How to make styles work?

[barryem]

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to ask an intelligent question here so I hope you'll bear with me. I've spent a lot of time today and also more time on other days trying to figure out how to use styles. I'll finally get something that seems to work and the next thing I know it stops working.

Today I drew half a dozen circles and defined 3 or 4 styles and tried to apply the styles to the circles. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Most often it doesn't and the circles don't change. I've been unable to find any kind of pattern.

Other times I drew the circles and colored them and tried to make the color become a style. That's how I saw it done in the VTC tutorial on styles for version 5.6. I can sometimes make this work but usually not.

I have read the manual and followed the tutorials to no avail. Either styles are a myth and everyone but me knows they don't really work and you're all giggling at me for falling for it, or I'm missing something.

My usual approach is to set a color and select "New Style" from the style menu, thinking that will apply that color to that style. That often works but nothing seems to come of it when I try to use the shape selector to select a shape and apply a style to it. Well, that does work now and then. Again, I can't figure out a pattern.

I've tried having a shape selected before I start, starting first and then selecting the shape, selecting the shape with the translation tool, or not. And just about every combination I can think of.

I've also tried this in both version 6 Pro and version 7 Pro, which are both installed on my two laptops, one using Vista 32 bit and the other using Win7 64 bit. I can't really see any difference from one computer to another or in version 6 and version 7. So I'm sure it's not my installation or my copy of AS or anything like that. It has to be something I'm doing. I have no idea what.

Any ideas? Grasp at straws. I'll take any suggestions I can get.

Thanks,
Barry

[madrobot]

This will not answer your question but I did this in AS5.6:

I make an AS file where I store my colours as shapes. So I have skin tone and outline, hair colours etc. I import that file when I need it and it has everything there for copy and paste, or just copy to current when I'm constructing stuff.

Not what you asked but it worked for me.

[barryem]

I'll take anything I can get since I don't seem to be able to get it working at all. I don't really understand what you're describing though.

Barry

[madrobot]

Ok in your post you were wanting to define 3 or 4 styles, but they weren't stored properly or something?

So make a few shapes in the file (where you will store them, call it "colours" or something.) Apply the colours etc to the shapes. When you want them, import that file to the file you are working in, copy paste the shape colours, effects etc.

[barryem]

You mean to do that instead of using styles, right? Don't styles work?

I got into this when I wanted to try to create a character and I drew the head first and on another vector level I drew an arm, and then I realized that I could color them the same easily using styles...or so I thought. And also that if I wanted to change the colors of all of them together later I could just change the style and all those parts on all those levels would change simultaneously.

I'm not sure what you describe will do that. Am I missing something?

By the way, most of my testing, but not all of it, was done with shapes on the same level, since this seemed easier till I figured it out. I also tried a number of times separating the parts on different levels but my results seemed about the same as when they were on the same level.

Barry

[madrobot]

Yes I do understand that you are talking about applying styles, and raising concerns that styles are not working as you would expect or desire them to.

What I am proposing is not a fix for that. It is just discussion off the top of my head of what I did when I had styles I wanted to copy and paste. Just by storing them (all those for the scene/episode) in one file.

If there are problems with styles being storwed properly or some other issue with the implementation of styles in this release or earlier releases I don't know for sure and I'm sorry if I mislead you but am unable to help you with that specific issue.

[heyvern]

Saved styles work fine.

In the style palette on the top right select NEW STYLE. This creates a new style and the name is highlighted at the top. It is usually "Style 1" or "Style 2" etc. You can name it anything you want at this point.

Now with the named style still selected in the style palette you can set the colors, strokes stroke width etc etc.

NEXT STEP, select a shape you have already created in a vector layer. At the BOTTOM of the style palette there are two pull down menus allowing you to apply a saved style you created. Pull down one of those menus and you will see the style you created in the previous step. Select that style and now that shape uses the saved style.

Alternatively you can select a shape, and set all the attributes, fill color, stroke etc... and THEN create a new style as described in the first step. When you do this the NEW style "picks up" all the information you set in the selected shape.

The shape selected will automatically be assigned that named style.

-vern

[madrobot]

I have no style

[barryem]

Saved styles work fine.

In the style palette on the top right select NEW STYLE. This creates a new style and the name is highlighted at the top. It is usually "Style 1" or "Style 2" etc. You can name it anything you want at this point.

Now with the named style still selected in the style palette you can set the colors, strokes stroke width etc etc.

NEXT STEP, select a shape you have already created in a vector layer. At the BOTTOM of the style palette there are two pull down menus allowing you to apply a saved style you created. Pull down one of those menus and you will see the style you created in the previous step. Select that style and now that shape uses the saved style.

Alternatively you can select a shape, and set all the attributes, fill color, stroke etc... and THEN create a new style as described in the first step. When you do this the NEW style "picks up" all the information you set in the selected shape.

The shape selected will automatically be assigned that named style.

-vern

Okay! I just did that. I created 4 shapes with default fills right after loading AS 7 Pro so I know no earlier settings had infuenced anything. I made sure no shapes were selected and then I changed the fill to red and I changed the outline to green and I selected New Style and I gave it the name Red Green.

Then, using the Shape Selector tool I clicked one of the shapes and sure enough it turned that color and took on that style.

I then clicked elsewhere in the edit window to de-select that shape and then I clicked the reset button below the swatch in the style window, setting default colors for the next created shape. I then selected another shape in the edit window with the shape selector and I set the first of the style buttons to Red Green. Nothing happened.

To the right of the fill color and outline color are check boxes, which I don't know what to do with. I've tried having those checked and un-checked and it doesn't seem to matter. I can't find any reference to these in the help. I'm referring to the check boxes at the right of the fill and outline color, not to those at the left.

I've also gone through the tutorial about styles and loaded the tutorial file and there the styles seem to work as they're supposed to. I just don't seem to be able to make styles that do that.

It has to be something I'm doing wrong but I can't seem to figure out what that is.

Any ideas will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Barry

[bas]

At first I did not understand style concept either but try this:

1 start new project
1a reset all tools ( left top under FILE)
2 reset style box ( down right )
3 click style - new ( top right dropdown menu)
4 rename Style 1 i.e. redgreen
5 click on fill color - pick red
6 click on stroke color - pick green
7 click somewhere in your work area
8 Type "E" , draw shape i.e. a rectangle
9 Type "U" , this is the create shape command
10 click style drop down menu <none>
11 type "P" paint bucket
12 click on the shape

13!! in the middle of the style menu is the dropdown menu Style 1:
here you can choose redgreen

14 deselect the V 's after Fill color, Stroke color and Width.

maybe the order in which I did it is a bit wrong, but this is what I found and it works.

This means that this Style window is actually a few windows in one:

The UPPER part is where you DEFINE styles ( as well as give names to your shapes; very handy indeed: you can then select the shape by name)

The LOWER part ( under the 3th horiz line form the top) is where you CHOOSE your defined style for a selected shape, to fill with the Paintbucket.

After some experimenting this gives an idea of how to use it, the manual is not very clear about the meaning and the logic of this concept.

I hope this helps you further, grtz, B

Now to work out how EXACTLY actions work.......

[heyvern]

I then clicked elsewhere in the edit window to de-select that shape and then I clicked the reset button below the swatch in the style window, setting default colors for the next created shape. I then selected another shape in the edit window with the shape selector and I set the first of the style buttons to Red Green. Nothing happened.

Yes, that is because of those check boxes on the default style. When a shape is create those check boxes are checked by default and override applied styles.

If a shape does not have a named style applied the checkboxes have no effect and are "grayed out" however they can still be "checked" or "unchecked" you just can't access them unless you apply a named/saved style preset. Pressing the "reset" on the style palette defaults to "checked" in the style palette boxes.

Those checkboxes in both the default shape style and in named styles are important. They determine what gets used in the shape. if you check the boxes on the selected shape they over ride the style, or you can UNCHECK the boxes in the saved style to have the same effect.

-vern

[barryem]

I just read both of your posts, Bas and Vern, and played with it for a few minutes in AS and that helped a little. I'm about to get some sleep so I'll play with it more in the morning.

Explaining those check boxes made a big difference.

Thanks,
Barry

[madriver]

I just read both of your posts, Bas and Vern, and played with it for a few minutes in AS and that helped a little. I'm about to get some sleep so I'll play with it more in the morning.

Explaining those check boxes made a big difference.

Thanks,
Barry

One other thing you must do is to select your shape, then in the upper right part of the screen, CREATE SHAPE and name the shape. THEN deselect the check marks and select your named style and it should work.

The style you created will be automatically added to every shape you create until you re-select the check boxes.

[barryem]

Okay thanks. I'm still struggling with this style thing but it's working some of the time now. It's still unreliable.

I'm guessing that I'm doing something "anti-style" the times it messes up but it always messes up in some different way so it's hard to pin down.

Little by little.

Barry

[madrobot]

I am still struggling somewhat with style. That's putting it mildly.
If anyone on the forum has never met an Australian before, we sound like crows and have atrocious fashion sense.