Operation Manual

62 Working with Graphics, Animation, and Multimedia
The Color panel also features Fill, Text, and Line
buttons that let you preselect which attribute your color selection will
affect. For each base color you select, you can drag the Shade/Tint
slider below the tab gallery to adjust the lightness of the applied color,
for infinite variety.
The adjacent Color Picker Tool lets you define a free color
(shown as the second sample in the color gallery). You can choose the
tool and click anywhere in the workspace to “pick up” the color under
the cursor. (Left-clicking with the tool magnifies pixels under the
cursor for surgical precision.)
Note: You can achieve great results using just solid colors, but for even
more impressive effects explore the Transparency panel on the
Attributes tab. Using the samples in conjunction with the Transparency
tool, you can create highlights, shading and shadows, and simulate
“rendered” realism. You’ll find full details in online help, as noted at
the end of the chapter.
 Now click to display the Fill panel. Here you’ll find an array of
predefined color fills in several categories: Linear, Radial, and
Conical. Try applying some of the thumbnails to get a feel for the
wide range of possibilities. If you want to switch back to a clear
fill, click None in the drop-down list.
 In passing, right-click on the box object itself and note the
available Line..., Fill..., and Transparency... options that let you
adjust all these properties.
As a mini-project, you might try creating
your own Home Page button by overlaying a
text frame on an unfilled shape. Select both
objects, then click the little
Group
button to join them temporarily. Grouping
lets you move or edit a bunch of objects as if
they were one object; you can still edit
individual component objects by Ctrl-
clicking it. To separate (ungroup) the objects, click the button again. In
the next chapter we’ll see how to add a hyperlink!