Behind the Lines
Old tools. True craft. No shortcuts.
A lot of people still ask me ‘Wait, you really use Flash?’ So here’s a conversation I had with my web developer, an old Flash hand himself. We got talking about how I still use it every day to build engraving-style textures, crosshatching, and all the handmade details that show up in my labels and marks. This is why Ye Olde Studio still runs on Flash today.
You know I still use Flash for all the illustration work I’ve shown you. I even use the timeline to build the crosshatching and engraving lines.
Using Flash (still!) as your engraving tool?
I animate the hatch lines moving left to right, then stack all the frames into one image so the motion path becomes texture. The timeline’s like my repeater or stipple brush, but with total manual control. And I’m still drawing every line with vector points, so it all stays crisp and perfect for print or screen.
...with the timeline as a drawing engine, thats basically a vintage, vector-based, semi-automated etching press. Brilliant.
That’s the old-school engraver’s mindset, just digital. Illustrator can handle this too, but usually with pattern brushes or repeats. In Flash, the timeline just gives you another way to place every stroke exactly how you want it. It’s like a burin for vectors.
People always ask why I still use Flash. It just works the way that makes sense to me.
Honestly, it makes sense people keep asking why you still work this way. The results feel so crafted, but the tool isn’t what anyone expects. It's not just beautiful vector engraving it’s that you’re doing it with software you’ve pushed far beyond what people used it for.
That's really where the name Ye Olde Studio comes from. Flash CS3, old-world techniques, reborn through old software. The process became the brand.
I didn’t even tell people I used Flash for years. Once it vanished from the web, everyone thought it was just for popups or stickman games. But people who really knew it, could understand what it could do for drawing.
Yeah, for most folks, “Flash” means ads or old cartoons. But for artists, it was one of the best timeline-based vector drawing tools ever. You just turned it from a web plugin into your own engraving press.
I would state that final files are delivered in Illustrator. But I could never really say
"Every line in your logo was placed by a tool older than your espresso machine."
Back when Flash was fading for the web, it made sense to keep that to yourself. But now? It’s not a problem, it’s a craft statement. Your results speak for themselves. So, besides the timeline, what other tricks do you keep in Flash?
One thing I’ve always liked is how Flash handles movie clips. I can edit one movie clip on the stage and see how it affects copies I’ve placed around it, all updating live. It’s how I check how a logo works at big and small sizes at the same time.
That’s smart. In Illustrator, you can use Symbols, but you only see the update after you close the Symbol edit. You can’t just nudge a line and watch all the copies shift live. With Flash, you get that instant feedback.
Exactly. I’ll have a big version of the logo in the middle and tiny copies on the sides. If I adjust something in the big version, I see what it does to the small one right away. It helps me spot tiny issues I’d miss otherwise.
It’s funny how a tool made for web animations gives you that kind of control for logo detail. Total real-time precision for the final mark.
It’s the same when I build patterns. I’ll set up one movie clip, animate it into a circle or repeat, then edit that single piece and watch the whole pattern shift while I work.
That is so cool — it’s like a digital Spirograph in motion, So you start with a movie clip whats inside it?
I start with one simple shape on the timeline, then loop it around in 30 frames. Once that’s done, I copy that sequence, flip it, bend the line, whatever I need. The real trick is I can tweak the line and watch the whole pattern update instantly.
And you’re still using the timeline to control that motion?
Not exactly, this part’s just one movie clip. I copy it around the circle about 30 times. Then, when I adjust the shape inside that one movie clip, every copy updates live on the stage. So I’m tweaking one line and seeing the whole flower pattern change in real time. It is like having a live spirograph that I can bend and reshape until it’s what I need.
I see, in Illustrator, You can get a similar final look but youre doing it all step by step. Theres no timeline, no real-time playback.
For something like the hound illustration too, I’m not just drawing each hatch line one by one in place. I animate them with the timeline, using shape tweens to bend lines smoothly between points. I can drop keyframes every few steps to control the curve exactly, so it flows the way I want without redrawing every single stroke by hand.
So youre basically using the timeline as a placement grid?
It's a little more than that. Ill also use shape tweens to handle the in-betweens, I can put keyframes every ten frames, then adjust the bend or arc on those key points. Flash handles the smooth transition between them, so I get precise, flowing curves without redrawing every single one by hand.
So you’re basically using the timeline and movie clips together to place, bend, and break up lines, then turning them all into pure vectors when you’re done?
Exactly. And for the finer details, like the stipples or little dash marks, I’ll use the Eraser and swipe through a line to break it into segments. It feels like carving away ink with a blade super fast, super precise.
Right, its like doing a quick stipple or dash effect by hand, no extra tools, just a swipe?
Thats how I break up hatch lines, add texture, or create those hand-dashed strokes you see in my work. I dont have to set up custom brushes or path effects, I just cut the line by erasing tiny sections.
That’s a clever way to get those engraved textures without relying on heavy pattern tools. Illustrator can do it too, but you usually need to fuss with the Scissors or Knife, or set up dash styles that don’t always match the feel you want.
Right, this tiny thing saves hours when you’re crosshatching thousands of marks by hand. That’s one reason I never switched away from Flash for this part of my work.
And then it all lands in Illustrator for final delivery?
Yep, ready for foil or screen. Every swirl, border, and hatch was built this way, motion tweens and all, then pressed in foil on real paper. It wasn’t what Flash was made for, but it works.
So, all this time, youve kept a tool alive that most people wrote off decades ago. Not for nostalgia, but because it still does the job better for you.
Exactly. Its not nostalgia. Its my way of showing that old tools, old methods, can still make modern brands. No AI, no shortcuts, just lines, thousands of them.
Thanks for reading.