Macromedia Director MX for Windows and Macintosh [Electronic resources] : Visual QuickStart Guide نسخه متنی

Formatting Text

When text is displayed in the Text or Field window, or is in editing mode on the Stage, you can make selections within the text just as you would in a word processor. Once you've selected some text, you can change its font, size, style, alignment, and color, and (for regular text only) its kerning and line spacing (Figure 12.18). If you want to change these attributes for an entire cast member, select all the text.

If you're editing text in the Text window, you can also change the text's tab and indent settings. These settings can't be changed on the Stage.

A number of other properties, including scrolling and anti-aliasing, can be set in the Property Inspector. These settings apply to the cast member as a whole and not to selected text within the cast member.

To format selected text:

Double-click a text sprite on the Stage or a text cast member in the Cast window.

If the text cast member is on the Stage, it enters editing mode; if it's in the Cast window, it opens for editing in the Text or Field window. (See "To edit text on the Stage" or "To edit in the Text or Field window," earlier in this chapter.)

Using the controls in the Text Inspector (if you're editing the text on the Stage) or on the Text toolbar (if you're editing the text in the Text or Field window), set any of the following attributes:

Font: You can choose from any of the fonts that are installed on your computer or from any fonts that are embedded in the Director file. (See "Embedding Fonts," later in this chapter.)

Size: Choose a point size from the pop-up menu, or type a size directly in the Size box (Figure 12.19).

Style: Click the buttons to select Bold, Italic, Underlined, or any combination (Figure 12.20).

Alignment: Click a button to left-align, center-align, right-align, or fully justify the text. Your choice will affect the entire paragraph in which the selected text appears (Figure 12.21).

Kerning (regular text only): Use this setting to change the horizontal spacing between characters. You can click the up or down arrows to increment or decrement the value by 1, or you can just enter a number in the Kerning box. Positive values move characters farther apart; negative values move them closer together. To change the spacing between a pair of characters, select the first character only (Figure 12.22).

Line Spacing (regular text only): Use this setting to change the vertical spacing between lines (traditionally called leading). You can click the up or down arrows to increment or decrement the value by 1, or enter a number in the Line Spacing box. Values higher than the default move the lines farther apart; values lower than the default move them closer together (Figure 12.23). If you choose a value of 0, Director will automatically restore the default value.

Color: Text color can be changed only in the Text Inspector. However, you can use the Text Inspector to change the color of any text, whether it's selected on the Stage or in the Text or Field window. Select a foreground color from the Foreground Color menu and a background color from the Background Color menu. The foreground color will affect only the selected text, but the background color will affect the entire cast member (Figure 12.24).

To change the indent and tab settings for selected paragraphs (regular text only):

In the Cast window, double-click a text cast member.

The Text window opens, displaying the text.

If the ruler isn't visible beneath the Text toolbar, display it by choosing View > Ruler (Figure 12.25).

Select the paragraphs whose indent or tab settings you want to change.

Selecting any text within a paragraph will cause the indents and tabs to be changed for the entire paragraph. If you want to change the indents or tabs for only a single paragraph, you don't have to select anything; just click within the paragraph.

Change the indents by dragging the appropriate controls (Figure 12.26):

Left Indent (first line only): This control causes the first line of each of the selected paragraphs to be indented by the amount you specify.

Left Indent (all but first line): This control causes all lines except the first line of the selected paragraphs to be indented by the amount you specify.

Left Indent (all): This control causes all lines of the selected paragraph to be indented by the same amount.

Right Indent: This control causes all lines of the selected paragraph to be indented from the right.

Note: The second and third controlsLeft Indent (all but first line) and Left Indent (all)move as a unit, but their effect depends on which one you drag.

To select the type of tab you want to set, click the tab well.

Click as many times as necessary. Each time you click, the icon in the tab well changes. It cycles, in order, through the Left tab, the Right tab, the Center tab, and the Decimal tab (Figure 12.27).

Click the ruler at the place where you want to set a tab.

A new tab, of the type displayed in the tab well, appears at the spot you clicked.

If necessary, change the tab's location by dragging it along the ruler.

Tip

You can remove a tab by dragging it off the ruler.

To change the properties of a regular text cast member:

Select a text cast member in the Cast window.

Click the Text tab in the Property Inspector (Figure 12.28).

Change properties as desired.

You can change the following properties:

Display: There are only two options on this pop-up menu: Normal, the default, displays text normally. The 3D Mode option gives the text the illusion of depth. (For information on 3D text, see Chapter 18, "Shockwave 3D.")

Framing: The options on this menu determine how text is displayed in relation to its bounding box. (See the task that follows, "To adjust the dimensions of a text cast member.") The default setting, Adjust to Fit, causes the bounding box to expand vertically as far as necessary to display all the text (thus giving you control over the width of the bounding box, but not its height). Fixed allows you to adjust the bounding box to any dimensions you like, even if some of the text gets hidden as a result. Scrolling does the same but provides a vertical scroll bar to make the hidden text accessible (Figure 12.29).

Editable: This option allows people who view your movie to enter or edit text while the movie plays. It's generally used in conjunction with a Lingo script that can process the user's input. Unless you have such a script, it's best to leave this option unselected (Figure 12.30).

Tab: If the Editable option (above) is selected, the Tab option causes Director to move the insertion point to the next editable cast member when the user presses the Tab key.

Wrap: This option, selected by default, causes text to wrap automatically when it's typed into a cast member. Unless you're using editable text in conjunction with a Lingo script (in which case Lingo can "see" the text even if it runs past the edge of the bounding box), you should always leave this option selected.

DTS: DTS stands for Direct to Stage. When this option is selected, the text cast member is placed in front of the Stage instead of interacting with other sprites on the Stage. Ink effects and the Blend property don't work when DTS is turned on, and motion tweening may not work properly. However, by reducing the load on the computer's processor, this option may improve the playback performance of your movie.

Use Hypertext Styles: This option is selected by default. If the cast member contains hyperlinked text, this option causes the links to change color when they're clicked, as the links in a Web browser do. (See "Creating Hyperlinked Text," later in this chapter.)

Anti-Alias: This pop-up menu tells Director which text to anti-alias. The default is Larger Than, which tells Director to anti-alias text only if it's larger than a specified point size. (The default is 14 points, as shown in Figure 12.31, but you can enter a different value in the Points box). The All Text option anti-aliases all text in a cast member regardless of its point size, but this is generally a bad idea, because anti-aliasing can make small-sized text difficult to read (Figure 12.32). The None option turns off anti-aliasing for the cast member. (Note to Mac users: Even when anti-aliasing is turned off in Director, the Mac operating system may apply its own anti-aliasing.)

Kerning: This pop-up menu tells Director when to apply kerning rules that adjust the spacing between certain combinations of characters. The option you choose here affects the entire cast member, unlike the kerning settings you may apply to selected text. (See "To change the attributes of selected text," earlier in this chapter.) The Kerning pop-up menu is identical to that for the Anti-Alias property (Figure 12.33). As with anti-aliasing, kerning small-sized text often reduces readability.

Pre-Render: Applying anti-aliasing to text requires a good deal of processing power. When a large amount of anti-aliased text appears on the Stage, playback of the movie may slow down. By selecting a pre-render option, you can tell Director to prepare the text for display before it appears on the Stage, thus improving playback speed. Select the Copy Ink option to pre-render a cast member whose sprite will have the default Copy ink effect applied. Select the Other Ink option to pre-render a cast member whose sprite will have any other ink effect applied. Select None to turn off pre-rendering.

To change the properties of a field text cast member:

Select a field text cast member in the Cast window.

Click the Field tab in the Property Inspector (Figure 12.34).

Change the following properties as desired:

Framing: The first three options on this pop-up menuAdjust to Fit, Scrolling, and Fixedare identical to those on the Text tab of the Property Inspector. (See "To change the properties of a regular text cast member," above.) The last option, Limit to Field Size, allows only as much text to be entered as can fit in the cast member's bounding box (Figure 12.35).

Editable, Wrap, and Tab: These options are identical to those on the Text tab of the Property Inspector. (See "To change the properties of a regular text cast member," above.)

Box Shadow: This option allows you to add a simple drop shadowin the form of black lines to the right and underneathto a field text cast member's bounding box. It looks best if the Border option (see below) is also selected (Figure 12.36). The pop-up menu gives you a range of 1 to 5 pixels for the width of the shadow, or None for no shadow.

Border: This option places a border around the cast member's bounding box. The pop-up menu, offering a width selection of 1 to 5 pixels (or None for no border), is identical to that for the Box Shadow property (above) and the Drop Shadow and Margin properties (below) (Figure 12.37).

Drop Shadow: This option allows you to add a simple drop shadow to the text within a field text cast member. It looks better with larger-sized text. The drop shadow consists of a copy of the text, in black, offset by 1 to 5 pixels (Figure 12.38). Choose None if you don't want a drop shadow.

Margin: This option sets the distance between the text and the edges of the bounding box from 0 pixels (None) to 5 pixels (Figure 12.39).

To adjust the dimensions of a text cast member:

Select a text sprite (either regular or field text) on the Stage.

Drag any of its resize handles to change the dimensions of the sprite's bounding box.

If the Adjust to Fit option is selected for this cast member (see the description of the Framing property in "To change the properties of a regular text cast member" or "To change the properties of a field text cast member," above), you'll only be able to resize the box horizontally, not vertically.

The text will automatically rewrap as you change the size of the box (Figure 12.40). Any changes you make to the dimensions of the text sprite will be applied to the original cast member.

or

Double-click a text cast member in the Cast window.

The Text or Field window opens, displaying the text.

Position the mouse pointer over the right edge of the white rectangle that encloses the text.

The mouse pointer becomes a double-headed arrow (Figure 12.41).

Drag left or right to change the width of the cast member.

You can't change the height of the cast member in the Text window; that can only be done on the Stage.