Buttons

Here is an example of three buttons:

When you create a button in Flash, you need to take four states into account:

(a)The Up State: The state of the button when you first see it on the screen.
(b)The Over State: the state when the user moves the mouse over the button.
(c)The Down State: the state when the user clicks the button.
(d)The Hit State: the area of the button that corresponds to where the mouse activates it.


1. Open a new Flash project.

2. Insert > New Symbol > Button.

3. Draw your shape. This will be the UP state of your button.

4. Click in the OVER frame.

5. Insert Keyframe.(Note: Instead, you could insert a blank keyframe and then create an entirely new image for your button).

6. Change the stroke or fill color of your button.

7. Click in the DOWN Frame.

8. Insert Keyframe.

9. Do another change of the fill or stroke colors.Try changing the size.

10. Click on the HIT Frame. Insert Keyframe (you don't have to change any colors for this.)

11. Click on Control > Test Movie to test your button.

The above steps will make a really simple button. To make it more interesting, try inserting different graphic symbols in each of the button states. You can also place animated movie clip symbols in each state, but we will get to that later.

Assignment

1. Create three different buttons and place them in three different layers.

2. Create a fourth button that includes text, like the word "next". Place it in its own layer.

3. Create three buttons that uses images created in Photoshop (for the UP, OVER, and DOWN states…remember you only need a keyframe for the HIT state. Use the BEVEL and Emboss feature you learned about earlier.Place each of your new buttons in their own layers.

4. Finally, add three buttons into one final layer from the common libraries. WINDOW > COMMON LIBRARIES>BUTTONS.