Library and CC Libraries, but we will be focusing on Brush Library for now. It is a place a software where brushes types/presets are stored for use. This brush is a more or less (Meaning in the region of) part of Paint Brush Tool. Selecting the paint brush too, there are six default brushes under Paint Brush Style. Under manage paint brush, is where your custom brushes are kept and you can select all, delete all or save it to brush library.

 

     First, we start with Arrows brushes, in which you have 'Arrows Special' and 'Arrows Standard'. Second, you have 'Artistic' brushes, we have 'Ink', 'Charcoal/Chalk', 'Paint brush' and 'Scroll Pen'. You will not see the option under Fluid Brush or Classic Brush tool, and you also have 'Decorative' for 'Banners and seals', 'Elegant curl and Floral', and also 'Text Dividers.' You have some 'Basic Line-art' brush and you have hand drawn-vector pack brushes.

 

     Lastly, under 'Pattern' brushes, you have 'Border', 'Novelty', 'Pattern arrows', 'Decorative', 'Dashed' and 'Geometric'. Anyway, a small note that whatever you can utilize, a line and a fill, you can create a brush out of it. It converts the custom brush into Object Drawing Mode, and you can draw an interesting line, pattern, or a hand for example, keep Object Drawing Mode off.

 

USES

1) You double-click to add any brush style from brush library to paint brush tool.

2) When you choose and double-click another brush, do not worry, the first one will still be there.

3) When you click on three dots (Menu) icon, you can edit stroke style, manage paint brushes or go to brush library.

4) To create your own brush, you have two modes to do that: one is using only a stroke through Paint Brush tool, and the other is using a stroke and a fill by Pencil tool.

5) There are two ways to get to the brush library: One way is to go from paint brush properties, and the other is to go from panel by going to Window -> Brush Library, if it is not in the panel on the right.

6) There are two ways to create your drawing into a paint brush style: Go to properties panel -> Select the object or drawing -> Click on 'Create new paint brush', and second, you can select the drawing -> right-click on it -> Below Tweening options, click on 'Create paint brush'.

 

WIDTH Tool:

 

     Width Tool allows you to furnish a stroke by adding widths of varying thickness, and as you hover the Width Tool over a shape, you can see a plus sign showing. You can add more than one point, and you can move the Width Point right or left to change the position. You only do not have to click but also drag to apply a point. You can delete or reset the profile that you kept, and it only works on stroke.

 

USES

1) Press the Pencil tool icon or just use the shortcut.

2) You click to add a point.

3) Hold 'Alt' to copy a Width point.

4) Drag the hands up and down to modify them proportionally.

5) We drag the point up to narrow, while dragging it down to widen.

6) To drag multiple Width points, you select them by holding 'Shift'.

7) Hold 'Alt' and drag the handle to modify only one angle that is selected.

8) If you cannot find the Width Tool in tools panel, then click on the three dots icon -> Drag the Width Tool out.

9) There are two ways to delete Width points: you can select the point that you desire to delete, and either press backspace or delete key.

10) You save your designed Width by coming to property panel -> Clicking on three dots -> Add to profile -> Give it a name -> Press 'Ok' to save or cancel.

 

PENCIL Tool:

     Pencil Tool is used to draw and edit free-hand outlines, and this tool works on stroke, just like Paint Brush tool. You have Object Drawing Mode, and you also have options for straighten, smooth and ink. You can play with stroke settings, and you have expand to fill option, create to Object Drawing Mode, break apart, convert to symbol, and even convert to paint brush.

 

     You can change the Width, Height and Position of your drawing, and you can also make drawings smooth or straighten from the advanced smooth option. Under color and style, you cannot add a fill until the path or the stroke is closed. While smooth and straighten automatically makes a shape smooth and straight, the advanced smooth and advanced straighten provide you with options for more variations. It also provide the boxes to tick if you want to control only one option, and Advanced Straighten only provides customization for its straightness, but both of them provide you an option to preview line. Optimization is also an option that optimizes the curves, and when you press 'Ok', Flash shows a disclaimer.

 

     'Convert lines to fill' allows you to turn stroke into a color or a fill, and this is found useful mostly designing tires. Expand fill is going to ask you the pixel of the distance and insert it or expand it. Expand will take the shape toward outside, while insert is going to take it inwards. As the name says, Soften Fill Edges softens the edges of your drawing after expanding or condensing.

 

USES

1) Press the Pencil tool icon or just use the shortcut.

2) Ctrl brings in the selection tool.

3) You can go again to Modify -> Shape -> Expand Fill.

4) You should go to Modify -> Shape -> Soften fill edge.

5) Holding Shift and then dragging will insert a straight line.

6) You can normally drag just like you use the Brush tools in Part One.

7) Animate allows you to select an object or shape -> Go to Modify -> Convert lines to fill.

 

ERASER Tool:

 

     Eraser Tool is utilized to erase a shape or a drawing, and like in Paint Brush tool, you have different styles of erasers. It can erase strokes and fills as well. Faucet eraser modifier, you will find under properties, and you can also remove the same way part of stroke. Erase selected fills will not work until you select a specific color on a shape that you want to delete, and just like you had Brush modes, you also have eraser mode. You have erase normal, erase fills, erase lines (Stroke), erase selected fills and erase inside. Erase Fills will only erase fills and the stroke will have no affect. While Erase Lines (Stroke) is the opposite. Erase Inside will only erase the fill inside and it will not mess with strokes, those are outside the erasing shape.

 

     You can make your own custom eraser style, and along with that, you can delete or edit your custom eraser that you made. You can change the eraser's style, you can save it as a preset or delete the preset that you saved. Same as in Brush tool, you can sync it with Classic Brush tool, zoom with stage and erase on active layer. Active layers are those that have a highlight or are selected by you; also one more thing before we end, when you select the drawing and then, erase it with faucet mode, it will erase strokes and fills both.

PEN PRESSURE

     You also have 'Use Tilt' and 'Use Pressure', then again these options can only work if you have a drawing or display tablet.

 

 USES

1) Click on Eraser icon or use the shortcut.

2) Double-click on the eraser icon to clean the stage or a keyframe.

3) To use this tool, hold the right-mouse button and drag it over areas where you want to remove.

4) You can click on the Faucet icon and then when you click on a fill under a stroke, it will remove the entire of that fill.

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