How to Add a Shape to a Flash File

  1. Open an existing Flash file (File > Open) or create a new Flash project (File > New).

  2. Create a new layer (Insert > Layer).

  3. Look at your timeline and find "Layer 2." Double-click on the words "Layer 2" and rename this layer "Shapes."

    The shapes layer

  4. Select the Circle Tool from the toolbar on the left side of the screen:

    The toolbar with the circle tool selected

  5. On the toolbar, select a stroke color Stroke tool and a fill color Fill tool.

  6. Click and drag on the stage to create a circle (Note: You can create a perfect circle by holding down the SHIFT key while you click and drag). When you're finished drawing your circle, your stage should look something like this:

    The stage with a circle on it

  7. You can manipulate your circle's settings through the properties box at the bottom of the screen. The pencil icon lets you change the stroke's size and color. You can also tweak the stroke type by selecting different options from the pulldown menu. The paintbucket icon alters the fill color.

    The properties box for a circle

  8. At this point, you can create whatever shapes you like. In addition to circles, you can also create squares and lines using different tools.

  9. One warning: If you place shapes over other shapes, you'll find that Flash does some unusual stuff. For example, if you create two circles and place one over the other, and then try to move the circles away from one another, you'll notice that one circle takes a chunk out of the other. You can get around this problem by turning shapes into Symbols (select the shape and then press F8). Alternately, you could place each shape on its own layer. You should experiment with this to get a sense of how Flash works.

  10. That's it!