1: The outline layer
new document:
Open a new document and set its height to 500 and
width to 800 (Modify
/ Movie). Set its background color to gray. This will be
later changed to white, but now is just temporary so lighter
color objects on the stage are more visible. Save the and name it
main.
On the timeline, change the name of the
layer to outline.
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On the Tools panel, click on the
Rectangle Tool and for the Colors select a black
Stroke and no Fill.
Then, draw a rectangle on the stage area.
Select the rectangle ( Double Click ),
Right Click / Panels / Info and in the Info panel set the width
to 600 and the height to 375.
The Info panel is a useful tool
for precise control of the size and location of you
objects.
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Note: Selecting an object, then
Right Click / Panels
will display all the panels that have action applicable to
the selected object.
With the rectangle selected, open the Align
panel and Align vertical
center and Align
horizontal center. Make sure the To Stage button is
depressed.
Organizing your panels:
While you don't want to have too many panels opened because they
can clutter your workspace and obstruct the view of your work,
constantly closing and opening them can be time consuming.
You have a few options:
1: If you double click on
the panel, title bar (the blue region) the panel will
minimize.
2: You can also group
panels by grabbing one panel by the title or name and dragging
over to another.
3: If you are not editing text,
pressing the Tab button on the keyboard will toggle the
panels' visibility
4: Once you get your panels
arranged the way you prefer them, you can save that setting with
Window / Save Panel Layout. Then, you can retrieve the set
anytime with Window / Panel Sets.
Vertical Lines:
Make a vertical line and use the
Info panel to set
its height to 375 and its X and Y
coordinates to 175 and 250. Make sure that in
the Alignment Grid
(nine small squares) the center is selected.
Duplicate this line (Copy
and Paste ) and set its X and Y coordinates to
350 and 225 respectively.
Double Click the
whole outline and use the Stroke panel to make sure
the stroke is set to 1.
This will be our outline
that will be used to organize and place other objects.
Layer options:
Make a new layer and call it actions. Use the icon
at the bottom to do this. You also have icons to add a guide
layer and to delete a layer.
Selecting a layer and clicking the
dot under the Eye icon will hide that layer, and
clicking the dot under the Lock will lock that
layer. Also, Right
Clicking in the layer area will give you other useful
options.
Lock your outline
layer for the meanwhile so you do not move something by mistake.
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