adobe flash catalyst

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Managing the Library - Viewing the Library panel (part 2) - Preview files in the Library panel

As your project grows, it can be hard to identify assets by name alone. You’ll want to preview files before adding them to your application. An easy way to do this is to view the file in the preview area at the top of the Library panel.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Managing the Library - Viewing the Library panel (part 1) - Add assets to the Library panel

In this exercise, you will add a few more assets to the Library panel. When you import a single bitmap image, it’s added to the artboard and the Library panel. But when you import a series of bitmaps or media files (sound and video), they’re added directly to the Library panel, but not the artboard.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Set Up Design-time Data

When showing the initial design to your client or boss, you likely added different items to represent the data. In the Magazines Now design, five magazine titles were displayed.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Configuring the Repeating Item's Appearance

When you designate the repeating item in the data list, Catalyst automatically adds five instances of it in a vertical list. The Properties panel makes it easy to change this to a horizontal or tile list and set the spacing between items.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Animating State Change Transitions

Transitions between states can be animated. Catalyst includes a set of pre-built animation effects that can be used in transitions. After you add an interaction to trigger a state change, the effected states appear on the Timelines panel. You can increase or decrease the time each transition takes and choose the effect to be played.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Trigger View State Changes with Buttons

In order to allow your user to move from one state to the next, you need to add an interaction to an element in the application. Almost any component can be used for this interaction, but the most commonly used one will be a button.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Components with Built-in View States

These states define the appearance of the component during various expected user interactions. View state changes within these components are automatic; you need not specifically add the ability for a button to change from the Up to the Over state when the user interacts with it.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Create New States within a Component

If you have a subscription or order form that spans multiple pages, you would likely encapsulate the form in a custom component, and then have the component contain multiple states to represent the pages of the application.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Modify the Contents of a State

Each state's contents can be modified at will without affecting other states. Often, modifications to states will simply involve either deleting components that you do not want in a state or hiding their layers and then either adding new components from the library or showing their layers.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Creating States in the Main Application

The Pages/States panel in Catalyst allows you to create and manage view states. A new application will have a single state, but the panel allows you to create as many additional states as you want. States can either be created as duplicates of an existing state or as new blank states.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Optimizing artwork

In Flash Catalyst, graphic optimization options include converting vector graphics to bitmaps, compressing images, and converting embedded images to linked files. When you import a design document, you can choose fidelity options that do some of the graphic optimization for you.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Importing artwork

Objects placed outside the Illustrator artboard or Photoshop canvas are clipped. Before importing, make sure that all artwork appears inside the artboard or canvas. You can reposition these items after importing them into Flash Catalyst.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Preparing a design document

. The way you approach the design and organization of your artwork has a significant impact on the structure of the project in Flash Catalyst and the underlying code. The following ideas will help protect the integrity of your design and minimize re-working or re-structuring assets after bringing them into Flash Catalyst.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Changing stroke and fill (part 2) - Change stroke color and weight, Add and modify gradient fills

Stroke is the line or outline that defines a shape you draw in Flash Catalyst—as in the “stroke of the pen” or “brush strokes.” In Flash Catalyst, you can choose a solid stroke, a gradient stroke, or no stroke at all.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Changing stroke and fill (part 1) - Change the fill color

When you first start Flash Catalyst, new shapes are created with a solid white fill. But as soon as you change the fill color of a shape, any new shape that you draw takes on the most recent fill color that you’ve applied.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Drawing basic shapes and lines

For most designers, using the Flash Catalyst drawing tools is a cinch. For anyone new to vector drawing tools, you’ll find the best way to master them is to practice. A little experimentation, combined with the Undo command, goes a long way.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Using the rulers, guides, and grid

Flash Catalyst offers four main aids to assist you while drawing. These include the rulers, the custom guides, a visible grid for measuring and aligning artwork, and the Properties panel for positioning and sizing objects down to the exact pixel.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Merging Changes from Catalyst into Flash Builder

In an ideal workflow, this would not be necessary; the design phase of the project will have been completed in Catalyst, and all that will remain will be editing it in Flash Builder.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Running a Project in Flash Builder

The key difference is that, by default, Catalyst opens the project in a stand-alone version of Flash Player, while Flash Builder defaults to opening the project in a Web browser.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Importing Your Project into Flash Builder - Beginning the Import Process

Catalyst creates FXP files. An FXP file is actually nothing more than a zipped Flex project, which can be opened directly in Flash Builder. Therefore, there is nothing special you actually need to do in order to export your file to Flash Builder; it will automatically be in a file format supported by Flash Builder.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Designing with Data - Using a wireframe data list

As with all data lists, the repeated item has Normal, Over, and Selected states. You can modify the repeated item as needed. For example, you can add new text and widen the bounding box to create additional columns in the data table.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Using design-time data (part 2) - Add and remove elements in the repeated item

To edit a Data List component in Edit-In-Place mode, you can double-click the data list. You can also select it and choose Modify > Edit Component. A third option is to select it and click Edit Parts in the HUD.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Using design-time data (part 1) - Replace design-time images & Edit design-time text

By default, a data list opens with nothing selected. You can set the list to open with a specific record selected. To do this, select a row in the Design-Time Data panel. Then in the Component section of the Properties panel, enter 1 as the value for the Selected Index property.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Setting data list properties

A data list has the same properties as every other Flash Catalyst built-in component. For example, you can change its size, opacity, and rotation. You can enable or disable it, add a tooltip, or add a drop shadow.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Creating a Data List component (part 2) - Convert the sample record into a Data List component & Define the repeated item

With the parts of a data list arranged in the artboard, the next step is to select them and convert the individual parts into a new Data List component. If your data list includes a scroll bar, make sure to include it in the selection.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Creating a Data List component (part 1) - Design a sample record

If you think about a traditional data list, there are typically columns and rows of information. Each row represents a unique record in the database. For each record there may be several columns of information.

Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 : Flash Catalyst data lists

A data list is a special type of component used to retrieve and display a series of related items. You can design a data list using Flash Catalyst.