Beginner's Guide to Adobe Flash/Filters and Blend Modes/Controlling Color

The Adjust Color filter included in the Flash Filter panel loads a new set of controls for making color adjustment to Movie Clips, Button symbols, and text fields. The best way to explain these new controls is to compare them to standard Flash color settings. Some of these controls are unique and some replicate settings available in the Color Mixer panel (for primitive shapes and Drawing Objects) and/or in the Properties panel Color menu.

The controls enable various workflows for setting and adjusting color in the Flash authoring environment. In most cases, you will start with the Color Mixer panel (or Swatches panel) to choose and/or modify fill and stroke colors for initial primitive shapes or Drawing Objects. After the raw graphics are converted into reusable symbols, the Color controls available in the Property inspector and/or the Adjust Color filter can be applied to modify symbol instances without changing the original fill and stroke colors. The sliders and value fields for adjusting color with either of these options are easy to use and you will most likely achieve the result you want with just a little experimentation. However, there are important differences between the Color Properties settings and the new Adjust Color filter settings, and the interaction of, the different settings can become quite complex, To clarify the functions (and the advantages or limitations) of the various settings available with these two options, we have included a brief section for each.