Editing

What is a registration point? Do you know what I am talking about? Simply put, a registration point is the default location of an object from which an object's x and y co-ordinates are determined. More simply, it is the crosshair that appears in the center or corners of your object after you convert it into a movie clip, graphic, or button. The following picture might help jog your memory:

[ the registration point is in the top left ]

In Flash 5, when you wanted to edit an object's registration point, you simply went to Modify | Transform | Edit Center. In Flash MX, Macromedia decided that was too easy and removed that option. Surprisingly, the solution was right under our finger tips:

1. Select the object (graphic, button, movie clip) with your mouse pointer.
    
2. Once the object is selected, press the Free Transform tool icon from the group of icons on the left:

[ the free transform tool icon ]

3. Your mouse cursor will change to reflect the 'transform' mode you are currently in. You will also notice that your object has black boxes surrounding the edges:

[ the object in transform mode ]

4. Here's the easy part, make sure you are still in transform mode. Click the hollow circle, the registration point, and drag it toward the center or wherever you want your new registration point to be:

[ before and after images of the registration point ]

4. That is all there is to editing the center of an object in Flash MX.