MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX-USING DIRECTOR MX Use Manual page 183

Ink definitions
The following definitions describe all available ink types.
displays all the original colors in a sprite. All colors, including white, are opaque unless the
Copy
image contains alpha channel effects (transparency). Copy is the default ink and is useful for
backgrounds or for sprites that do not appear in front of other artwork. If the cast member is not
rectangular, a white box appears around the sprite when it passes in front of another sprite or
appears on a nonwhite background. Sprites with the Copy ink animate faster than sprites
with any other ink.
removes the white bounding rectangle around a sprite. Artwork within the boundaries is
Matte
opaque. Matte functions much like the Lasso tool in the Paint window in that the artwork is
outlined rather than enclosed in a rectangle. Matte, like Mask, uses more RAM than the other
inks, and sprites with this ink animate more slowly than other sprites.
Background Transparent
transparent and permits the background to be seen.
makes all light colors transparent so you can see lighter objects beneath the sprite.
Transparent
reverses overlapping colors. When applied to the foreground sprite, where colors overlap,
Reverse
the upper color changes to the chromatic opposite (based on the color palette currently in use) of
the color beneath it. Pixels that were originally white become transparent and let the background
show through unchanged. Reverse is good for creating custom masks.
, like Reverse, reverses overlapping colors, except nonoverlapping colors are transparent.
Ghost
The sprite is not visible unless it is overlapping another sprite.
reverses all the colors in an image to create a chromatic negative of the original.
Not Copy
Not Transparent, Not Reverse
image is first reversed, then the Copy, Transparent, Reverse, or Ghost ink is applied. These inks
are good for creating odd effects.
determines the exact transparent or opaque parts of a sprite. For Mask ink to work, you
Mask
must place a mask cast member in the Cast window position immediately following the cast
member to be masked. The black areas of the mask make the sprite opaque, and white areas are
transparent. Colors between black and white are more or less transparent; darker colors are more
opaque. See "Using Mask ink to create transparency effects" on page 181.
ensures that the sprite uses the color blend percentage that is specified on the Sprite tab in
Blend
the Property inspector. See "Setting blends" on page 180.
compares RGB pixel colors in the foreground and background and uses the darkest
Darkest
pixel color.
compares RGB pixel colors in the foreground and background and uses the lightest
Lightest
pixel color.
creates a new color that is the result of adding the RGB color value of the foreground sprite
Add
to the color value of the background sprite. If the value of the two colors exceeds the maximum
RGB color value (255), Director subtracts 256 from the remaining value so the result is between
0 and 255.
is similar to Add. The foreground sprite's RGB color value is added to the background
Add Pin
sprite's RGB color value, but the color value is not allowed to exceed 255. If the value of the new
color exceeds 255, the value is reduced to 255.
makes all the pixels in the background color of the selected sprite appear
, and are all variations of other effects. The foreground
Not Ghost
Sprites 183