Using the Stage

The Stage is the rectangular area where you place graphic content when creating Flash documents. The Stage in the authoring environment represents the rectangular space in Flash Player or in a web browser window where your document appears during playback. To change the view of the Stage as you work, zoom in and out. To help you position items on the Stage, you can use the grid, guides, and rulers.

The Timeline and Stage with content

For a video tutorial about the Flash interface, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0116.

Zoom the Stage

To view the entire Stage on the screen, or to view a particular area of your drawing at high magnification, change the magnification level. The maximum magnification depends on the resolution of your monitor and the document size. The minimum value for zooming out on the Stage is 8%. The maximum value for zooming in on the Stage is 2000%.

  • To zoom in on an element, select the Zoom tool  in the Tools panel, and click the element. To switch the Zoom tool between zooming in or out, use the Enlarge  or Reduce  modifiers (in the options area of the Tools panel when the Zoom tool is selected) or Alt‑click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh).

  • To zoom in so that a specific area of your drawing fills the window, drag a rectangular selection on the Stage with the Zoom tool.

  • To zoom in on or out of the entire Stage, select View > Zoom In or View > Zoom Out.

  • To zoom in or out by a specified percentage, select View > Magnification, and select a percentage from the submenu or select a percentage from the Zoom control at the upper-right corner of the Timeline.

  • To scale the Stage so that it fits completely in the application window, select View > Magnification > Fit in Window.

  • To show the contents of the current frame, select View > Magnification > Show All, or select Show All from the Zoom control at the upper-right side of the application window. If the scene is empty, the entire Stage appears.

  • To show the entire Stage, select View > Magnification > Show Frame or select Show Frame from the Zoom control at the upper-right corner of the Timeline.

  • To show the workspace surrounding the Stage, or to view elements in a scene that are partly or completely outside of the Stage area, select View > Pasteboard. The pasteboard appears in light gray. For example, to have a bird fly into a frame, initially position the bird outside of the Stage in the pasteboard and animate it into the Stage area.

Move the view of the Stage

When the Stage is magnified, you may not be able to see all of it. To change the view without having to change the magnification, use the Hand tool to move the Stage.

 In the Tools panel, select the Hand tool and drag the Stage. To temporarily switch between another tool and the Hand tool, hold down the Spacebar and click the tool in the Tools panel.

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