About font rendering and anti-alias text 411
The fourth, and final, block of code defines onRelease event handlers for both the
normal_mc movie clip and the advanced_mc movie clip. When the user clicks and releases
either one of these options, the anti-alias type for the text field on the Stage changes.
7. Save your changes to the FLA file.
8. Select Control > Test Movie to test your Flash document.
9. Click the advanced_mc movie clip on the Stage.
Clicking the movie clip switches the anti-alias type from normal (the default) to advanced.
When you are dealing with text fields with a smaller font size, setting the anti-aliasing to
advanced can dramatically improve the readability of the text.
For information on formatting anti-alias text, see “Using a grid fit type” on page 417 and
“About formatting anti-alias text” on page 414.
A sample file on your hard disk shows how to apply and manipulate anti-aliased text in an
application. You use the FlashType rendering technology to create small text that’s highly
legible. This sample also demonstrates how text fields can scroll quickly and smoothly when
you use the
cacheAsBitmap property.
You can find the sample source file, flashtype.fla, in the Samples folder on your hard disk.
In Windows, browse to boot drive\Program Files\Macromedia\Flash 8\Samples and
Tutorials\Samples\ActionScript\FlashType.
On the Macintosh, browse to Macintosh HD/Applications/Macromedia Flash 8/Samples and
Tutorials/Samples/ActionScript/FlashType.
Setting tables for fonts
If you create fonts for use in SWF files or for distribution to Flash developers, you may need
to set tables for fonts to control how they render on the Stage.
Advanced anti-aliasing uses adaptively sampled distance fields (ADFs) to represent the
outlines that determine a glyph (a character). Flash uses two values:
■ An outside cutoff value, below which densities are set to 0.
■ An inside cutoff value, above which densities are set to a maximum density value, such
as 255.
Between these two cutoff values, the mapping function is a linear curve ranging from 0 at the
outside cutoff to the maximum density at the inside cutoff.
TIP
Advanced anti-aliasing allows font faces to be rendered at high quality at small sizes.
It is best used with applications that have a lot of small text. Macromedia does not
recommend advanced anti-aliasing for fonts larger than 48 points.
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