Flash MX: Using Guide Layers

Version: Flash MX
Level: Easy
Objectives: To learn to create and use Guide Layers in your Flash movies
Tools & Techniques: Guide Layers, Layer Folder, Layers, Editing Layers, and Outline Display

Guide layers are useful aids in assisting you with your on screen elements. They don't get published with the final movie so you don't have to worry about deleting them or the content that resides on the layer.

I use guide layers most often to hold my design aids, guides, and other notes I create. In the image below, the red cross graphic is a design aid that I use to maintain spacing between images and text blocks on the stage.

The stage guide (outer red border) is used to keep all stage elements contained within a specified distance from the edge of the movie. These are elements that are very useful to me for designing but I certainly wouldn't want them to be visible when I published my movie which is why I place them on a guide layer.

Here's an example of one way I use my guide layers (organized in a Layer Folder) to hold my screen guides and notes:

They are also useful for the times when you want to preview your movie without viewing certain items. For example, let's say you wanted to publish and preview your movie without viewing the background image. Rather than deleting the layer or the background object, you could quickly make the background layer a guide layer. When you tested your movie, your background image wouldn't be visible even though it's still visible on the stage.

To make your background layer visible again, you would simply change the layer from a guide layer back to a regular layer.