The File > Assistant command sets preferences that affect the drawing tools. Each option can be off or on and each has a set of tolerances. Turn on an option by selecting a tolerance setting. Tolerance settings are relative, depending on the resolution of your computer screen and the current magnification of the scene. As with drawing in general, zooming in provides better control.
Snap to Grid Determines how close the end of a line being drawn must be to a grid line before the endpoint snaps to the grid. The options are Off, Must be Close, Normal, Can be Distant, and Always Snap.
Connect Lines Determines how close the end of a line being drawn must be to an existing line segment before the endpoint snaps to the nearest point on the other line. The available options are Off, Must be Close, Normal, and Can be Distant.
This setting also controls horizontal and vertical line recognition: that is, how nearly horizontal or vertical a line must be drawn before Flash makes it exactly horizontal or vertical.
Smooth Curves Specifies the amount of smoothing applied to curved lines drawn with the pencil tool when the drawing mode is set to Straighten or Smooth. (Smoother curves are easier to reshape, while rougher curves match more closely the original line strokes.) The selections are Off, Rough, Normal, and Smooth.
Note: You can further smooth existing curved segments using Modify > Curves > Smooth and Modify > Curves > Optimize.
Recognize Lines Defines how nearly straight a line segment must be drawn before Flash recognizes it and makes it perfectly straight. The selections are Off, Strict, Normal, and Tolerant.
If Recognize Lines is off while you draw, you can straighten lines later by selecting one or more line segments and choosing Modify > Curves > Straighten.
Recognize Shapes Controls how precisely you must draw circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, and 90° and 180° arcs for them to be recognized as geometric shapes and redrawn accurately. The options are Off, Strict, Normal, and Tolerant.
If Recognize Shapes is off while you draw, you can straighten lines later by selecting one or more shapes (for example, connected line segments) and choosing Modify > Curves > Straighten.
Click Accuracy Specifies how close to an item the pointer must be before Flash recognizes the item. The options are Strict, Normal, and Tolerant.