Setting text or field cast member properties

Use the Property inspector to view and change settings for selected text cast members. In addition to standard Name and Unload properties, you can specify whether text is editable while the movie plays, improve performance with pre-rendering, and control anti-aliasing and kerning.

To view or change text or field cast member properties:

1. Select a text cast member in the Cast window.
2. To display the Property inspector, perform one of the following actions:
   • Select Modify > Cast Member > Properties.
   • Select Window > Property Inspector.
3. Click the Member tab, if it's not already selected, using the Graphical view.

   The following noneditable settings appear:

4. The cast member size in kilobytes
5. The cast member creation and edit dates
6. The name of the last person who modified the cast member
7. To view or edit the cast member name, use the Name text box.
8. To add comments about the cast member, use the Comments text box.
9. To specify how Director removes the cast member from memory if memory is low, select an option from the Unload pop-up menu. For more information, see Controlling cast member unloading.
10. To change the text of the cast member, click Edit.
11. Click the Property inspector's Text or Field tab by using the Graphical view.
12. To determine how Director places text within the boundaries of the cast member, select one of the following Framing options:

    Adjust to Fit expands the text box vertically when text that is entered extends beyond the current size of the box.

    Scrolling attaches a scroll bar to the right side of the text box. This is useful when there is a large amount of text. The scroll bar is drawn direct to Stage, which means that even if another cast member is in front of a cast member that contains a scroll bar, the scroll bar appears in the front.

    Fixed retains the original size of the text box. If you enter text that extends beyond the limits of the box, the text is stored but doesn't appear. You can set up scrolling with some script in Lingo or JavaScript syntax (for more information, see Controlling scrolling text with Lingo or JavaScript syntax).

    Limit to Field Size (available only for field cast members) displays only the amount of text that fits within the field's bounding rectangle.

13. To set editing and display options, select from the following options:

    Editable makes the cast member editable while the movie plays (for more information, see Using editable text).

    Wrap increases the vertical size of the text box or field on the Stage so that all text is visible.

    Tab advances the text insertion point to the next editable sprite on the Stage when the user presses Tab.

    DTS (Direct to Stage) (text cast members only) makes text display more quickly by rendering it directly to the Stage without composing it with other sprites. Selecting the DTS option prevents other sprites from appearing over the text, and limits the ink options to Copy.

    Use Hypertext Styles (text cast members only) makes hypertext links appear the same as in a web browser, initially using blue underlining, and then red after the link has been visited. (For more information, see Creating a hypertext link.)

14. To make text of a text cast member appear on the Stage more quickly, select a pre-render option. Pre-rendering controls when text buffers are created.

    Without pre-rendering, large amounts of anti-aliased text can take a while to load. This can cause a noticeable delay when the text is displayed for the first time. When a pre-render option is selected, text buffers are created when the current text member is loaded, instead of when the member first appears on the Stage.

    Select one of the following pre-render options from the Pre-Render pop-up menu:

    None provides no pre-rendering.

    Copy Ink optimizes the pre-rendering for Copy Ink (this option renders text more quickly than Other Ink).

    Other Ink pre-renders the text for all other ink types.

    If you select a pre-render option, you can make text appear on the Stage even more quickly by selecting Save Bitmap. See Using the Save Bitmap feature for pre-rendered text.

15. To control how Director anti-aliases text for a text cast member, select one of the following Anti-Alias options:

    All Text anti-aliases all the text in the text block.

    Larger Than anti-aliases only text that is larger than the point size entered in the Points text box.

    None turns off anti-aliasing for the current cast member.

    Anti-aliasing dramatically improves the appearance of large text, but it can blur or distort smaller text. Experiment with the size setting to get the best results for the font you are using. (For more information, see About anti-aliased text.)

16. To control how Director kerns text, select a Kerning option.

    Kerning often does not improve the appearance of text at small point sizes. For more information, see About kerning.

    All Text kerns all the text in the cast member according to the standard kerning table.

    Larger Than kerns only text that is larger than the point size entered in the Points text box.

    None turns off kerning for the current cast member.

17. To add borders and shadings (field cast members only), select options from the Box Shadow, Border, Drop Shadow, and Margin pop-up menus.