Tutorials
Effects on one instance
Give one of two signs a glowing outline and a ripple of its own, effects on the instance rather than on a layer.
This page is also a lesson inside Phoenix: choose and start Effects on one instance, and Phoenix points at each control as you go. It takes about 6 minutes.
To follow along here instead, download the starting document, instance-effects.fla, and open it with .
An adjustment layer changes everything below it. A single symbol instance can carry the same effects on its own picture, leaving the rest alone.
The two signs on the stage are instances of one symbol, Sign. Only the one on the right will change.
1. Pick the Selection tool
Press V, or click the Selection tool.
2. Select the right sign
Click the sign on the right. A single click selects the whole instance.
3. Show its effects
At the top of the Behaviors panel, click Effects. The panel now lists the instance's effects, which work on its picture, rather than its behaviors, which move it. The list is empty.
4. Add an outline
Click Add Effect and choose Outline. A white line goes round the sign on the right; the one on the left stays plain.
5. Make it glow
Set Width (pixels) to 8, and Color to #FFE060 for a warm neon edge.
6. Add a ripple
Click Add Effect again and choose Ripple. Rings of waves spread from the sign's middle, through the outline too: effects apply top to bottom.
7. Play it
Press Enter, or click the play button in the timeline header. The right sign ripples, outline and all.
What you did
You gave one instance effects of its own. They go wherever the instance goes, and its filters, such as a Drop Shadow, apply after them.
File > Export > Export FLA for Other Apps carries the outline as a Glow filter; the ripple has no counterpart there, so the sign is drawn into a bitmap on each frame.
For everything this tutorial touches on, see Behaviors.