Working with Graphic Objects > Selecting objects |  |

Selecting objects

To modify an object, you must first select it. Macromedia Flash MX provides a variety of methods for making selections, including the Arrow tool, the Lasso tool, and keyboard commands. You can group individual objects to manipulate them as a single object. See Grouping objects.

Flash highlights objects and strokes that have been selected with a dot pattern. Selected groups are highlighted with bounding boxes in the color used for the outline of the layer that contains the selected group. You can change the layer outline color in the Layer Properties dialog box. See Viewing layers and layer folders.

You can choose to select only an object's strokes or only its fills. You can hide selection highlighting in order to edit objects without viewing highlighting.

When you select an object, the Property inspector displays the object's stroke and fill, its pixel dimensions, and the x and y coordinates of the object's transformation point.

If you select multiple items of different types on the Stage, such as an object, a button, and a movie clip, the Property inspector indicates a mixed selection. The Property inspector for a mixed selection displays the pixel dimensions and x and y coordinates of the selected set of items.

You can use the Property inspector for a shape to change the object's stroke and fill. See Working with Color.

You might want to prevent a group or symbol from being selected and accidentally changed. To do this, you can lock the group or symbol. See Modifying selections.