To create a blend from two or more objects in Macromedia

To create a blend from two or more objects:

1	Check that the objects you want to blend are in the correct stacking order.
2	Select the objects.
3	Do one of the following:
	Choose Window>Toolbars>Xtra Operations and click the Blend button on the Xtra Operations toolbar.
	Choose Modify > Combine > Blend.
	Choose Xtras > Create > Blend.

To blend objects from point to point:

1	Select objects and Subselect points within each object.
2	Choose Modify > Combine > Blend.

Modifying blends

You can adjust the number of steps and other options in a blend group using the Object inspector.

To modify a blend:

1	Select the blend.
2	Choose Window > Inspectors > Object to display the Object inspector.
3	In the Object inspector, enter a value in the Steps text box to change the number of intermediate objects; the more steps there are, the smoother the blend.
4	Enter a percentage value in the Range % text box to adjust where the intermediate objects begin and end. The First text box controls how closely the steps are placed to the bottom path, and the Last text box controls how closely the steps are placed to the top path.

To adjust a blend:

1	Select one of the original objects using the Subselect tool.
2	Do one of the following:
	Change the object's shape.
	Change the object's path direction.
	Change the object's stroke or fill color.

Joining a blend to a path

You can join a blend to a path to control the shape and orientation of the blend. When you join a blend to a path, the center point of the first object in the blend is placed over the path's start point, and the center point of the last object is placed over the end point. The rest of the blend is distributed along the path.

By default, the blend is rotated on the path so that the orientation of each blend objects changes to follow the path. You can Subselect the path and reverse its direction to make the blend flow in the opposite direction.

To join a selected blend to a selected path:

1	Choose Modify > Combine > Join Blend to Path.
2	To modify the way in which a blend fits its joined path, select Show Path in the Object inspector to show the path.
3	To rotate the blend around the path, select Rotate on Path in the Object inspector. Deselect the option to position the blend parallel to the path.

To remove a selected blend from a path, do one of the following:

	Choose Modify > Split to create a separate blend and path.
	Choose Modify > Ungroup to separate the path and the original objects. Intermediate objects remain grouped.
	Note: Exporting blends along a path from FreeHand 10 to versions earlier than FreeHand 7 converts the blend to groups.

Adding a drop shadow to an object

A drop shadow is a copy of an object placed behind the original to give the illusion of a light source. You can customize a shadow's appearance by changing the Shadow tool options and by moving the shadow. The original object and its shadow form a group. You can add one of three drop-shadow types to an object: Hard Edge, Soft Edge, and Zoom.

Hard Edge (left), Soft Edge (center), and Zoom (right)
 

You can also use the Smudge tool to create a shadow effect.

The Shadow tool does not apply shadows to bitmap or EPS images, text, or clipping paths.