Next let’s explore using filter properties which are available in the Flash Player to create visual effects on fonts and other visual elements. To take a look at these properties in an easy visual manner, we will go back to Adobe Flash 8. Please Alt+Tab over to this tool, and then from the File menu select Open, and go to the Project Files folder, and within that find the _ne_assets folder, and open that. You will see there a file font_filterProperties.fla or .fla, open that file, and here you will see the same visual element, a blue arrow, with a gradient applied to it that has had 6 different filters applied to it. A Drop Shadow, Blur, Glow, Bevel, Gradient Glow, and Gradient Bevel. Select the Drop Shadow arrow, and open the filters tab in the Properties panel, you will see that yes, a Drop Shadow filter has been applied, notice that you could potentially add multiple filters. Remember that point, multiple filters can be added to a single element as we'll see shortly.
Take just a moment to play with some of these settings, and notice the effect updating on screen as I play with the Blur setting for a Drop Shadow filter, or perhaps change the angle of the filter. And then note that values can be changed at runtime, and imagine some of the visual effects that you could create using these filters. As you can see, multiple filters are available, and in Flex you could create your own custom filters as well. Now Alt+Tab back to the Flex Builder 2. In Flex Builder we are going to apply these filters using code.
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