MACROMEDIA FLASH 8-USING FLASH Use Manual page 122

Width
Click and move the square handle to adjust the width of the gradient. The rollover
icon for the width handle is a double-ended arrow.
Center point
Press Shift to constrain the direction of a linear gradient fill to multiples of 45°.
3.
Reshape the gradient or fill in any of the following ways:
To reposition the center point of the gradient or bitmap fill, drag the center point.
To change the width of the gradient or bitmap fill, drag the square handle on the side
of the bounding box. (This option resizes only the fill, not the object containing the
fill.)
To change the height of the gradient or bitmap fill, drag the square handle at the
bottom of the bounding box.
122 Working with Color, Strokes, and Fills
Focal point
Width
Size
Rotation