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Arranging objects

  1. Adobe Animate User Guide
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    1. Transforming and combining graphic objects in Animate
    2. Creating and working with symbol instances in Animate
    3. Image Trace
    4. How to use sound in Adobe Animate
    5. Exporting SVG files
    6. Create video files for use in Animate
    7. How to add a video in Animate
    8. Draw and create objects with Animate
    9. Reshape lines and shapes
    10. Strokes, fills, and gradients with Animate CC
    11. Working with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects
    12. Color Panels in Animate CC
    13. Opening Flash CS6 files with Animate
    14. Work with classic text in Animate
    15. Placing artwork into Animate
    16. Imported bitmaps in Animate
    17. 3D graphics
    18. Working with symbols in Animate
    19. Draw lines & shapes with Adobe Animate
    20. Work with the libraries in Animate
    21. Exporting Sounds
    22. Selecting objects in Animate CC
    23. Working with Illustrator AI files in Animate
    24. Applying blend modes
    25. Arranging objects
    26. Automating tasks with the Commands menu
    27. Multilanguage text
    28. Using camera in Animate
    29. Graphic filters
    30. Sound and ActionScript
    31. Drawing preferences
    32. Drawing with the Pen tool
  7. Platforms
    1. Convert Animate projects to other document type formats
    2. Custom Platform Support
    3. Create and publish HTML5 Canvas documents in Animate
    4. Creating and publishing a WebGL document
    5. How to package applications for AIR for iOS
    6. Publishing AIR for Android applications
    7. Publishing for Adobe AIR for desktop
    8. ActionScript publish settings
    9. Best practices - Organizing ActionScript in an application
    10. How to use ActionScript with Animate
    11. Accessibility in the Animate workspace
    12. Writing and managing scripts
    13. Enabling Support for Custom Platforms
    14. Custom Platform Support Overview
    15. Working with Custom Platform Support Plug-in
    16. Debugging ActionScript 3.0
    17. Enabling Support for Custom Platforms
  8. Exporting and Publishing
    1. How to export files from Animate CC
    2. OAM publishing
    3. Exporting SVG files
    4. Export graphics and videos with Animate
    5. Publishing AS3 documents
    6. Export animations for mobile apps and game engines
    7. Exporting Sounds
    8. Best practices - Tips for creating content for mobile devices
    9. Best practices - Video conventions
    10. Best practices - SWF application authoring guidelines
    11. Best practices - Structuring FLA files
    12. Best Practices to optimize FLA files for Animate
    13. ActionScript publish settings
    14. Specify publish settings for Animate
    15. Exporting projector files
    16. Export Images and Animated GIFs
    17. HTML publishing templates
    18. Working with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects
    19. Quick share and publish your animations
  9. Troubleshooting
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues

 

Stack objects

In a layer, Animate stacks objects in the order in which they are created, placing the most recently created object at the top of the stack. The stacking order of objects determines how they appear when they overlap. You can change the stacking order of objects at any time.

Drawn lines and shapes always appear below groups and symbols on the stack. To move them up the stack, you must group them or make them into symbols.

Layers also affect the stacking order. Everything on Layer 2 appears in front of everything on Layer 1, and so on. To change the order of layers, drag the layer name in the Timeline to a new position.

  1. Select the object.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Select Modify > Arrange > Bring To Front Or Send To Back to move the object or group to the top or bottom of the stacking order.

    • Select Modify > Arrange > Bring Forward Or Send Backward to move the object or group forward or backward one position in the stacking order.

If more than one group is selected, the groups move in front of or behind all unselected groups, while maintaining their order relative to each other.

Align objects

The Align panel lets you align selected objects along the horizontal or vertical axis. You can align objects vertically along the right edge, center, or left edge of the selected objects, or horizontally along the top edge, center, or bottom edge of the selected objects.

For a tutorial about the layout tools in Animate, see Use Layout Tools on the Animate Tutorials page.

  1. Select the objects to align.
  2. Select Window > Align.
  3. To apply alignment modifications relative to Stage dimensions, in the Align panel, select To Stage.
  4. To modify the selected object(s), select the alignment buttons.

Group objects

To manipulate elements as a single object, group them. For example, after creating a drawing, you might group the elements of the drawing so that you can easily select and move the drawing as a whole.

When you select a group, the Property inspector displays the x and y coordinates of the group and its pixel dimensions.

You can edit groups without ungrouping them. You can also select an individual object in a group for editing without ungrouping the objects.

  1. Select the objects to group. You can select shapes, other groups, symbols, text, and so on.
    • To group objects, select Modify > Group, or press Control+G (Windows) or Command+G (Macintosh).

    • To ungroup objects, select Modify > Ungroup, or press Control+Shift+G (Windows) or Command+Shift+G (Macintosh).

Edit a group or an object within a group

  1. Select the group, and then select Edit > Edit Selected, or double-click the group with the Selection tool.

    Everything on the page that is not part of the group is dimmed, indicating that elements outside the group are inaccessible.

  2. Edit any element within the group.
  3. Select Edit > Edit All, or double-click a blank spot on the Stage with the Selection tool.

    Animate restores the group to its status as a single entity, and you can work with other elements on the Stage.

Break apart groups and objects

To separate groups, instances, and bitmaps into ungrouped, editable elements, you break them apart, which significantly reduces the file size of imported graphics.

Although you can select Edit > Undo immediately after breaking apart a group or object, breaking apart is not entirely reversible. It affects objects as follows:

  • Severs a symbol instance’s link to its master symbol

  • Discards all but the current frame in an animated symbol

  • Converts a bitmap to a fill

  • Places each character into a separate text block when applied to text blocks

  • Converts characters to outlines when applied to a single text character.

    Do not confuse the Break Apart command with the Ungroup command. The Ungroup command separates grouped objects, returning grouped elements to the state they were in before grouping. It does not break apart bitmaps, instances, or type, or convert type to outlines.

  1. Select the group, bitmap, or symbol to break apart.
  2. Select Modify > Break Apart.

 Breaking apart animated symbols, or groups in an interpolated animation is not recommended and might have unpredictable results. Breaking apart complex symbols and large blocks of text can take a long time. You might need to increase the application’s memory allocation to properly break apart complex objects.

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