Macromedia Flash Professional - CS5 Instruction Manual

Using

ADOBE® FLASH® PROFESSIONAL CS5 & CS5.5

Legal notices

For legal notices, see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/legalnotices/index.html.

Last updated 1/16/2012

Chapter 1: What’s new

What’s New (CS5.5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What’s new (CS5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2: Workspace

Flash workflow and workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Using the Stage and Tools panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Using Flash authoring panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Undo, redo, and the History panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Automating tasks with the Commands menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Accessibility in the Flash workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Set preferences in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Working with ConnectNow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

iii

Chapter 3: Managing documents

Working with Flash documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Working with Flash projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Find and Replace in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Chapter 4: Using imported artwork

Placing artwork into Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Imported bitmaps and Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Working with Fireworks files in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Working with Illustrator AI files in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Working with InDesign files in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Working with Photoshop PSD files in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Chapter 5: Creating and Editing Artwork

Drawing in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Drawing preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Draw simple lines and shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Drawing with the Pen tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Apply patterns with the Spray Brush tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Drawing patterns with the Decorative drawing tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Reshape lines and shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Transforming and combining graphic objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Selecting objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Arranging objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Snapping art into position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Moving and copying objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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Strokes, fills, and gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

3D graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Chapter 6: Symbols, instances, and library assets

Working with symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Working with symbol instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Working with the library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Sharing library assets across files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Creating buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Scaling and caching symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Converting art between vector and bitmap formats (CS5.5 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Symbols and ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Chapter 7: Timelines and Animation

Frames and keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Timeline layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Working with multiple timelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Working with scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Timelines and ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Motion tween animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Working with classic tween animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Shape tweening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Frame-by-frame animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Using mask layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Inverse kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Chapter 8: Filters and Blends

Graphic filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Applying blend modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Chapter 9: Text

Working with Text Layout Framework (TLF) text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Working with classic text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Check spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Embed fonts for consistent text appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Multilanguage text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Chapter 10: Sound

Using sounds in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Exporting Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Sound and ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Chapter 11: Video

Create video files for use in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Add video to Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Working with video cue points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Working with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

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Controlling external video playback with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Export QuickTime video files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Chapter 12: Creating accessible content

Creating accessible content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Chapter 13: ActionScript

Working with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Add interactivity with code snippets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Script Assist mode and behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Writing and managing scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Debugging ActionScript 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Debugging ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Working with Flash Pro and Flash Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Printing at runtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

ActionScript publish settings (CS5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

ActionScript publish settings (CS5.5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Chapter 14: Publishing and Exporting

Publishing Flash documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Publish settings (CS5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Publish settings (CS5.5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Publishing for Adobe AIR for desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Publishing AIR for Android applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Packaging applications for AIR for iOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

HTML publishing templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

About exporting from Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Chapter 15: Best practices

Best practices - Structuring FLA files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

Best practices - Organizing ActionScript in an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464

Best practices - Behaviors conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Best practices - Video conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Best practices - SWF application authoring guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Best practices - Accessibility guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

Best practices - Advertising with Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Best practices - Optimizing FLA files for SWF output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Best practices - Tips for creating content for mobile devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

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Chapter 1: What’s new

Download a trial version of Flash CS5.5.

New to Flash Professional? Use the 5 Step Learning Guide.

For a history of new features in Flash Professional, see the Adobe.com Flash Pro Features page.

What’s New (CS5.5)

For a video overview of new mobile workflows in Adobe Flash Professional CS5.5 features, see the video tutorial Flash Pro

CS5.5 - Mobile Workflows.

The following features are new to Flash Professional CS5.5:

Authoring across devices and desktops

Share assets during authoring You can now share assets between FLA files during authoring. The FLA files must be

part of a Flash project managed with the Project panel. For more information, see

time” on page 166.

“Sharing library assets at author-

Copy and paste layers You can now cut, copy, and paste an entire layer or set of layers within one Timeline or to

separate Timelines. For more information, see

Scale content when changing Stage size When changing the size of the Stage via the Document Properties dialog box,

you can automatically scale the content to fit the new Stage size. For more information, see

Stage” on page 171.

Export as bitmap Vector-based symbols can be exported as bitmaps when publishing a SWF file as a way of reducing

CPU demands during playback. This feature is helpful for publishing on mobile devices with less-powerful CPUs. For more information, see Converting between bitmap and vector formats.

Convert to bitmap This feature allows you to create a bitmap in the Library from a symbol instance. The new bitmap

can be useful in separate versions of the project for mobile or other lower-performance devices. For more information, see Converting between bitmap and vector formats.

Code snippets for mobile and AIR The Code Snippets panel now includes snippets specifically for mobile devices and

AIR applications. For more information about using the Code Snippets panel, see

snippets” on page 353.

AIR for Android support You can now publish a FLA file as an AIR for Android application. For more information,

“Publishing AIR for Android applications” on page 447.

see

AIR 2.6 SDK The AIR 2.6 SDK is integrated and includes the latest APIs for iOS. These include access to the

Microphone, reading from Camera Roll, and CameraUI. Retina display support is also included in the Resolution menu of the AIR for iOS settings dialog box.

Debug on-device via USB You can debug an AIR for iOS or AIR for Android application on a mobile device via a USB

port. For information about debugging ActionScript 3.0 code, see

“Copy and paste layers (CS5.5 only)” on page 184.

“Scaling content on the

“Add interactivity with code

“Debugging ActionScript 3.0” on page 369.

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What’s new

TLF Text enhancements

TLF tab rulers TLF text blocks now have tab ruler attached. The ruler allows you to create and edit tab stops in TLF

text. You can also now type tab characters in TLF text fields. For more information, see

“Using tab rulers (CS5.5 only)”

on page 270.

TCM text for static TLF Flash Pro CS5.5 uses the Text Container Manager to handle TLF text that is not intended to

change at runtime. The TCM avoids the need to include the full TLF ActionScript library in the published SWF file, significantly reducing file size.

TLF text file size optimization The size of SWF files that use TLF text is smaller and performance is better in Flash

Player.

TLF text support for style sheets You can now use style sheets with TLF text the same way you can with Classic text.

Both types of text require ActionScript to use style sheets.

User interface improvements

Code Snippets panel HUD The new Code Snippets panel heads-up display (HUD) allows you to view the ActionScript

code and description of each snippet before inserting it. You can also drag-and-drop instance references in the HUD code display onto instances on the Stage. For more information, see page 353.

“Add interactivity with code snippets” on

New Publish Settings dialog box The Publish Settings dialog box has been reorganized and streamlined. For more

information, see

Integrated playback controller with loop range A Timeline playback controller now appears at the bottom of the

“Publish settings (CS5.5)” on page 425.

Timeline and the Motion Editor. The controller includes a Loop button which allows you to specify a range of frames to play repeatedly during authoring. For more information, see

Project panel update The Project panel has been improved to make it easier to work with multi-document Flash

projects. For more information, see

Document Properties panel changes You can now directly edit the Flash Player publish setting and Stage size in the

“Working with Flash projects” on page 49.

“The Timeline” on page 19.

Document Properties panel. You can also open the Publish Settings dialog box from the Properties panel.

Visible property of symbols editable in Property inspector You can now toggle the visibility of movie clip instances in

the Properties panel. This setting requires a Player Publish setting of Flash Player 10.2 or higher.

New Library conflict resolution dialog box The Library panel has been enhanced with a new conflict resolution dialog

when symbols of the same name are imported to the Library. The dialog now provides the option to place the duplicate items into a new folder.

Other improvements

Pinning for IK bones You can now pin a bone joint to the stage when posing an armature. Pinning prevents the joint

from moving relative to the Stage. For more information, see

Cache as bitmap - opaque background When using the Cache as Bitmap feature, you can now specify an opaque

background color for the bitmap. For more information about the Cache as Bitmap feature, see

symbols” on page 171.

“Constrain motion of IK bones” on page 243.

“Scaling and caching

Auto Recover and Auto Save Auto Recover enables Flash to periodically snapshot all open documents so that the user

can recover from any sudden data loss event. Auto Save helps the user by periodically saving each document. For more information, see

Shared project format with Flash Builder Flash Pro projects can now be shared natively with Flash Builder. For

information about working with projects, see

“Set General preferences” on page 33 and “Set properties for a new or existing document” on page 43.

“Working with Flash projects” on page 49.

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What’s new

Incremental compilation When using the Publish command, Flash Pro now caches compiled versions of the assets in

your FLA file to improve performance. Each time you create a SWF file, only changed items are recompiled.

Fixes for RSL preloading and scripting problems A new ProLoader class has been added to ActionScript 3.0. This

class makes it easier to script between a loaded child SWF file and its parent SWF file. For more information, see

Loading display content dynamically in the ActionScript 3.0 Developer’s Guide.

What’s new (CS5)

The following features are new to Flash Professional CS5:

Text and Fonts

Text Layout Framework text engine The new TLF text engine provides significantly improved control over text

properties and flow. For more information, see this TLF video tutorial.

Font Embedding Dialog Font embedding is now FLA file based instead of text object based. The new Font Embedding

dialog box provides quick access to all font embedding functions. For more information, see

consistent text appearance” on page 282.

“Working with Text Layout Framework (TLF) text” on page 258, and

“Embed fonts for

Video

FLVPlayback live preview on Stage The ActionScript 3.0 versions of the FLVPlayback components now allow you to

preview the entire linked video file on the Stage.

Video cue points usability Video cue points are now much easier to add to videos in Flash. For more information, see

“Working with video cue points” on page 321, and this Cue Points video tutorial.

New skins for FLVPlayback component New skins have been provided for the FLVPlayback components to enable a

wider variety of design styles in your Flash projects.

Art and animation

Edit with Photoshop CS5 You can now perform round-trip editing of bitmap graphics in Photoshop CS5. For more

information, see

New Decorative Drawing tool effects Several new effects have been added to the Decorative Drawing tool. For more

information, see

Spring properties for IK bones New properties have been added to IK bones that enable realistic physics effects in bone

animation. For more information, see

“Edit a bitmap in an external editor” on page 66.

“Drawing patterns with the Decorative drawing tool” on page 108.

“Add Springiness to bones” on page 244.

ActionScript and JavaScript

Code Snippets panel The Code Snippets panel allows non-programmers to apply ActionScript 3.0 code for common

interactions without learning ActionScript. For more information, see page 353.

“Add interactivity with code snippets” on

Code hinting for custom classes Code completion, or code hinting, is now enabled for custom ActionScript 3.0 classes

in addition to the built-in classes. For more information, see

“Code hinting for custom classes” on page 369.

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What’s new

Auto close-bracket insertion Now when you type an open bracket { in the Actions panel or Script window, Flash

automatically adds the corresponding close bracket }. This saves time writing code and debugging.

Enhanced Flash Pro - Flash Builder workflows New workflows between Flash Professionsal CS5 and Flash Builder 4

have been enabled to allow the 2 products to be used together more easily. For more information, see

“Editing and

debugging ActionScript with Flash Professional and Flash Builder” on page 384, and this video tutorial.

Motion Object JSAPIs Several new JavaScript APIs have been added for manipulating motion tweens in the Flash

Professional CS5 authoring environment. For more information, see

Extending Flash Professional CS5.

Working with files

XFL file format Flash FLA files now contain a new internal format called XFL. This new format is based on XML. For

most users this change is invisible. However, the new format enables better exchange of data with other Adobe applications, and allows you to optionally work in uncompressed XFL format, described below.

Uncompressed XFL file format The uncompressed XFL file format allows you to see each of the separate parts, or sub-

files, that make up a Flash file. This enables working in team environments with source control systems. For more information, see

FXG file format The FXG file format allows Flash to exchange graphics with other Adobe applications with full fidelity.

For more information, see

“Working with uncompressed XFL files” on page 41.

“Importing FXG files” on page 64 and “FXG graphic interchange format” on page 457.

SWF Size History The Document Property inspector now displays the size of all SWF files generated during Test

Movie, Publish, and Debug Movie operations.

New templates Flash Professional CS5 includes a range of new templates that make it easier to create common types

of projects in Flash. The templates appear in the Welcome screen and the New Document dialog box.

Other improvements

AIR for iOS support Flash Professional CS5 includes support for AIR for iOS. This allows Flash files to be deployed as

iOS applications that run on the Apple iPhone or iPad. For more information, see

“Packaging applications for AIR for

iOS” on page 450.

Reorganized AIR Publish Settings UI The AIR Application & Installer Settings dialog box has been reorganized for

simpler, easier access to the many settings required when publishing for Adobe AIR. For more information, see “Publishing for Adobe AIR for desktop” on page 441.

Community Help Community Help is an integrated environment on adobe.com that gives you access to community-

generated content moderated by Adobe and industry experts. Comments and ratings from users help guide you to an answer. Search Community Help to find the best content on the web about Adobe products and technologies. For more information, see

CS Live services In Flash Professional CS5, you can connect to CS Live services from within the Flash authoring

Using Community Help or Help and Support.

environment. CS Live includes web services such as Acrobat.com, BrowserLab, Live Review, and more. For detailed information about CS Live services, see

About CS Live.

Deprecated features

The following features have been removed:

Screens Screen-based Flash documents can no longer be opened or created in Flash Professional CS5. All JavaScript

API’s related to screens have been removed. To work with Screen-based documents, use a previous version of Flash.

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What’s new

Version Cue To work with a common set of files in a collaborative environment, please use a 3rd party source control

solution.

Data Binding components The ActionScript 2.0 Data components have been removed from the Components panel.

Outdated file formats Flash Professional CS5 can no longer import FreeHand, PICT, PNTG, SGI, and TGA files. Flash

no longer exports EMF files, WMF files, WFM image sequences, BMP sequences, or TGA sequences.

Save and Compact Because the new default FLA file format contains XFL formatted data, the Save and Compact

command is unnecessary.

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Chapter 2: Workspace

Flash workflow and workspace

The following additional video tutorials describe the Flash Pro work area and workflow.

• Introducing Flash Professional (4:00)

• Understanding Flash (1:17)

• Understanding Flash file types (1:55)

• Exploring the Flash interface (1:49)

• Setting up workspaces (2:14)

• Managing Design Suite Workspaces (7:44) (This demo is in Photoshop, but also applies to Flash Professional)

Note: Most things in Flash can be done either with or without ActionScript. The things that actually require ActionScript are non-linear playback, and any situation where the author prefers to avoid using the Timeline.

General Flash workflow

To build a Flash Pro application, you typically perform the following basic steps:

Plan the application.

Decide which basic tasks the application will perform.

Add media elements.

Create and import media elements, such as images, video, sound, and text.

Arrange the elements.

Arrange the media elements on the Stage and in the Timeline to define when and how they appear in your application.

Apply special effects.

Apply graphic filters (such as blurs, glows, and bevels), blends, and other special effects as you see fit.

Use ActionScript to control behavior.

Write ActionScript® code to control how the media elements behave, including how the elements respond to user interactions.

Test and publish your application.

Test your FLA file (Control > Test Movie) to verify that your application is working as you intended and find and fix any bugs you encounter. You should test the application throughout the creation process. You can test your file in Flash Pro, Device Central, the AIR Debug Launchers, and on-device via USB (Flash CS5.5 only).

Publish your FLA file (File > Publish) as a SWF file that can be displayed in a web page and played back with Flash® Player.

Depending on your project and your working style, you might use these steps in a different order.

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Workspace

For more help getting started with the Flash Pro workflow, see the following:

• Article: Introducing Adobe Flash Professional: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/dwinnie_flcs4.html

• Article: Creating a simple document in Flash Professional:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/flash_cs4_createfla.html

• Video: Flash Workflow Basics: http://www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4053_fl

• Flash overview: www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4053_fl

• Flash workflow: www.adobe.com/go/vid0132

• Creating your first interactive Flash file: www.adobe.com/go/vid0118

Workspace overview

You create and manipulate your documents and files using various elements, such as panels, bars, and windows. Any arrangement of these elements is called a workspace. The workspaces of the different applications in Adobe® Creative Suite® 5 share the same appearance so that you can move between the applications easily. You can also adapt each application to the way you work by selecting from several preset workspaces or by creating one of your own.

Although the default workspace layout varies in different products, you manipulate the elements much the same way in all of them.

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Workspace

B DC

Default Illustrator workspace A. Tabbed Document windows B. Application bar C. Workspace switcher D. Panel title bar E. Control panel F. Tools panel G. Collapse To Icons button H. Four panel groups in vertical dock

• The Application bar across the top contains a workspace switcher, menus (Windows only), and other application

controls. On the Mac for certain products, you can show or hide it using the Window menu.

• The Tools panel contains tools for creating and editing images, artwork, page elements, and so on. Related tools are

grouped.

• The Control panel displays options for the currently selected tool. In Illustrator, the Control panel displays options

for the currently selected object. (In Adobe Photoshop® this is known as the Options bar. In Adobe Flash®, Adobe Dreamweaver®, and Adobe Fireworks® this is known as the Property Inspector and includes properties of the currently selected element.)

• The Document window displays the file you’re working on. Document windows can be tabbed and, in certain cases,

grouped and docked.

• Panels help you monitor and modify your work. Examples include the Timeline in Flash, the Brush panel in

Illustrator, the Layers panel in Adobe Photoshop®, and the CSS Styles panel in Dreamweaver. Panels can be grouped, stacked, or docked.

• The Application frame groups all the workspace elements in a single, integrated window that lets you treat the

application as a single unit. When you move or resize the Application frame or any of its elements, all the elements within it respond to each other so none overlap. Panels don’t disappear when you switch applications or when you accidentally click out of the application. If you work with two or more applications, you can position each application side by side on the screen or on multiple monitors.

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Workspace

If you are using a Mac and prefer the traditional, free-form user interface, you can turn off the Application frame. In Adobe Illustrator®, for example, select Window > Application Frame to toggle it on or off. (In Flash, the Application frame is on permanently for Mac, and Dreamweaver for Mac does not use an Application frame.)

Hide or show all panels

• (Illustrator, Adobe InCopy®, Adobe InDesign®, Photoshop, Fireworks)To hide or show all panels, including the

Tools panel and Control panel, press

Tab.

• (Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, Photoshop) To hide or show all panels except the Tools panel and Control panel,

press Shift+Tab.

You can temporarily display hidden panels if Auto-Show Hidden Panels is selected in Interface preferences. It’s always on in Illustrator. Move the pointer to the edge of the application window (Windows®) or to the edge of the

monitor (Mac

OS®) and hover over the strip that appears.

• (Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks) To hide or show all panels, press F4.

Display panel options

❖ Click the panel menu icon in the upper-right corner of the panel.

You can open a panel menu even when the panel is minimized.

In Photoshop, you can change the font size of the text in panels and tool tips. In the Interface preferences, choose a size from the UI Font Size menu.

(Illustrator) Adjust panel brightness

❖ In User Interface preferences, move the Brightness slider. This control affects all panels, including the Control

panel.

Reconfigure the Tools panel

You can display the tools in the Tools panel in a single column, or side by side in two columns. (This feature is not available in the Tools panel in Fireworks and Flash.)

In InDesign and InCopy, you also can switch from single-column to double-column (or single-row) display by setting an option in Interface preferences.

❖ Click the double arrow at the top of the Tools panel.

Manage windows and panels

You can create a custom workspace by moving and manipulating Document windows and panels. You can also save workspaces and switch among them. For Fireworks, renaming custom workspaces can lead to unexpected behavior.

Note: The following examples use Photoshop for demonstration purposes. The workspace behaves the same in all the products.

Rearrange, dock, or float document windows

When you open more than one file, the Document windows are tabbed.

• To rearrange the order of tabbed Document windows, drag a window’s tab to a new location in the group.

• To undock (float or untab) a Document window from a group of windows, drag the window’s tab out of the group.

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Note: In Photoshop you can also choose Window > Arrange > Float in Window to float a single Document window, or Window > Arrange > Float All In Windows to float all of the Document windows at once. See tech note

kb405298

for more information.

Note: Dreamweaver does not support docking and undocking Document windows. Use the Document window’s Minimize button to create floating windows (Windows), or choose Window > Tile Vertically to create side-by-side Document windows. Search “Tile Vertically” in Dreamweaver Help for more information on this topic. The workflow is slightly different for Macintosh users.

• To dock a Document window to a separate group of Document windows, drag the window into the group.

• To create groups of stacked or tiled documents, drag the window to one of the drop zones along the top, bottom, or

sides of another window. You can also select a layout for the group by using the Layout button on the Application bar.

Note: Some products do not support this functionality. However, your product may have Cascade and Tile commands in the Window menu to help you lay out your documents.

• To switch to another document in a tabbed group when dragging a selection, drag the selection over the document’s

tab for a moment.

Note: Some products do not support this functionality.

Dock and undock panels

A dock is a collection of panels or panel groups displayed together, generally in a vertical orientation. You dock and undock panels by moving them into and out of a dock.

• To dock a panel, drag it by its tab into the dock, at the top, bottom, or in between other panels.

• To dock a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid empty bar above the tabs) into the dock.

• To remove a panel or panel group, drag it out of the dock by its tab or title bar. You can drag it into another dock

or make it free-floating.

Navigator panel being dragged out to new dock, indicated by blue vertical highlight

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Navigator panel now in its own dock

You can prevent panels from filling all the space in a dock. Drag the bottom edge of the dock up so it no longer meets the edge of the workspace.

Move panels

As you move panels, you see blue highlighted drop zones, areas where you can move the panel. For example, you can move a panel up or down in a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop zone above or below another panel. If you drag to an area that is not a drop zone, the panel floats freely in the workspace.

Note: The position of the mouse (rather than the position of the panel), activates the drop zone, so if you can’t see the drop zone, try dragging the mouse to the place where the drop zone should be.

• To move a panel, drag it by its tab.

• To move a panel group, drag the title bar.

A B

Narrow blue drop zone indicates Color panel will be docked on its own above the Layers panel group. A. Title bar B. Tab C. Drop zone

Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) while moving a panel to prevent it from docking. Press Esc while moving the panel to cancel the operation.

Add and remove panels

If you remove all panels from a dock, the dock disappears. You can create a dock by moving panels to the right edge of the workspace until a drop zone appears.

• To remove a panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) its tab and then select Close, or deselect it from

the Window menu.

• To add a panel, select it from the Window menu and dock it wherever you want.

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Manipulate panel groups

• To move a panel into a group, drag the panel’s tab to the highlighted drop zone in the group.

Adding a panel to a panel group

• To rearrange panels in a group, drag a panel’s tab to a new location in the group.

• To remove a panel from a group so that it floats freely, drag the panel by its tab outside the group.

• To move a group, drag the title bar (the area above the tabs).

Stack floating panels

When you drag a panel out of its dock but not into a drop zone, the panel floats freely. The floating panel allows you to position it anywhere in the workspace. You can stack floating panels or panel groups so that they move as a unit when you drag the topmost title bar.

Free-floating stacked panels

• To stack floating panels, drag a panel by its tab to the drop zone at the bottom of another panel.

• To change the stacking order, drag a panel up or down by its tab.

Note: Be sure to release the tab over the narrow drop zone between panels, rather than the broad drop zone in a title bar.

• To remove a panel or panel group from the stack, so that it floats by itself, drag it out by its tab or title bar.

Resize panels

• To minimize or maximize a panel, panel group, or stack of panels, double-click a tab. You can also double-click the

tab area (the empty space next to the tabs).

• To resize a panel, drag any side of the panel. Some panels, such as the Color panel in Photoshop, cannot be resized

by dragging.

Collapse and expand panel icons

You can collapse panels to icons to reduce clutter on the workspace. In some cases, panels are collapsed to icons in the default workspace.

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Panels collapsed to icons

Panels expanded from icons

• To collapse or expand all panel icons in a column, click the double arrow at the top of the dock.

• To expand a single panel icon, click it.

• To resize panel icons so that you see only the icons (and not the labels), adjust the width of the dock until the text

disappears. To display the icon text again, make the dock wider.

• To collapse an expanded panel back to its icon, click its tab, its icon, or the double arrow in the panel’s title bar.

In some products, if you select Auto-Collapse Icon Panels from the Interface or User Interface Options preferences, an expanded panel icon collapses automatically when you click away from it.

• To add a floating panel or panel group to an icon dock, drag it in by its tab or title bar. (Panels are automatically

collapsed to icons when added to an icon dock.)

• To move a panel icon (or panel icon group), drag the icon. You can drag panel icons up and down in the dock, into

other docks (where they appear in the panel style of that dock), or outside the dock (where they appear as floating icons).

Save and switch workspaces

By saving the current size and position of panels as a named workspace, you can restore that workspace even if you move or close a panel. The names of saved workspaces appear in the workspace switcher in the Application bar.

Save a custom workspace

1 With the workspace in the configuration you want to save, do one of the following:

• (Illustrator) Choose Window > Workspace > Save Workspace.

• (Photoshop, InDesign, InCopy) Choose Window > Workspace > New Workspace.

• (Dreamweaver) Choose Window > Workspace Layout > New Workspace.

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• (Flash) Choose New Workspace from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.

• (Fireworks) Choose Save Current from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.

2 Type a name for the workspace.

3 (Photoshop, InDesign) Under Capture, select one or more options:

Panel Locations Saves the current panel locations (InDesign only).

Keyboard shortcuts Saves the current set of keyboard shortcuts (Photoshop only).

Menus or Menu Customization Saves the current set of menus.

Display or switch workspaces

❖ Select a workspace from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.

In Photoshop, you can assign keyboard shortcuts to each workspace to navigate among them quickly.

Delete a custom workspace

• Select Manage Workspaces from the workspace switcher in the Application bar, select the workspace, and then

click Delete. (The option is not available in Fireworks.)

• (Photoshop, InDesign, InCopy) Select Delete Workspace from the workspace switcher.

• (Illustrator) Choose Window > Workspace > Manage Workspaces, select the workspace, and then click the Delete icon.

• (Photoshop, InDesign) Choose Window > Workspace >Delete Workspace, select the workspace, and then click

Delete.

Restore the default workspace

1 Select the Default or Essentials workspace from the workspace switcher in the application bar. For Fireworks, see

the article

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/fireworks/articles/workspace_manager_panel.html.

Note: In Dreamweaver, Designer is the default workspace.

2 For Fireworks (Windows), delete these folders:

Windows Vista \\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Fireworks CS4\

Windows XP \\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\Fireworks CS4

3 (Photoshop, InDesign, InCopy) Select Window > Workspace > Reset [Workspace Name].

(Photoshop) Restore a saved workspace arrangement

In Photoshop, workspaces automatically appear as you last arranged them, but you can restore the original, saved arrangement of panels.

• To restore an individual workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Reset Workspace Name.

• To restore all the workspaces installed with Photoshop, click Restore Default Workspaces in the Interface

preferences.

To rearrange the order of workspaces in the application bar, drag them.

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Using the Stage and Tools panel

Using the Stage

The Stage is the rectangular area where you place graphic content when creating Flash Pro documents. The Stage in the authoring environment represents the rectangular space in Flash Player or in a web browser window where your document appears during playback. To change the view of the Stage as you work, zoom in and out. To help you position items on the Stage, you can use the grid, guides, and rulers.

The Timeline and Stage with content.

Zoom the Stage

To view the entire Stage on the screen, or to view a particular area of your drawing at high magnification, change the magnification level. The maximum magnification depends on the resolution of your monitor and the document size. The minimum value for zooming out on the Stage is 8%. The maximum value for zooming in on the Stage is 2000%.

• To zoom in on an element, select the Zoom tool in the Tools panel, and click the element. To switch the Zoom

tool between zooming in or out, use the Enlarge or Reduce modifiers (in the options area of the Tools panel when the Zoom tool is selected) or Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh).

• To zoom in so that a specific area of your drawing fills the window, drag a rectangular selection on the Stage with

the Zoom tool.

• To zoom in on or out of the entire Stage, select View > Zoom In or View > Zoom Out.

• To zoom in or out by a specified percentage, select View > Magnification, and select a percentage from the submenu

or select a percentage from the Zoom control at the upper-right corner of the document window.

• To scale the Stage so that it fits completely in the application window, select View > Magnification > Fit in Window.

• To show the contents of the current frame, select View > Magnification > Show All, or select Show All from the

Zoom control at the upper-right side of the application window. If the scene is empty, the entire Stage appears.

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• To show the entire Stage, select View > Magnification > Show Frame or select Show Frame from the Zoom control

at the upper-right corner of the document window.

• To show the workspace surrounding the Stage, or to view elements in a scene that are partly or completely outside

of the Stage area, select View into a frame, initially position the bird outside of the Stage in the pasteboard and animate it into the Stage area.

Move the view of the Stage

When the Stage is magnified, you may not be able to see all of it. To change the view without having to change the magnification, use the Hand tool to move the Stage.

> Pasteboard. The pasteboard appears in light gray. For example, to have a bird fly

• In the Tools panel, select the Hand tool and drag the Stage. To temporarily switch between another tool and the

Hand tool, hold down the Spacebar and click the tool in the Tools panel.

Use rulers

When rulers show, they appear along the top and left sides of the document. You can change the unit of measure used in the rulers from the default of pixels to another unit. When you move an element on the Stage with the rulers displayed, lines indicating the element’s dimensions appear on the rulers.

• To show or hide rulers, select View > Rulers.

• To specify the rulers’ unit of measure for a document, select Modify > Document, and select a unit from the Ruler

Units menu.

More Help topics

“Snapping art into position” on page 127

Use guides

When rulers show (View > Rulers), you can drag horizontal and vertical guides from the rulers onto the Stage.

When you create nested timelines, draggable guides appear on the Stage only when the Timeline in which they were created is active.

To create custom guides or irregular guides, use guide layers.

• To display or hide the drawing guides, select View > Guides > Show Guides.

Note: If the grid is visible and Snap to Grid is turned on when you create guides, guides snap to the grid.

• To turn snapping to guides on or off, select View > Snapping > Snap to Guides.

Note: Snapping to guides takes precedence over snapping to the grid in places where guides fall between grid lines.

• To move a guide, click anywhere on the ruler with the Selection tool and drag the guide to the desired place on the

Stage.

• To remove a guide, use the Selection tool with guides unlocked to drag the guide to the horizontal or vertical ruler.

• To lock guides, select View > Guides > Lock Guides or use the Lock Guides option in the Edit Guides (View >

> Edit Guides) dialog box.

Guides

• To clear guides, select View > Guides > Clear Guides. If you are in document-editing mode, all guides in the

document are cleared. If you are in symbol-editing mode, only guides used in symbols are cleared.

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Set guide preferences

1 Select View > Guides > Edit Guides and do any of the following:

• To set Color, click the triangle in the color box and select a guide line color from the palette. The default guide

color is green.

• To display or hide guides, select or deselect Show Guides.

• To turn snapping to guides on or off, select or deselect Snap To Guides.

• Select or deselect Lock Guides.

• To set Snap Accuracy, select an option from the pop-up menu.

• To remove all guides, click Clear All. Clear All removes all guides from the current scene.

• To save the current settings as the default, click Save Default.

2 Click OK.

Use the grid

The grid appears in a document as a set of lines behind the artwork in all scenes.

Display or hide the drawing grid

❖ Do one of the following:

• Select View > Grid > Show Grid.

• Press Control+'' (quote) (Windows) or Command+'' (quote) (Macintosh).

Turn snapping to grid lines on or off

❖ Select View > Snapping > Snap to Grid.

Set grid preferences

1 Select View > Grid > Edit Grid and select from the options.

2 To save the current settings as the default, click Save Default.

About the main toolbar and edit bar

The menu bar at the top of the application window contains menus with commands for controlling functionality.

The edit bar, at the top of the Stage, contains controls and information for editing scenes and symbols, and for changing the magnification level of the Stage.

More Help topics

“Symbols, instances, and library assets” on page 150

“Working with scenes” on page 187

Use the Tools panel

The tools in the Tools panel let you draw, paint, select, and modify artwork, as well as change the view of the Stage. The Tools panel is divided into four sections:

• The tools area contains drawing, painting, and selection tools.

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• The view area contains tools for zooming and panning in the application window.

• The colors area contains modifiers for stroke and fill colors.

• The options area contains modifiers for the currently selected tool. Modifiers affect the tool’s painting or editing

operations.

To specify which tools to display in the authoring environment, use the Customize Tools Panel dialog box.

To show or hide the Tools panel, select Window > Tools.

Select tools

❖ Do one of the following:

• Click the tool in the Tools panel. Depending on the tool you select, a set of modifiers might appear in the options

area at the bottom of the Tools panel.

• Press the tool’s keyboard shortcut. To view the keyboard shortcuts, select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows)

> Keyboard Shortcuts (Macintosh). On the Macintosh, you might need to move the mouse to see the

or Flash new pointer appear.

• To select a tool located in the pop-up menu for a visible tool such as the Rectangle tool, press the icon of the

visible tool and select another tool from the pop-up menu.

Customize the Tools panel

To specify which tools appear in the authoring environment, use the Customize Tools Panel dialog box to add or remove tools from the Tools panel.

When more than one tool appears in a location, the top tool in the group (the most recently used) appears with an arrow in the lower-right corner of its icon. This arrow indicates that additional tools are present in a pop-up menu. The same keyboard shortcut functions for all tools in the pop-up menu. When you press and hold the mouse button on the icon, the other tools in the group appear in a pop-up menu.

1 To show the Customize Tools Panel dialog box, do one of the following:

• (Windows) Select Edit > Customize Tools panel.

• (Macintosh) Select Flash > Customize Tools panel.

The Available Tools menu indicates the tools that are currently available. The Current Selection menu indicates the tools currently assigned to the selected location in the Tools panel.

2 To browse through the tools to specify the location to assign to another tool, click a tool in the image of the Tools

panel or use the arrows.

3 To add a tool to the selected location, select the tool in the Available Tools list and click Add. You can assign a tool

to more than one location.

4 To remove a tool from the selected location, select the tool in the Current Selection scroll list and click Remove.

5 To restore the default Tools Panel layout, click Restore Default in the Customize Tools Panel dialog box.

6 Click OK to apply your changes and close the Customize Tools Panel dialog box.

More Help topics

“Creating and Editing Artwork” on page 89

“Selecting objects” on page 123

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Use context menus

Context menus contain commands relevant to the current selection. For example, when you select a frame in the Timeline window, the context menu contains commands for creating, deleting, and modifying frames and keyframes. Context menus exist for many items and controls in many locations, including on the Stage, in the Timeline, in the Library panel, and in the Actions panel.

❖ Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) an item.

The Timeline

About the Timeline

The Timeline organizes and controls a document’s content over time in layers and frames. Like films, Flash Pro documents divide lengths of time into frames. Layers are like multiple film strips stacked on top of one another, each containing a different image that appears on the Stage. The major components of the Timeline are layers, frames, and the playhead.

Layers in a document are listed in a column on the left side of the Timeline. Frames contained in each layer appear in a row to the right of the layer name. The Timeline header at the top of the Timeline indicates frame numbers. The playhead indicates the current frame displayed on the Stage. As a document plays, the playhead moves from left to right through the Timeline.

The Timeline status displayed at the bottom of the Timeline indicates the selected frame number, the current frame rate, and the elapsed time to the current frame.

Note: When an animation is played, the actual frame rate is displayed; this may differ from the document’s frame rate setting if the computer can’t calculate and display the animation quickly enough.

HI J K L

Parts of the Timeline

A. Playhead B. Empty keyframe C. Timeline header D. Guide layer icon E. Frame View pop-up menu F. Frame-by-frame animation G. Tweened animation H. Center Frame button I. Onion-skinning buttons J. Current Frame indicator K. Frame Rate indicator L. Elapsed

Time indicator

The Timeline shows where animation occurs in a document, including frame-by-frame animation, tweened animation, and motion paths.

Controls in the layers section of the Timeline let you hide, show, lock, or unlock layers, as well as display layer contents as outlines. You can drag Timeline frames to a new location on the same layer or to a different layer.

More Help topics

“Motion tween animation” on page 195

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Change the appearance of the Timeline

By default, the Timeline appears below the main document window. To change its position, detach the Timeline from the document window and float it in its own window or dock it to any other panel you choose. You can also hide the Timeline.

To change the number of layers and frames that are visible, resize the Timeline. To view additional layers when the Timeline contains more layers than can be displayed, use the scroll bars on the right side of the Timeline.

Dragging the Timeline

• To move the Timeline when it is docked to the document window, drag the title bar tab at the upper-left corner of

the Timeline.

• To dock an undocked Timeline to the application window, drag the title bar tab to the top or bottom of the

document window.

• To dock an undocked Timeline to other panels, drag the Timeline title bar tab to the location you choose. To

prevent the Timeline from docking to other panels, press Control while you drag. A blue bar appears to indicate where the Timeline will dock.

• To lengthen or shorten layer name fields in the Timeline panel, drag the bar separating the layer names and the

frames portions of the Timeline.

Change the display of frames in the Timeline

1 To display the Frame View pop-up menu, click Frame View in the upper-right corner of the Timeline.

Frame View pop-up menu.

2 Select from the following options:

• To change the width of frame cells, select Tiny, Small, Normal, Medium, or Large. (The Large frame-width

setting is useful for viewing the details of sound waveforms.)

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• To decrease the height of frame cell rows, select Short.

Short and Normal frame view options.

• To turn the tinting of frame sequences on or off, select Tinted Frames.

• To display thumbnails of the content of each frame scaled to fit the Timeline frames, select Preview. This can

cause the apparent content size to vary and requires extra screen space.

• To display thumbnails of each full frame (including empty space), select Preview In Context. This is useful for

viewing the way elements move in their frames over the course of the animation, but previews are generally smaller than with the Preview option.

Change layer height in the Timeline

1 Do one of the following:

• Double-click the layer’s icon (the icon to the left of the layer name) in the Timeline.

• Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the layer name and select Properties from the context menu.

• Select the layer in the Timeline and select Modify > Timeline > Layer Properties.

2 In the Layer Properties dialog box, select an option for Layer Height and click OK.

Resize the Timeline

• If the Timeline is docked to the main application window, drag the bar separating the Timeline from the Stage area.

• If the Timeline is not docked to the main application window, drag the lower-right corner (Windows) or the size

box in the lower-right corner (Macintosh).

Move the playhead

The red playhead at the top of the Timeline moves as a document plays to indicate the current frame displayed on the Stage. The Timeline header shows the frame numbers of the animation. To display a frame on the Stage, move the playhead to the frame in the Timeline.

To display a specific frame when you’re working with a large number of frames that can’t all be displayed in the Timeline at once, move the playhead along the Timeline.

• To go to a frame, click the frame’s location in the Timeline header, or drag the playhead to the desired position.

• To center the Timeline on the current frame, click the Center Frame button at the bottom of the Timeline.

• (CS5.5 only) To play, rewind, skip back, and skip forward in the Timeline, use the Playback buttons at the bottom

of the Timeline panel.

• (CS5.5 only) To loop through a specific range of frames, click the Loop button at the bottom of the Timeline panel.

Then move the frame range markers to the first and last frames you want to loop.

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Moving the playhead

Using Flash authoring panels

Videos and tutorials

• Video: The Panels (Length = 11:15, Peachpit.com)

About the Property inspector

The Property inspector provides easy access to the most commonly used attributes of the current selection, either on the Stage or in the Timeline. You can make changes to the object or document attributes in the Property inspector without accessing the menus or panels that also control these attributes.

Depending on what is currently selected, the Property inspector displays information and settings for the current document, text, symbol, shape, bitmap, video, group, frame, or tool. When two or more different types of objects are selected, the Property inspector displays the total number of objects selected.

To display the Property inspector, Select Window > Properties, or press Control+F3 (Windows) or Command+F3 (Macintosh).

About the Library panel

The Library panel (Window > Library) is where you store and organize symbols created in Flash Pro, as well as imported files, including bitmap graphics, sound files, and video clips. The Library panel lets you organize library items in folders, see how often an item is used in a document, and sort items by name, type, date, use count, or ActionScript® linkage identifier. You can also search the Library panel with the search field and set properties on most multiple-object selections.

The Library panel showing a movie clip symbol.

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More Help topics

“Work with libraries” on page 159

About the Actions panel

The Actions panel lets you create and edit ActionScript code for an object or frame. Selecting a frame, button, or movie clip instance makes the Actions panel active. The Actions panel title changes to Button Actions, Movie Clip Actions, or Frame Actions, depending on what is selected.

The Actions panel showing a stop() action in a frame.

To display the Actions panel, select Window > Actions or press F9.

More Help topics

“The Actions panel” on page 348

“Script window overview” on page 349

Use the Movie Explorer

The Movie Explorer lets you view and organize the contents of a document and select elements in the document for modification. It contains a display list of currently used elements, arranged in a navigable hierarchical tree.

Use the Movie Explorer to perform the following actions:

• Filter which categories of items in the document appear in the Movie Explorer.

• Display the selected categories as scenes, symbol definitions, or both.

• Expand and collapse the navigation tree.

• Search for an element in a document by name.

• Familiarize yourself with the structure of a Flash Pro document that another developer created.

• Find all the instances of a particular symbol or action.

• Print the navigable display list that appears in the Movie Explorer.

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The Movie Explorer has a Panel menu and a context menu with options for performing operations on selected items or modifying the Movie Explorer display. A check mark with a triangle below it in the Movie Explorer panel indicates the Panel menu.

Note: The Movie Explorer has slightly different functionality when you are working with screens.

View the Movie Explorer

❖ Select Window > Movie Explorer.

Filter the categories of items that appear in the Movie Explorer

• To show text, symbols, ActionScript, imported files, or frames and layers, click one or more of the filtering buttons

to the right of the Show option. To customize which items to show, click the Customize button. Select options in the Show area of the Movie Explorer Settings dialog box to view those elements.

• To show items in scenes, select Show Movie Elements from the Movie Explorer Panel menu.

• To show information about symbols, select Show Symbol Definitions from the Movie Explorer Panel menu.

Note: The Movie Elements option and the Symbol Definitions option can be active at the same time.

Search for an item using the Find box

❖ In the Find box, enter the item name, font name, ActionScript string, or frame number. The Find feature searches

all items that appear in the Movie Explorer.

Select an item in the Movie Explorer

❖ Click the item in the navigation tree. Shift-click to select more than one item.

The full path for the selected item appears at the bottom of the Movie Explorer. Selecting a scene in the Movie Explorer shows the first frame of that scene on the Stage. Selecting an element in the Movie Explorer selects that element on the Stage if the layer containing the element is not locked.

Use the Movie Explorer Panel menu or context menu commands

1 Do one of the following:

• To view the Panel menu, click the Panel menu control in the Movie Explorer panel.

• To view the context menu, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) an item in the Movie Explorer

navigation tree.

2 Select an option from the menu:

Go To Location Jumps to the selected layer, scene, or frame in the document.

Go To Symbol Definition Jumps to the symbol definition for a symbol that is selected in the Movie Elements area of

the Movie Explorer. The symbol definition lists all the files associated with the symbol. (The Show Symbol Definitions option must be selected. See its definition in this list.)

Select Symbol Instances Jumps to the scene containing instances of a symbol that is selected in the Symbol Definitions

area of the Movie Explorer. (The Show Movie Elements option must be selected.)

Show In Library Highlights the selected symbol in the document’s library. (Flash Pro opens the Library panel if it is

not already visible.)

Rename Lets you enter a new name for a selected element.

Edit In Place Lets you edit a selected symbol on the Stage.

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Edit In New Window Lets you edit a selected symbol in a new window.

Show Movie Elements Shows the elements in your document organized into scenes.

Show Symbol Definitions Shows all the elements associated with a symbol.

Copy All Text To Clipboard Copies selected text to the clipboard. For spell checking or other editing, paste the text into

an external text editor.

Cut, Copy, Paste, And Clear Performs these common functions on a selected element. Modifying an item in the display

list modifies the corresponding item in the document.

Expand Branch Expands the navigation tree at the selected element.

Collapse Branch Collapses the navigation tree at the selected element.

Collapse Others Collapses the branches in the navigation tree that do not contain the selected element.

Print Prints the hierarchical display list that appears in the Movie Explorer.

About Flash components and the Components panel

A component in Flash is a reusable, packaged module that adds a particular capability to a Flash document. Components can include graphics as well as code, so they're pre-built functionality that you can easily include in your Flash projects. For example, a component can be a radio button, a dialog box, a preload bar, or even something that has no graphics at all, such as a timer, a server connection utility, or a custom XML parser.

If you are less experienced with writing ActionScript, you can add components to a document, set their parameters in the Property inspector or Component inspector, and use the Behaviors panel to handle their events. For example, you could attach a Go To Web Page behavior to a Button component that opens a URL in a web browser when the button is clicked without writing any ActionScript code.

If you are a programmer who wants to create more robust applications, you can create components dynamically, use ActionScript to set properties and call methods at run time, and use the event listener model to handle events.

Insert a component using the Component panel

When you first add a component to a document, Flash imports it as a movie clip into the Library panel. You can also drag a component from the Components panel directly to the Library panel and then add an instance of it to the Stage. In any case, you must add a component to the library before you can access its class elements.

1 Select Window > Component panel.

2 Select an instance of a component in the Component panel, and drag it to the Stage or Library panel. After a

component is added to the library, you can drag multiple instances to the Stage.

3 Configure the component as needed using either the Property inspector or the Components inspector. For

information on the parameters the component uses, refer to the appropriate component documentation for the version of ActionScript you are using in the Flash document.

Enter parameters for a component using the Component inspector

1 Select Window > Component Inspector.

2 Select an instance of a component on the Stage.

3 Click the Parameters tab and enter values for any of the listed parameters.

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