What You’ll Do
Getting to know the Flash authoring environment makes you more effective and efficient as you create movies. You’ll get to know the parts of the Flash window, which include the Timeline, Stage, panels, and Property Inspector.
The Tools panel, also known as the Toolbox, contains tools that you can use to draw, paint, select, and modify artwork. The Timeline represents the overall structure of a Flash document and controls the content. The Timeline consists of layers, frames, and scenes that make up a Flash document. Layers are like transparent sheets stacked on top of one another. Each layer can contain different images that appear on the Stage. A frame displays content at a specific moment on the Stage. The order in which frames appear in the Timeline determines the order in which they appear in the document. As you play a document, the playhead moves through the Timeline displaying the current frame with each layer on the Stage. If a project requires many animation sequences with hundreds of frames, you can organize the animations into scenes to make them easier to work with and manage. Below the Timeline is the Stage, which provides a place to compose the content for individual frames. Panels are windows that allow you to view, organize, and change elements and related options in a document. The Property Inspector is a specialized panel that allows you to change object-specific attributes and options.
Flash uses built-in keyboard shortcuts designed specifically for Flash. The built-in keyboard shortcuts are organized into sets, which you can duplicate and customize to create your own personalized set. Flash allows to you set preferences to customize the way you work in the program. As you design and develop a movie, you can print frames to review your work.
When you start Flash, the program window displays several windows of varying sizes you can use to create a movie. These windows include the Timeline/Stage, various panels, and the Property Inspector. Depending on your installation and previous program usage, not all of these windows may appear, or additional ones may be visible. You’ll do the bulk of your work in Flash with these windows.
In Flash, windows appear in the workspace with a title bar, such as the Timeline window, or in a panel. A panel is a window you can collapse, expand, and group with other panels, known as a panel group, to improve accessibility and workflow. A panel appears with a shaded header bar, which includes the window title and additional options. A panel group consists of either individual panels stacked one on top of the other or related panels organized together with tabs, such as the Components panel, to navigate from one panel to another. The Flash window Title bar displays the filename of the open file, and the program name Adobe Flash CS4. The Title bar also contains a Close button and resizing buttons.
A menu is a list of commands that you use to accomplish specific tasks. A command is a directive that accesses a feature of a program. Flash has its own set of menus, which are located on the menu bar along the top of the Flash window. On a menu, a check mark identifies a feature that is currently selected (that is, the feature is enabled or on). To disable (turn off) the feature, you click the command again to remove the check mark. A menu can contain several check-marked features. A bullet (Win) or diamond (Mac) also indicates that an option is enabled, but a menu can contain only one bullet-or diamond-marked feature per menu section. To disable a command with a bullet or diamond next to it, you must select a different option in the section on the menu.
When you perform a command frequently, it’s faster, and sometimes more convenient, to use a shortcut key, which is a keyboard alternative to using the mouse. When a shortcut key is available, it is listed beside the command on the menu, such as
+F3 (Mac) or Ctrl+F3 (Win) for the Properties command on the Window menu.
Flash (for Windows) also includes a Main toolbar. The Main toolbar contains buttons for the most frequently used commands. Clicking a button on a toolbar is often faster than clicking a menu and then clicking a command. When you position the pointer over a button, a tooltip appears, displaying the button name.
The Tools panel contains a set of tools you can use to create shapes, such as lines, rectangles, rounded rectangles, and ellipses. You can fill shapes with a color, pattern, or custom tile. The shapes and buttons you create in Flash are saved as media elements in the layers.
The Document window displays open Flash documents, which include a Timeline, Edit bar, and Stage. Flash (for Windows) also includes tabs to make it easier to switch back and forth between documents. At the top of the Document window is the Edit bar. The Edit bar displays what editing mode you are working in, and allows you to switch scenes.
The Timeline organizes and controls media elements over a linear timeline in rows called channels and in columns called frames. The Timeline displays a movie’s Timeline and monitors the playback frame-by-frame. A frame represents a single point in a movie. The Timeline includes layers that control different parts of the movie.
The Stage is the visible portion of a movie, on which you determine where your media elements appear. The Stage is the rectangle area below the Timeline where you place graphic content, including vector art, text boxes, buttons, imported bitmap graphics, or audio and video clips. You can define the properties of your Stage, such as its size and color.
The Property Inspector provides a convenient way to view and change attributes of any selected object or multiple objects on the Stage in your movie. After you select an object, relevant commands and associated fields for it appear in the Property Inspector. You can apply filters (New!), such as gradient controls to text, buttons, and movie clips. In addition, you can display the Property Inspector horizontally (like previous versions of Flash) or vertically (New!).
The Timeline represents the overall structure of a Flash document and controls the content. The Timeline consists of layers, frames, and scenes that make up a Flash document. Layers appear on the left side of the Timeline and frames contained in each layer appear in a row to the right of the layer. The Timeline header above the frames displays the frame numbers. At the bottom of the Timeline, a Status bar appears, displaying the current frame indicator, the current rate indicator, and the elapsed time indicator. Sometimes it is hard to work with frames in a small view in the Timeline. You can change the size of frames and display frames with tinted cells. In addition, you can display thumbnail previews of frame content, which is useful for viewing animations.
• To lengthen or shorten layer name fields, drag the bar separating the layer names and the frames in the Timeline.
• To heighten or shorten the Timeline, drag the bar separating the Timeline and the Stage.
• To hide or show the Timeline panel, click the gray bar to the right of the Timeline tab.
Click the Frame View button in the Timeline.
Select one of the following options from the list:
• To change the width of frame cells, click Tiny, Small, Normal, Medium, or Large.
• To decrease the height of frame cell rows, click Short.
• To turn frame sequence tinting on and off, click Tinted Frames.
• To display thumbnails of the content of each frame scaled to fit the Timeline frames, click Preview.
• To display thumbnails of each full frame, click Preview In Context.
This is useful for viewing animation movement within their frames.
• To close the current tab, click Close. To close all the tabs, click Close Group. (New!)
Layers are like transparent sheets stacked on top of one another. Each layer can contain different images that appear on the Stage. You can draw and edit objects on one layer without affecting objects on another layer. Layers in a document are listed in the left column of the Timeline. Before you can work with a layer, you need to select it, or make it active. A pencil icon next to a layer or layer folder indicates it is active. Only one layer can be active at a time, even though you can select more than one layer. A new document comes with one layer, but you can add more to organize content on the Stage. As you create multiple layers of related content, you can create layer folders to make it easier to manage the layers.
Select the layer or folder you want to delete.
Click the Delete button at the bottom of the Timeline.
Did You Know?
There are several ways to select a layer. You can click the name of a layer or folder in the Timeline, click a frame in the Timeline of the layer you want to select, or select an object on the Stage that is located on the layer you want to select.
You can select multiple layers. To select contiguous layers or folders, click the first layer or folder, and then Shift+click the last layer or folder. To select noncontiguous layers or folders,
+click (Mac) or Ctrl+click (Win) the layers or folders you want to select.
Flash includes controls (Eye, Lock, and Outline icons) in the layers section of the Timeline that allow you to quickly hide, show, lock, or unlock layers and layer folders, and display objects on a layer as colored outlines. Using colored outlines makes it easier to distinguish in which layer an object appears. When you hide a layer or folder with the Eye icon, a red X appears next to the name. When you lock a layer or folder with the Lock icon, a padlock appears next to the name. When you display layers as colored outlines with the Outline icon, a frame appears next to the name. When you change a folder, the controls affect all layers within a folder.
Do one of the following:
a. Click the Eye column to the right of the layer or folder to show or hide it.
b. Click the Eye icon to show or hide all layers or folders.
c. Option+click (Mac) or Alt+click (Win) in the Eye column to the right of a layer or folder to show or hide all other layers or folders.
Do one of the following:
a. Click in the Lock column to the right of the layer or folder to lock or unlock it.
b. Click the Lock icon to lock or unlock all layers or folders.
c. Option+click (Mac) or Alt+click (Win) in the Lock column to the right of a layer or folder to lock or unlock all other layers or folders.
Do one of the following:
a. Click the Outline column to the right of the layer’s name to display its objects as outlines.
b. Click the Outline icon to display objects on all layers as outlines.
c. Option+click (Mac) or Alt+click (Win) in the Outline column to the right of a layer to display objects on all other layers as outlines.
Did You Know?
Hidden layers are visible when you publish a document. When you publish a Flash document as a .swf movie, hidden layers are visible in the Flash movie file.
In much the same way you organize files on your computer, you can use similar concepts to organize layers and layer folders in a document. You can expand or collapse a layer folder to show or hide its contents. You can also move a layer or folder into a layer folder or to another place in the layers list. Layer folders can contain layers and other layer folders. In addition, you can copy a layer or copy the contents of a layer folder.
If necessary, click the triangle to the left of the folder name to collapse it.
Click the folder layer to select the entire folder.
Click the Edit menu, point to Timeline, and then click Copy Frames.
Select the layer below where you want to copy the layer folder.
Click the New Folder button.
Click the new layer folder to select it.
Click the Edit menu, point to Timeline, and then click Paste Frames.
The Layer Properties dialog box makes it easy to changes several layer options at once. You can change a layer name, show or lock a layer, change a layer type or outline color, and modify the layer height to show more information in the Timeline. Setting layer properties of a folder automatically sets the properties for all the layers within that folder.
Select the layer in the Timeline.
Click the Modify menu, point to Timeline, and then click Layer Properties.
Select from the following options:
• Name. Enter a new name.
• Show. Select this check box to show the layer.
• Lock. Select this check box to lock the layer or clear it to unlock the layer.
• Type. Select a layer option: Normal, Mask, Masked, Folder, or Guide.
• Outline Color. Click the Color box, and then select a color.
• View Layer As Outlines. Select this check box to view the layer as outlines.
• Layer Height. Click the popup, and then select a percentage to display more information in the Timeline.
Click OK.
Guide layers help you draw and align objects on layers that appear on the Stage. After you create a guide layer, you can align objects on other layers to objects you create on the guide layer. You can make any layer a guide layer. You can also create a motion guide layer to control the movement of objects in a motion tweened animation.
Click the layer you want to convert to a guide layer.
Control+click (Mac) or right-click (Win) the selected layer, and then click Guide.
Did You Know?
You can change a guide layer back to a normal layer. Control (Mac) or right-click (Win) the selected layer, and then click Guide.
You can convert a guide layer to a motion guide layer. Drag a normal layer onto a guide layer.
See Also
See “Using Snap Align” on page 94 for information on snapping items you draw or drag to snap to lines or shapes.
A frame displays content at a specific moment on the Stage. The order in which frames appear in the Timeline determines the order in which they appear in the document. The Timeline displays each frame in sequential order from 1 to the end of the document. As you play a document, the playhead moves through the Timeline displaying the current frame with each layer on the Stage. When you work with frames, you can select, insert, delete, and move frames in the Timeline. When you move frames in the Timeline, you can place them on the same layer or a different layer. If you want to display a specific frame in a document, you can move the playhead to the frame in the Timeline to display the frame content on the Stage. Another type of frame is called a keyframe. A keyframe defines a change in an animation or uses actions to modify a document.
1. To select one frame, click on the frame.
Important
If the Span Based Selection preference is turned on, clicking a frame selects the entire frame sequence between two keyframes.
2. To select multiple contiguous frames, click the first frame in the sequence, hold down Shift, and then click the last frame in the sequence.
3. To select multiple noncontiguous frames,
+click (Mac) or Ctrl+click (Win) the frames you want to select.
Did You Know?
You can center the Timeline on the current frame. Click the Center Frame button at the bottom of the Timeline.
See Also
See “Using the Timeline” on page 32 for information on changing the view size of frames in the Timeline.
If a project requires a lot of animations with hundreds of frames, you can organize the animations into scenes to make them easier to work with and manage. The Scene panel makes it easy to display the number of scenes in the document, select current scenes for editing, create new scenes, duplicate scenes, delete scenes, and reorder them. You can also use the Edit bar to select a scene to edit. When you select a scene, Flash displays it on the Stage. When you publish a document as a movie, the scenes play in order unless you add interactivity to play them differently. Be aware that scenes are treated like self-contained movies, so transitions between scenes with interactivity may not be seamless.
The Edit bar contains controls and information for editing scenes and symbols, and for changing the view size of the Stage. The Edit bar lets you know what editing mode you are working in and allows you to switch scenes. The Scene button allows you to edit a scene in document-editing mode, while the Symbol button allows you to edit symbols in the symbol-editing mode. The Back button on the Edit bar returns you to document-editing mode.
If you use Windows, you can display and use the Main toolbar above the Document menu window to quickly access common document and object-related commands, such as New, Open, Save, Print, Cut, Copy, Paste, Redo, Undo, Snap To Objects, Smooth, Straighten, Rotate And Skew, Scale, and Align. When you’re finished working with the Main toolbar, you can hide it to create more workspace.
1. To display the Main toolbar, click the Window menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Main to select the check mark.
2. To hide the Main toolbar, click the Window menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Main to deselect the check mark.
Did You Know?
You can use Undo and Redo commands on the menu bar. The Undo and Redo commands on the Edit menu undo (returns you to a previous point) and redo (re-performs commands you undid) actions you’ve taken in a document. The names of the Undo and Redo commands change to reflect the current action.
Flash supports 100 undo and redo levels. To change the number of undo levels, click the Edit (Win) or Flash (Mac) menu, click the General tab, specify a number in the Undo Levels box, and then click OK. The lower the number of levels, the less amount of memory the program needs to run.
If you need more workspace, you can use the double-arrow button (at the top of a panel group) to quickly minimize a panel group, such as the Tools panel or Property Inspector. When you click the double-arrow button, the panel group collapses to icons, which increases the size of the workspace. You can click the icons to display the panel. When you click the double-arrow button again, the panel group reopens. If you need to increase or decrease the size of a docking panel, you can drag the resize bar at the top-left side of the panel group to resize it as you would any window.
To minimize or maximize a docking channel, click the Double-arrow button at the top of the panel group.
The double-arrow direction indicates whether the panel minimizes or maximizes.
For example, if the double-arrow points to the left of the Tools panel that means when you click it the Tools panel minimizes. If the double-arrow points to the right that means when you click it the Tools panel maximizes.
The Tools panel, also known as the Toolbox, contains tools that you can use to draw, paint, select, and modify artwork. The Tools panel is divided into 4 main sections: (1) the first section at the top contains selection and transform tools; (2) the next section contains tools for drawing, painting, and adding text; (3) the next selection contains tools for changing, modifying, drawing and painting; and (4) the last section contains additional tool options for zooming and panning in the program window, changing stroke and fill colors, and selecting other options. You can show or hide the Tools panel as necessary and customize the Tools panel to display the tools you use most often. You can now expand and collapse the Tools panel to switch between one and two columns of tools. When you customize the Tools panel, you can display more than one tool in a location. The top tool in the group appears with an arrow in the lower right corner of its icon. When you click and hold the pointer on the top tool, the other tools in the group appear in a pop-up menu. When you select a tool from the group, it appears in the Tools panel as the top tool.
1. To display the Tools panel, click the Window menu, and then click Tools to select the check mark.
2. To hide the Tools panel, click the Window menu, and then click Tools to deselect the check mark.
3. To collapse and expand the Tools panel between one and two columns, click the double-arrows at the top of the Tools panel.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit menu (Win), and then click Customize Tools Panel.
Click a tool in the Tools panel graphic.
To add a tool, select the tool in the Available Tools list, and then click Add.
To remove a tool, select the tool in the Current Selection list, and then click Remove.
Click OK.
Did You Know?
You can restore the Tools panel to the default layout. Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit menu (Win), click Customize Tools Panel, click Restore Defaults, and then click OK.
You can identify keyboard shortcuts for the Tools panel. In the Customize Tools Panel dialog box, the letter in parenthesis indicates the keyboard shortcut.
Panels are windows that allow you to view, organize, and change elements and related options in a document. In Flash, you work with several panel windows at one time. Instead of continually moving, resizing, or opening and closing windows, you can collapse or expand individual panels within a window with a single click to save space. A panel appears with a header, which includes the tab titles and three accessibility options: the Minimize/Maximize button, the Close button, and an Options menu. The entire set of panels includes a double arrow you can use the collapse and expand the entire panel between icons with text and full panels. You use the Minimize/Maximize button to collapse or expand panels. The Options menu provides you with panel specific commands, including group, rename, maximize, close a panel, and use the Help system.
1. To collapse the panel set to icons with text, click the double arrow pointing right (Collapse to Icons) at the top of the panels.
2. To expand the panel set from icons with text to full panels, click the double arrow pointing left (Expand Dock) at the top of the panels.
3. To have an expanded panel icon automatically collapse or hide when you click away, right-click (Win) or control-click (Mac) a panel, and then click Auto-Collapse Icon Panels or Auto-Show Hidden Panels. (New!)
You can dock and undock, or temporarily attach and detach, panels or panel groups. You can display panels using the Window menu, and then drag them around the program window to dock or undock them to other panels. You can even drag the Property Inspector panel to display it horizontally or vertically (New!). However, document panels and the Stage cannot be docked. When you drag a panel over a dockable area, an outline around the target dock appears. When you release the mouse button, the panel snaps to the dockable area and stays there until you move it. You can even drag a panel tab to a new position. If you attempt to dock a panel over an undockable area, no outline appears.
You can group panels together to improve organization and workflow. When you group panels together, you can stack one on top of the other, or group related panels together as a tabbed panel group, such as the Component Inspector panel. You can add a panel to an existing panel group or you can create a new panel group. If you no longer need panels grouped together, you can ungroup them. You can use the panel tab to group or ungroup as well as dock or undock panel windows.
As you work with Flash, you’ll open, close, and move around windows and panels to meet your individual needs. After you customize the Flash workspace, you can save the location of windows and panels as a workspace, or custom panel set, which you can display by using the Workspace menu on the Applications bar (New!) or the Workspaces submenu on the Window menu. You can create custom workspaces, or use a workspace provided by Flash, which are designed for space and workflow efficiency. The built-in workspaces include Classic, Debug, Designer, Developer, or Essential. (New!) If you no longer use a custom workspace, you can remove it at any time. You can also rename a custom workspace to improve recognition.
Open and position the panels you want to include in a panel set.
Click the Workspace menu (New!) (the menu name displays the current workspace), and then click New Workspace.
a. You can also click the Window menu, point to Workspace, and then click New Workspace.
The New Workspace dialog box opens.
Type a name in the Name box.
Click OK.
The panel set is now saved.
Click the Workspace menu (New!) (the menu name displays the current workspace), and then select a panel option:
• Custom panel name. Displays a custom panel layout that you created.
• Classic, Debug, Designer, Developer, or Essential. Displays panel layouts created by Adobe for specific purposes in Flash. (New!)
Flash uses built-in keyboard shortcuts designed specifically for Flash. A complete list of the keyboard shortcuts is available in the back of this book. The built-in keyboard shortcuts are organized into sets, which you can duplicate and customize to create your own personalized set. If you use other programs, such as Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop, and you are more comfortable using their keyboard shortcuts for common commands, you can select a built-in keyboard shortcut set from any of the graphics programs to use in Flash.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Keyboard Shortcuts.
Click the Current Set popup, and then select a set.
Click the Duplicate Set button.
Type a name for the new shortcut set.
Click OK.
Did You Know?
You can delete a custom keyboard shortcut set. Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, click Keyboard Shortcuts, select a shortcut set from the Current Set popup, and then click the Delete button. You cannot delete a built-in keyboard shortcut set that comes with Flash.
You can rename a custom keyboard shortcut set. Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, click Keyboard Shortcuts, select a shortcut set from the Current Set popup, click the Rename Set button, enter a new name, and then click OK. You cannot rename a built-in keyboard shortcut set that comes with Flash.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Keyboard Shortcuts.
Click the Current Set popup, and then select the set in which you want to change.
Click the Commands popup, and then select a shortcut category, such as Drawing Menu Commands, Drawing Tools, Test Movie Menu Commands, and Workplace Accessibility Commands.
Select the command for which you want to add or remove a shortcut in the Commands list.
Do the following:
a. To add a shortcut, click the Add Shortcut (+) button, and then press the key combination to enter the new shortcut key in the Press Key box.
b. To remove a shortcut, click the Remove Shortcut (−) button.
Click Change.
To add or remove additional shortcuts, repeat Steps 2-6.
Click OK.
Flash allows you to set general preferences to customize the way you work in the program. You can specify what you want to display or open when you launch Flash. Some of the preferences allow you to specify the number of undo levels, enable multiple selection, show tooltips, open documents and test movies in tabs, enable span-based selection in the Timeline, make the first frame of each scene in a document a named anchor, and select a specific selection highlight color for different element types, such as drawings, groups, and symbols. You can also set Project preferences for closing and saving project files. In Flash CS4, the Preferences dialog box is reorganized with new categories and options for ease of use, such as having have Flash open a new document tab instead of opening in its own window.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences.
Click the General category.
Select from the following options:
• On Launch. Select an option to specify which document opens when you start the program.
• Welcome Screen.
• New Document.
• Last Documents Open.
• No Document.
• Undo Levels. Select Document or Object-level Undo, and then enter a value from 2 to 300 to set the number of undo/redo levels. The default level is 100.
• Test Movie. Select the Open Test Movie In Tabs check box to have Flash open a new document tab.
• Auto-Collapse Icon Panels. Select this check box to automatically collapse the panel set to Icons only.
• Shift Select. Select or clear this check box to control the selection of multiple elements.
• Show Tooltips. Select to display tooltips when the pointer points to a button or control.
• Contact-Sensitive Selection and Lasso Tools. For the object drawing model, select to select objects when any part of the marquee touches it. Clear it to select objects that are completely enclosed by the marquee. Points within the selection will be selected.
• Show Axes For 3D Movie Clips. Select to show axes for 3d movie clips. (New!)
• Span Based Selection. Select to use span-based selection instead of frame-based selection.
• Named Anchor On Scene. Select to make the first frame of each scene in a document a named anchor.
• Highlight Color. Select the Use Layer Color option to use the current layer’s outline color, or select the option, and then select a color for Drawing objects, Drawing primitives, groups, symbols, and other elements.
• Version Cue. Select this check box to enable Version Cue, a file version manager.
• Printing (Win). Select the Disable PostScript check box if you have problems printing to a postscript printer.
Click OK.
When you edit or work with text in a Flash document, you can specify text related preferences. You can select a font to use when substituting missing fonts, or select text orientation options, which is useful when using English (horizontal) or Asian (vertical) language fonts. In addition, you can select a language as an input method.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences.
Click the Text category.
Select from the following options:
• Font Mapping Default. Click the popup, and then select a font to use when substituting missing fonts. Click the Style popup, and then select a font style. (New!)
• Show For Missing Fonts. Select to show the Font Mapping dialog box. (New!)
• Vertical Text options.
• Default Text Orientation. Select to make default orientation vertical, which is useful for Asian fonts.
• Right To Left Text Flow. Select to reverse the default text display direction.
• No Kerning. Select to turn off kerning for vertical text.
• Input Method. Select the Text Input Window check box (Mac) or language option to select a language type.
• ActionScript Editing. Select the check box to use a key to insert the character. (New!)
• Font Menus. Select check boxes and option to show fonts in menus. (New!)
Click OK.
When you copy or cut graphics to the Clipboard, you can set preferences to determine how you want to paste the graphic into a Flash document. The preference options give you control over the size and quality of the graphics you insert in a document. If you are using Windows, the Clipboard preferences include options for bitmaps and gradients in the Windows Metafile format. If you are using a Macintosh, the Clipboard preferences include options for the PICT format.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences.
Click the Clipboard category.
Select from the following options:
• Bitmaps (Win). Select options for Color Depth and Resolution to specify these parameters for bitmaps copied to the Clipboard. Select Smooth to apply anti-aliasing. Enter a value in the Size Limit box to specify the amount of RAM that is used when placing a bitmap on the Clipboard.
• PICT Settings (Mac). Select Objects to preserve data copied to the Clipboard as a vector graphic, or select one of the bitmap formats to convert the image. Enter a value for Resolution. Select the Include Postscript check box to include Postscript data. For gradients, select an option to specify quality in the PICT.
• Gradient quality. Select an option to specify the quality of gradient fills placed in the Windows Metafile.
• FreeHand text. Select the Maintain As Blocks check box to keep text editable in a pasted FreeHand file.
Click OK.
Flash provides warning messages when you perform actions that might create problems for your document or lose important data. The warnings help you avoid compatibility problems with Flash CS3 and character corruption from encoding, which lets you know about missing fonts, URL changes, and symbol conversion. Additional warnings let you know when importing audio and video content inserts frames and when motion frames or target objects contain ActionScript.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences.
Click the Warnings category.
Select from the following options:
• Warn On Save For Adobe Flash CS3 Compatibility. When you save documents with content features specific to Flash CS4.
• Warn On URL Changes In Launch And Edit. If the URL for a document has changed.
• Warn On Reading Generator Content. Displays a red X over objects not supported by Flash.
• Warn On Inserting Frames When Importing Content. When Flash inserts frames while you import audio or video files.
• Warn On Encoding Conflicts When Exporting ActionScript Files. When you create a document with different language characters for export.
• Warn On Conversion Of Effect Graphic Objects. When you attempt to edit a symbol with effects applied to it.
• Warn on sites with overlapped root folder. When you create a site in which the local root folder overlaps another site.
• Warn On Behavior Symbol Conversion. When you convert a symbol with a behavior attached to a symbol of a different type.
• Warn On Symbol Conversion. When you convert a symbol to a symbol of a different type.
• Warn On Automatically Converting From Drawing Object To Group. When you convert an object drawn in Object Drawing mode to a group.
• Warn On Automatically Converting Objects To Drawing Objects. When you change objects to drawing objects.
• Show Incompatibility Warnings On Feature Controls. When controls are not supported by the Flash Player version specified in Publish Settings.
• Warn On Automatically Generating ActionScript Classes For Timelines. When you don’t create a class, Flash does.
• Warn On Compiled Clips Defining ActionScript Classes For Symbols. When you try to create ActionScript classes for symbols.
• Warn On Converting Multiple Selection To Symbol For Tween.(New!) When you don’t have a symbol to create a tween.
• Warn On Replacing Current Tween Target.(New!) When you try to replace the current tween target
• Warn On Motion Frame Contains ActionScript.(New!) When a motion frame contains ActionScript.
• Warn On Motion Target Object Contains ActionScript.(New!) When the motion target contains ActionScript.
• Warn On IK Bones Not Showing.(New!) When the IK Bones are not showing.
Click OK.
You can use the Page Setup dialog box in Macintosh to select the size and location in the printer of the paper you want to use. You can also select the page orientation (portrait or landscape) that best fits the entire document or any selection. Portrait orients the page vertically (taller than it is wide) and landscape orients the page horizontally (wider than it is tall). When you shift between the two, the margin settings automatically change. Margins are the blank spaces between the edges of a page and the image. The printer only prints within these margins. You can use the Print Margins dialog box to change margins and layout. The layout options allow you to specify the frames you want to print, and the frame size and display on the page.
Open a document.
Click the File menu, and then click Page Setup.
Click the Settings popup, and then click Page Attributes.
Select from the various Page Attributes options:
• Format For. Click the Format For popup, and then select a printer from the available options. If your printer is not accessible from the list, click the Edit Printer List, and then add your printer (you may need the printer CD, or access to the Internet, to load the latest drivers).
• Paper Size. Click the Paper Size popup, and then select from the available options. The default printer will determine the available paper sizes.
• Orientation. Click the Portrait, Landscape Left, or Landscape Right button.
• Scale. Enter a percentage value to increase (over 100) or decrease (under 100) the size of the printed document.
Click OK.
Open a document.
Click the File menu, and then click Print Margins.
Enter Left, Right, Top, and Bottom page margins, and then select the Center check boxes to center material on the page.
Select from the Layout options:
• Frames. Click the Frames popup, and then click First Frame Only or All Frames.
• Layout. Click the Layout popup, and then select a layout option: Actual Size, Fit On One Page, or one of the Storyboard options.
• Scale. Enter a scale percentage value.
Click OK.
You can use the Page Setup dialog box in Windows to select the size and location in the printer of the paper you want to use. You can also select the page orientation (portrait or landscape) that best fits the entire document or any selection. When you shift between the two, the margin settings automatically change. Margins are the blank spaces between the edges of a page and the image. You can also change page layout options, which allow you to specify the frames you want to print, and the frame size and display on the page. The printer only prints within these margins. Different printer models support different options and features; the available options depend on your printer and printer drivers.
Open a document.
Click the File menu, and then click Page Setup.
Select from the various Page Setup options:
• Margins. Enter Left, Right, Top, and Bottom page margins, and then select the check boxes to center material on the page.
• Size. Click the Size list arrow, and then select from the available options.
• Source. Click the Source list arrow, and then select from the available options.
• Orientation. Click the Portrait or Landscape option.
Select from the Layout options:
• Frames. Click the Frames list arrow, and then click First Frame Only or All Frames.
• Layout. Click the Layout list arrow, and then select a layout option.
• Scale. Enter a scale percentage value.
Click OK.
Open a document.
Click the File menu, and then click Print.
Click the Name list arrow, and then select the printer you want to use.
Click Properties.
Select the printer options you want; each printer displays different options.
Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.
Click OK to close the Print dialog box.
The Print command is probably the most used of all Flash’s print options. In addition to normal printing functions, such as Copies and Pages, the Print command gives you other menus that let you control specific printing functions, such as output ink and color management. Understand that the options available for the Print command will be partially determined by the default printer. For example, if your default printer uses more than one paper tray, you will see options for selecting a specific tray for the current print job. In spite of the differences, there are some universal options to all print jobs, and these are covered here.
Open a document.
Click the File menu, and then click Print.
Click the Printer popup, and then select from the available printer descriptions.
Click the Presets popup, and then select from the available preset options.
Select the various Copies & Pages options: Number Of Copies, Collated, Print All or Range Of Pages.
Click the Print Options popup, click Layout, and then select the various options: Pages Per Sheet, Layout Direction, and if you want a Border.
Click the Print Options popup, click Color Matching, and then select the option you want to match color using ColorSync (on your computer) or the printer.
Click the Print Options popup, click Paper Handling, and then select your options.
Click the Print Options popup, click Scheduler, and then select the option you want to specify when you want to print the document.
Click the Print Options popup, click Summary, and then view the summary of settings.
Click the following options to finalize your print:
• PDF. Displays a menu to save a Flash document as a PDF with the option you want. The options include Fax PDF, Mail PDF, and Compress PDF.
• Preview. Displays a preview of the printed document
• Supplies. Displays an Apple Store Web site for printer supplies.
• Cancel. Stops a print job.
• Print. Prints the current document.
If you need additional help along the way, click the Help button.
Printing a paper copy is the most common way to preview and share your documents. You can use the Print dialog box to set how many copies to print, specify a range of pages to print, and print your document. Understand that the options available for the Print command will be determined by the default printer, and operating system. Different printers will display different options; there are some options that are fairly universal, and these options are covered here.
Open a document.
Click the File menu, and then click Print.
If necessary, click the Name list arrow, and then click the printer you want.
Type the number of copies you want to print.
Specify the pages to print:
• All. Prints the entire document.
• Pages. Prints the specified pages.
• Selection. Prints the selected item.
Click OK.