ADOBE FLASH CS3 PROFESSIONAL ® USER GUIDE ®
© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Copyright Using Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional for Windows® and Macintosh If this guide is distributed with software that includes an end user agreement, this guide, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.
iii Contents Chapter 1: Getting started Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Using Help ................................................................................ 2 Resources ................................................................................ 6 What’s new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
iv Chapter 6: Drawing Drawing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Using Flash drawing and painting tools Drawing with the Pen tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Reshaping lines and shape outlines Snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
v Chapter 14: Working with sound Using sounds in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Exporting Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Sound and ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
vi HTML publishing templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 Editing Flash HTML settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Chapter 21: Exporting from Flash About exporting from Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 Chapter 1: Getting started If you haven’t installed your new software, begin by reading some information on installation and other preliminaries. Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to read an overview of Adobe® Help and of the many resources available to users. You have access to instructional videos, plug-ins, templates, user communities, seminars, tutorials, RSS feeds, and much more.
FLASH CS3 2 User Guide For instructions, see TechNote 14157 on the Adobe® Flash® Support Center at www.adobe.com/go/tn_14157. 3 To begin installation, run one of the following in your Players folder: • For the ActiveX control for Windows® (Internet Explorer or AOL), run the Install Flash Player 9 AX.exe file. • For the plug-in for Windows (CompuServe, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, or Opera), run the Install Flash Player 9.exe file.
FLASH CS3 3 User Guide LiveDocs Help includes all the content from in-product Help, plus updates and links to additional instructional content available on the web. For some products, you can also add comments to the topics in LiveDocs Help. Find LiveDocs Help for your product in the Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documentation. Most versions of in-product and LiveDocs Help let you search across the Help systems of multiple products.
FLASH CS3 4 User Guide You can search Flash Help for a combination of words and phrases: Single-word searches Return a list of help pages that contain the specified word. For example, if you type timeline in the search text field, Flash returns a list of help pages that contain the word timeline or Timeline. Multiple-word searches Return a list of help pages that each contain all of the search terms you enter. In this case, the word and is implicit in the search.
FLASH CS3 5 User Guide • Using ActionScript 3.0 Components contains information on using and configuring ActionScript 3.0 components in a Flash document. Components are reusable user interface elements such as buttons, menus, and so on, that you can use in your own projects without having to create and script them yourself. Some components do not have a visual presence, but instead help you store and manage data for your application.
FLASH CS3 6 User Guide • Flash Lite 1.x ActionScript Language Reference provides dictionary-style entries for all of the actions, methods, and properties available in Flash Lite 1.0 and 1.1. Each entry includes the details of the term’s syntax and functionality, as well as sample code. Resources Adobe Video Workshop The Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop offers over 200 training videos covering a wide range of subjects for print, web, and video professionals.
FLASH CS3 7 User Guide When you start the Adobe Video Workshop, you choose the products you want to learn and the subjects you want to view. You can see details about each video to focus and direct your learning. Community of presenters With this release, Adobe Systems invited the community of its users to share their expertise and insights. Adobe and lynda.com present tutorials, tips, and tricks from leading designers and developers such as Joseph Lowery, Katrin Eismann, and Chris Georgenes.
FLASH CS3 8 User Guide • Using the Flash Video Encoder Videos also show you how to use Flash CS3 with other Adobe components: • Using symbols effectively between Illustrator® and Flash • Understanding the Fireworks® and Flash workflow • Designing websites with Flash and Photoshop • Creating mobile content in Flash To access Adobe Creative Suite 3 video tutorials, visit Adobe Video Workshop at www.adobe.com/go/learn_videotutorials.
FLASH CS3 9 User Guide and websites to DVD menus and video buttons. Each template file is professionally constructed and represents a best-use example of product features. Templates can be a valuable resource when you need to jump-start a project. Yo ur Inv est me nt Gu ide Are you leav ing mon ey on the tabl e? Typi non habe nt claritatem insitam; est claritatem. Investigationes usus legen tis in iis qui demonstra legunt saepi facit eorum verunt lecto us.
FLASH CS3 10 User Guide Note: Bridge Home may not be available in all languages. Adobe Design Center Adobe Design Center offers articles, inspiration, and instruction from industry experts, top designers and Adobe publishing partners. New content is added monthly. You can find hundreds of tutorials for design products and learn tips and techniques through videos, HTML tutorials, and sample book chapters.
FLASH CS3 11 User Guide New ideas are the heart of Think Tank, Dialog Box, and Gallery: • Think Tank articles consider how today’s designers engage with technology and what their experiences mean for design, design tools, and society. • In Dialog Box, experts share new ideas in motion graphics and digital design. • The Gallery showcases how artists communicate design in motion. Visit Adobe Design Center at www.adobe.com/designcenter.
FLASH CS3 12 User Guide Adobe Labs Adobe Labs gives you the opportunity to experience and evaluate new and emerging technologies and products from Adobe.
FLASH CS3 13 User Guide Multicolored bounding boxes You can change the selection color of specific types of elements to identify each element easily. See “Get information about instances on the Stage” on page 215. Adobe Device Central A new way to test content created with Adobe products on emulated mobile devices, Device Central lets you select a target device from the beginning of the development process, and gives you a clear idea of what a device’s limitations are.
FLASH CS3 14 User Guide Adobe Illustrator import You can now import Adobe Illustrator AI files directly into Flash documents. Most Illustrator data types are supported, and several import options are provided so that you can find the best balance of image fidelity and editability within Flash. See “Import Adobe Illustrator files” on page 140.
15 Chapter 2: Workspace The Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional workspace includes tools and panels that help you create and navigate your documents. Understanding these tools will help you maximize the application’s capabilities. Flash workflow and workspace General Flash workflow To build a Flash application, you typically perform the following basic steps: Plan the application. Decide which basic tasks the application will perform. Add media elements.
FLASH CS3 16 User Guide 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. When you first start an Adobe Creative Suite component, you see the default workspace, which you can customize for the tasks you perform there. For instance, you can create one workspace for editing and another for viewing, save them, and switch between them as you work.
FLASH CS3 17 User Guide A B C D E G F H Default Photoshop workspace A. Document window B. Dock of panels collapsed to icons C. Panel title bar D. Menu bar E. Options bar F. Tools palette G. Collapse To Icons button H. Three palette (panel) groups in vertical dock For a video on understanding the workspace, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0187.
FLASH CS3 18 User Guide Reconfigure the Tools panel You can display the tools in the Tools panel in a single column, or side by side in two columns. In InDesign, you also can switch from single-column to double-column display by setting an option in Interface preferences. ❖ Click the double arrow at the top of the Tools panel. Customize the workspace To create a custom workspace, move and manipulate panels (called palettes in Photoshop and in Adobe Creative Suite 2 components).
FLASH CS3 19 User Guide Navigator panel being dragged out to new dock, indicated by blue vertical highlight Navigator panel now in its own dock To prevent panels from filling all 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.
FLASH CS3 20 User Guide 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 make a panel appear at the front of its group, click its tab. • To move grouped panels together, drag their title bar (above the tabs).
FLASH CS3 21 User Guide Minimize button Manipulate panels collapsed to icons Collapse panels to icons to reduce clutter on the workspace. (In some cases, panels are collapsed to icons in the default workspace.) Click a panel icon to expand the panel. You can expand only one panel or panel group at a time. Panels collapsed to icons Panels expanded from icons • To collapse or expand all panels in a dock, click the double arrow at the top of the dock.
FLASH CS3 22 User Guide Save, delete, and switch between 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 Window > Workspace menu. In Photoshop, the saved workspace can include a specific keyboard shortcut set and menu set.
FLASH CS3 23 User Guide Using the Stage and Tools panel Welcome screen overview When Flash is running with no documents open, the Welcome screen appears. The Welcome screen contains the following four areas: Open a Recent Item Lets you open your most recent documents (click the Open icon). Create New Lists Flash file types, such as Flash documents and ActionScript™ files. Create from Template Lists the templates most commonly used to create Flash documents.
FLASH CS3 24 User Guide For a video tutorial about the Flash interface, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0116. 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%.
FLASH CS3 25 User Guide 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.
FLASH CS3 26 User Guide 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.
FLASH CS3 27 User Guide • 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.
FLASH CS3 28 User Guide The General category in the Preferences dialog box See also “Specify drawing preferences” on page 163 “Change the display of frames in the Timeline” on page 35 “About the Timeline” on page 33 “Creating and managing documents” on page 51 “Substituting missing fonts” on page 263 “Set Pen tool preferences” on page 173 “AI File Importer preferences” on page 143 “PSD file import preferences” on page 150 Set preferences 1 Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Flash > Preferences (Macint
FLASH CS3 29 User Guide Set text preferences • For Font Mapping Default, select a font to use when substituting missing fonts in documents you open in Flash. • For Vertical Text options, select Default Text Orientation (deselected by default). • To reverse the default text display direction, select Right To Left Text Flow (deselected by default). • To turn off kerning for vertical text, select No Kerning (deselected by default).
FLASH CS3 30 User Guide Document- or Object-level undo Document-level undo maintains a single list of all your actions for the entire Flash document. Object-level undo maintains separate lists of your actions for each object in your document. Object-level lets you undo an action on one object without having to also undo actions on other objects that might have been modified more recently than the target object.
FLASH CS3 31 User Guide Gradients setting. When you are pasting in Flash, the full gradient quality of the copied data is preserved regardless of the Gradient setting. • FreeHand Text To keep text editable in a pasted FreeHand file, select Maintain Text As Blocks. Customize keyboard shortcuts To match the shortcuts you use in other applications, or to streamline your workflow, select keyboard shortcuts. By default, Flash uses built-in keyboard shortcuts designed for the application.
FLASH CS3 32 User Guide Note: To enter the key combination, press the keys on the keyboard. You do not need to spell out key names, such as Control, Option, and so on. 6 Click Change. 7 Repeat this procedure to add or remove additional shortcuts, and click OK. Delete a keyboard shortcut set 1 Select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows) or Flash > Keyboard Shortcuts (Macintosh). In the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box, click Delete Set. 2 In the Delete Set dialog box, select a shortcut set and click Delete.
FLASH CS3 33 User Guide Remove a shortcut from a command 1 From the Commands pop-up menu, select a command category, select a command from the Commands list, and select a shortcut. 2 Click Remove Item (-). Add a shortcut to a command 1 From the Commands pop-up menu, select a command category and select a command. 2 Prepare to add a shortcut by doing one of the following: • If fewer than two shortcuts are already assigned to the command, click Add Item .
FLASH CS3 34 User Guide A B C E F D G H I 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. Scroll To Playhead 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.
FLASH CS3 35 User Guide • To dock an undocked Timeline to the application window, drag the gripper (2 dotted vertical bars) to the top of the application 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.
FLASH CS3 36 User Guide 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.) • 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.
FLASH CS3 37 User Guide Create a layer folder ❖ Do one of the following: • Select a layer or folder in the Timeline and select Insert > Timeline > Layer Folder. • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a layer name in the Timeline and select Insert Folder from the context menu. The new folder appears above the layer or folder you selected. View layers and layer folders A red X next to the name of a layer or folder in the Timeline indicates that a layer or folder is hidden.
FLASH CS3 38 User Guide • 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. Change the number of layers displayed in the Timeline ❖ Drag the bar that separates the Timeline from the Stage area.
FLASH CS3 39 User Guide 4 Click the new layer and select Edit > Timeline > Paste Frames. Copy the contents of a layer folder 1 Collapse the folder (click the triangle to the left of the folder name in the Timeline) and click the folder name to select the entire folder. 2 Select Edit > Timeline > Copy Frames. 3 To create a folder, select Insert > Timeline > Layer Folder. 4 Click the new folder and select Edit > Timeline > Paste Frames.
FLASH CS3 40 User Guide Note: Dragging a normal layer onto a guide layer converts the guide layer to a motion guide layer. To prevent accidentally converting a guide layer, place all guide layers at the bottom of the layer order. ❖ Select the layer and Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Guide from the context menu. To change the layer back to a normal layer, select Guide again.
FLASH CS3 41 User Guide The Library panel showing a movie clip symbol To display the Library panel, select Window > Library, or press Control+L (Windows) or Command+L (Macintosh). See also “Managing media assets with the Flash document library” on page 64 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.
FLASH CS3 42 User Guide See also “Actions panel overview” on page 382 “Script window overview” on page 383 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.
FLASH CS3 43 User Guide 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.
FLASH CS3 44 User Guide Accessibility in the Flash workspace About accessibility support Accessibility support in the authoring environment provides keyboard shortcuts for navigating and using interface controls, including panels, the Property inspector, dialog boxes, the Stage, and objects on the Stage, so that you can work with these interface elements without using the mouse. Note: Certain keyboard controls and authoring environment accessibility features are available only in Windows.
FLASH CS3 45 User Guide • To deselect a panel, press Escape, or move, dock, or undock the panel. • To move the focus to the panel above or below the current panel in a panel group, press Up Arrow or Down Arrow. • To hide all panels and the Property inspector, press F4. To display all panels and the Property inspector, press F4 again.
FLASH CS3 46 User Guide Move the focus through the controls in a panel 1 Press Tab when the focus is currently applied to the Panel menu. To move the focus through the controls in the panel, press Tab repeatedly. 2 To activate the currently selected panel control, press Enter (Windows only). Navigate dialog box controls using keyboard shortcuts (Windows only) • To move through the controls in the dialog box, press Tab.
FLASH CS3 47 User Guide • To move to the child folder of an expanded folder, press Right Arrow. Work with library items using keyboard shortcuts 1 To copy or paste a selected library item, press Control+X (Windows) or Command+X (Macintosh) to cut the item, or press Control+C (Windows) or Command+C (Macintosh) to copy the item.
FLASH CS3 48 User Guide See also “Set preferences in Flash” on page 27 “Automating tasks with the Commands menu” on page 49 Permanently remove items deleted with Undo By default, when you undo a step using Edit > Undo or the History panel, the file size of the document does not change, even if you delete an item in the document. For example, if you import a video file into a document, and undo the import, the file size of the document still includes the size of the video file.
FLASH CS3 49 User Guide Note: Scrolling to a step (and selecting the subsequent steps) is different from selecting an individual step. To scroll to a step, click to the left of the step. Replay steps with the History panel When you replay steps with the History panel, the steps that play are the steps that are selected (highlighted) in the History panel, not necessarily the step currently indicated by the slider. Apply steps in the History panel to any selected object in the document.
FLASH CS3 50 User Guide Create a command from selected steps in the History panel. Rename or delete commands in the Manage Saved Commands dialog box. See also “Copy and paste steps between documents” on page 49 Create a command 1 Select a step or set of steps in the History panel. 2 Select Save As Command from the History panel options menu. 3 Enter a name for the command and click OK. The command appears in the Commands menu. Note: The command is saved as a JavaScript file (with the extension .
51 Chapter 3: Creating and managing documents When you create and save Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional documents within the Flash authoring environment, the documents are in FLA file format. To display a document in Adobe® Flash® Player, you must publish or export the document as a SWF file. You can add media assets to a Flash document and manage the assets in the library, and you can use the Movie Explorer to view and organize all the elements in a Flash document.
FLASH CS3 52 User Guide Create or open a document and set its properties You can create a new document or open a previously saved document in Flash, and you can open a new window as you work. You can set properties for new or existing documents. For a text tutorial about creating your first Flash file, see Create your First File on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. For video tutorials, see: • Working with Flash files: www.adobe.
FLASH CS3 53 User Guide The title and description you enter is a human readable title and a human readable description. These fields are not intended for keywords to provide greater search results. Instead, these fields are made available to search engines that index SWF files, and display the contents of the title and description field in their search results. Search metadata can be exported to any version of Flash.
FLASH CS3 54 User Guide Note: The Device Settings button can be used only if your publish settings are set to a supported version of Flash Lite. View a document when multiple documents are open When you open multiple documents, tabs at the top of the Document window identify the open documents and let you easily navigate among them. Tabs appear only when documents are maximized in the Document window. ❖ Click the tab of the document you want to view.
FLASH CS3 55 User Guide Save documents when quitting Flash 1 Select File > Exit (Windows) or Flash > Quit Flash (Macintosh). 2 If you have documents open with unsaved changes, Flash prompts you to save or discard the changes for each document. • Click Yes to save the changes and close the document. • Click No to close the document without saving the changes. Working with other Adobe applications Flash is designed to work with other Adobe applications to enable a broad range of creative workflows.
FLASH CS3 56 User Guide Create mobile content with Adobe Device Central and Flash CS3 1 Start Flash. 2 On the main Flash screen, select Create New > Flash File (Mobile). Flash opens Device Central and displays the New Document tab. 3 In Device Central, select a Player version and ActionScript version. The Available Devices list on the left is updated. Devices that do not support the selected Player version and ActionScript version are dimmed. 4 Select a content type.
FLASH CS3 57 User Guide Device Central lists proposed document sizes based on the device or devices you selected (if the devices have different display sizes). Depending on the design or content you are developing, you can create a separate mobile document for each display size or try to find one size appropriate for all devices. When choosing the second approach, you may want to use the smallest or largest suggested document size as a common denominator.
FLASH CS3 58 User Guide • Raster Resolution: 72 ppi 8 Fill the blank AI file with content in Illustrator. 9 When you finish, select File > Save For Web & Devices. 10 In the Save for Web & Devices dialog, select the desired format and change other export settings as desired. 11 Click Device Central. A temporary file with the export settings specified is displayed in the Device Central Emulator tab.
FLASH CS3 59 User Guide 3 Choose Composition > Add to Render Queue. 4 In the Render Queue panel, click the underlined text to the right of Output Module, or select Custom from the Output Module menu. 5 In the Output Modules Settings dialog box, choose H.264 from the Format menu. 6 In the Export Settings section of the H.264 dialog box, select Open in Device Central. 7 Modify other settings as desired and click OK. 8 Click OK to close the Output Module Settings dialog box.
FLASH CS3 60 User Guide Working with projects About projects You can use Flash projects (FLP files) to manage multiple document files in a single project. Flash projects allow you to group multiple, related files together to create complex applications. You can use version-control features with projects to ensure that the correct file versions are used during editing, and to prevent accidental overwriting.
FLASH CS3 61 User Guide • If no other project is open, open the Project panel and select Create A New Project in the panel window. • If no project is currently open, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) in the Document window of a saved Flash document or ActionScript file and select Add To New Project from the context menu. 2 In the New Project dialog box, enter a name for the project and click Save.
FLASH CS3 62 User Guide If the file is of a native file type (a type supported by the Flash authoring tool), the file opens in Flash. If the file is a nonnative file type, the file opens in the application used to create it. Test a project 1 Click Test Project in the Project panel. 2 If the project contains no FLA, HTML, or HTM file, an error message appears. Click OK and add a file of the appropriate type. 3 If no FLA, HTML, or HTM file is designated as the default document, an error message appears.
FLASH CS3 63 User Guide Note: By default, a project is given the same name as the first file added to the project. To rename a project, you must use the Rename menu item. Renaming the FLP file for a project does not rename the project. Find a missing file in a project A file that is part of a project can appear to be missing if it is moved from its original location relative to the other files in the project. 1 Select the filename (designated by a Missing File icon) in the Project panel.
FLASH CS3 64 User Guide 2 Select the file in the tree structure in the project panel and select Check Out from the project context menu. The icon next to the filename indicates that the file is checked out. 3 To check a file back in, select the file in the project panel and select Check In from the project context menu. The icon next to the filename indicates that the file is checked in. Open a file from a version-control site 1 Select File > Open from Site.
FLASH CS3 65 User Guide You can create permanent libraries in your Flash application that are available whenever you start Flash. Flash also includes several sample libraries containing buttons, graphics, movie clips, and sounds. You can export library assets as a SWF file to a URL to create a runtime-shared library. This lets you link to the library assets from Flash documents that import symbols using runtime sharing.
FLASH CS3 66 User Guide Use a library item in the current document ❖ Drag the item from the Library panel onto the Stage. The item is added to the current layer. Convert an object on the Stage to a symbol in the library ❖ Drag the item from the Stage onto the current Library panel. Use a library item from the current document in another document ❖ Drag the item from the Library panel or Stage into the Library panel or Stage of another document.
FLASH CS3 67 User Guide You can sort items in the Library panel alphanumerically by any column. Items are sorted within folders. ❖ Click the column header to sort by that column. Click the triangle button to the right of the column headers to reverse the sort order. Edit a library item 1 Select the item in the Library panel. 2 Select one of the following from the Panel menu for the Library panel: • To edit an item in Flash, select Edit.
FLASH CS3 68 User Guide Update imported files in the library If you use an external editor to modify files that you have imported into Flash, such as bitmaps or sound files, you can update the files in Flash without reimporting them. You can also update symbols that you have imported from external Flash documents. Updating an imported file replaces its contents with the contents of the external file. 1 Select the imported file in the Library panel. 2 Select Update from the Panel menu for the Library panel.
FLASH CS3 69 User Guide See also “Creating animation” on page 228 “The Timeline” on page 33 Manage frames and keyframes in the Timeline You can perform the following modifications on frames or keyframes: • Insert, select, delete, and move frames or keyframes. • Drag frames and keyframes to a new location on the same layer or on a different layer. • Copy and paste frames and keyframes. • Convert keyframes to frames.
FLASH CS3 70 User Guide Copy or paste a frame or frame sequence ❖ Do one of the following: • Select the frame or sequence and select Edit > Timeline > Copy Frames. Select the frame or sequence that you want to replace, and select Edit > Timeline > Paste Frames. • Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) and drag the keyframe to the location where you want to paste it.
FLASH CS3 71 User Guide About nested movie clips and parent-child hierarchy When you create a movie clip instance in a Flash document, the movie clip’s Timeline is nested inside the main Timeline of the document. Each movie clip symbol has its own Timeline. You can also nest a movie clip instance inside another movie clip symbol. When a movie clip is nested inside another movie clip, or inside a document, it becomes a child of that movie clip or document, which becomes the parent.
FLASH CS3 72 User Guide You can use the _root alias to refer to the main Timeline of the current level. For the main Timeline, the _root alias stands for _level0 when targeted by a movie clip also on _level0. For a document loaded into _level5, _root is equal to _level5 when targeted by a movie clip also on level 5.
FLASH CS3 73 User Guide _level0 westCoast california sanfrancisco bakersfield oregon portland ashland washington olympia ellensburg As on a web server, each timeline in Flash can be addressed in two ways: with an absolute path or with a relative path. The absolute path of an instance is always a full path from a level name, regardless of which timeline calls the action; for example, the absolute path to the instance california is _level0.westCoast.california.
FLASH CS3 74 User Guide This becomes the controlling Timeline. 2 In the Actions panel (Window > Actions), go to the Actions toolbox on the left, and select an action or method that requires a target path. 3 Click the parameter box or location in the script where you want to insert the target path. 4 Enter an absolute or relative target path in the Actions panel. Use an expression as a target path 1 Select the movie clip, frame, or button instance to which you want to assign the action.
FLASH CS3 75 User Guide Using scenes is similar to using several SWF files together to create a larger presentation. Each scene has a Timeline. When the playhead reaches the final frame of a scene, the playhead progresses to the next scene. When you publish a SWF file, the Timeline of each scene combines into a single Timeline in the SWF file. After the SWF file compiles, it behaves as if you created the FLA file using one scene.
FLASH CS3 76 User Guide Find and Replace About Find and Replace The Find and Replace feature lets you do the following: • Search for a text string, a font, a color, a symbol, a sound file, a video file, or an imported bitmap file. • Replace the specified element with another element of the same type. Different options are available in the Find and Replace dialog box depending on the type of specified element. • Find and replace elements in the current document or the current scene.
FLASH CS3 77 User Guide 7 To find text, do one of the following: • To find the next occurrence of the specified text, click Find Next. • To find all occurrences of the specified text, click Find All. 8 To replace text, do one of the following: • To replace the currently selected occurrence of the specified text, click Replace. • To replace all occurrences of the specified text, click Replace All. Find and replace fonts 1 Select Edit > Find And Replace.
FLASH CS3 78 User Guide 3 To search for a color, click the Color control and do one of the following: • Select a color swatch from the color pop-up window. • Enter a hexadecimal color value in the Hex Edit box in the color pop-up window. • Click the System Color Picker button and select a color from the system color picker. • To make the eyedropper tool appear, drag from the Color control. Select any color on your screen.
FLASH CS3 79 User Guide Find and replace sound, video, or bitmap files 1 Select Edit > Find and Replace. 2 Select Sound, Video, or Bitmap from the For pop-up menu. 3 For Name, enter a sound, video, or bitmap filename or select a name from the pop-up menu. 4 Under Replace With, for Name enter a sound, video, or bitmap filename or select a name from the pop-up menu. 5 To select the next occurrence of the specified sound, video, or bitmap on the Stage and edit it in place, select Live Edit.
FLASH CS3 80 User Guide Quiz templates Use the quiz templates to create self-scoring quizzes with several interaction types. Advertising templates Advertising templates facilitate the creation of standard rich media types and sizes defined by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and accepted by the industry. For more information on IAB-endorsed ad types, see the IAB site at IAB.net. Test ads for stability in a variety of browser and platform combinations.
FLASH CS3 81 User Guide Add finishing touches Flash places each image on separate keyframes. If you have more than four images, all of the other layers must have an equal number of frames. Your images appear in the Library panel. 1 Delete the old images that were included in this document from the library. 2 Change the title, date, and caption at the top for each image. Replace text as desired.
82 Chapter 4: Adobe Version Cue Adobe Version Cue® CS3 is a file-version manager included with Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard, Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard, and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection. Version Cue enables versioning and asset management in Version Cue-enabled Creative Suite components, including Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Flash, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe InCopy.
FLASH CS3 83 User Guide Welcome Screen and updated terminology A Welcome screen in Bridge enables you to quickly access Version Cue Servers and projects. Updated terminology makes it easier to work with Version Cue. New users and groups interface A new interface for managing user access to Version Cue includes the ability to assign permissions based on group membership.
FLASH CS3 84 User Guide The Version Cue Server stores all versions of a file so you can view earlier versions, promote earlier versions to be the current version, or delete unnecessary or obsolete versions. Version control Version Cue allows multi-user access to files on the Version Cue Server. If two users try to edit a file on the Version Cue Server, Version Cue institutes version control by notifying the second user that the file is checked out. Version Cue then lets you decide how to proceed.
FLASH CS3 85 User Guide 3. Add files to a project Once you’ve created a project, add files to the project so users can check them out, make changes, and check them back in. You can add multiple Adobe or non-Adobe files by using Bridge, or add files one at a time from within a Version Cue-enabled Creative Suite component by using the Adobe dialog box.
FLASH CS3 86 User Guide • Acrobat 8 and Adobe Creative Suite 2 components can’t connect to a Version Cue CS3 Server if you enable SSL in Version Cue Server Administration. • Adobe Creative Suite 2 components can’t work with Version Cue CS3 servers that are installed on the same computer. Adobe Creative Suite 2 components can, however, connect to Version Cue CS3 Servers that reside on the network.
FLASH CS3 87 User Guide A B C D E The Adobe dialog box A. Favorites panel B. Look In menu C. Toggle metadata D. Tools menu E. View menu Version Cue Server and project icons Bridge and the Adobe dialog box display status icons for Version Cue Servers and projects to let you know whether they’re online (available), offline, local, or remote. Shared Project Indicates a project that’s available and shared with other users.
FLASH CS3 88 User Guide Disabling Version Cue file management means that you disable access to all Version Cue projects on all Version Cue Servers. • In the Startup Scripts preferences in Bridge, select Version Cue, and click OK. • In File Handling & Clipboard preferences in Illustrator, select Enable Version Cue, and click OK. • In File Handling preferences in InDesign, select Enable Version Cue, and click OK. • In File Handling preferences in Photoshop, select Enable Version Cue, and click OK.
FLASH CS3 89 User Guide See also “File statuses” on page 101 Working with the Version Cue Server About Version Cue Server installation Version Cue Servers store Version Cue projects and their related assets. When you perform a default installation of Creative Suite 3 Design, Web, or Master Collection editions, Version Cue installs the Version Cue Server on your computer, but does not turn it on.
FLASH CS3 90 User Guide For a video on setting up the Version Cue server, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0114. 1 Do either of the following: • Click Start My Server in the Adobe dialog box or in Adobe Bridge. • Open the Control Panel and double-click Adobe Version Cue CS3 (Windows) or click Adobe Version Cue CS3 in System Preferences (Mac OS), and then click Start. Version Cue starts Version Cue Server Administration and displays the Initial Configuration window.
FLASH CS3 91 User Guide Set Version Cue Server preferences You can configure many Version Cue Server settings in Version Cue preferences, such as the amount of RAM available to Version Cue and the location of the Data folder. To configure advanced settings, such as enabling SSL, changing the name of the Version Cue Server, specifying server log options, resetting user locks, or backing up the server, you must use Version Cue Server Administration.
FLASH CS3 92 User Guide 2 Click Apply. Turn Version Cue on when the computer starts 1 Select Turn Version Cue CS3 On When The Computer Starts. 2 Click Apply. Change the location of the Data folder The Data folder contains files that maintain the integrity of Version Cue projects, file versions, and metadata. You can change the location of the Data folder; however, you cannot move it to a network volume.
FLASH CS3 93 User Guide Display the Version Cue Server Administration login page to identify the Version Cue URLs that remote users and WebDAV applications need to access the server. Alternatively, view the URLs in the Inspector in Bridge. 3 Click OK. A shortcut to the remote server is automatically included in your list of available Version Cue Servers. Connect to a Version Cue Server using WebDAV Adobe recommends managing non-Adobe files with Adobe Bridge.
FLASH CS3 94 User Guide See also “Log in to Version Cue Server Administration” on page 114 Shut down or restart the Version Cue Server When you shut down the Version Cue Server, you disable access to the Version Cue projects hosted on that server. Each time you restart the Version Cue Server, it performs an integrity check and makes repairs, if necessary. To ensure best performance, restart the Version Cue Server weekly so that it can perform the integrity check and make repairs.
FLASH CS3 95 User Guide Note: If you use an Adobe Creative Suite 2 component or Acrobat 8, you won’t be able to see Version Cue CS3 projects in the Adobe dialog box or in Bridge unless the project is specified to be backward compatible with Adobe Creative Suite 2 and Acrobat 8. In addition, Creative Suite 2 components and Acrobat 8 can’t connect to a Version Cue CS3 Server that uses SSL.
FLASH CS3 96 User Guide Open a project Note: You can perform this task only if you have access to the full Version Cue feature set. See “Accessing Version Cue features” on page 85. You can open projects that are stored on a local Version Cue Server or open shared projects on a remote server that is configured to be visible to others. See also “Use the Adobe dialog box” on page 86 Open a project 1 In Acrobat, Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, or Photoshop, choose File > Open.
FLASH CS3 97 User Guide See also “Use the Adobe dialog box” on page 86 “Open a project” on page 96 “About local project files” on page 100 “Create and manage projects in Version Cue Server Administration” on page 118 Access project properties • In Acrobat, Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, or Photoshop, select the project in the Adobe dialog box, and then choose Edit Properties from the Tools or Project Tools (Acrobat) menu.
FLASH CS3 98 User Guide Share or unshare a project 1 In Acrobat, Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, or Photoshop, select the project in the Adobe dialog box, and then choose Edit Properties from the Tools or Project Tools (Acrobat) menu. 2 Select or deselect Share This Project With Others, and click Save. Share or unshare a project from Bridge 1 Click Version Cue in the Favorites panel.
FLASH CS3 99 User Guide See also “Use the Adobe dialog box” on page 86 “Open a project” on page 96 Add a file to a project 1 Open the file in Acrobat, Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, or Photoshop. 2 Choose File > Save As. Click Use Adobe Dialog if you’re using the OS dialog box. 3 Click Version Cue in the Favorites panel, open the project to which you want to add the file, and click Save As. 4 Enter a version comment in the Check In or Save A Version (Acrobat) dialog box and click OK.
FLASH CS3 100 User Guide 2 Select the project you want to delete, and then click the Delete Item icon . Disconnect from projects Note: You can perform this task only if you have access to the full Version Cue feature set. See “Accessing Version Cue features” on page 85. Disconnecting from a project erases the local project files on your computer, while leaving the master copies on the Version Cue Server intact. Disconnecting also removes shortcuts to the project from Bridge and the Adobe dialog box.
FLASH CS3 101 User Guide See also “Accessing Version Cue features” on page 85 “About Version Cue projects” on page 94 “About versions” on page 108 “Synchronize files” on page 112 File statuses Files that are managed by Version Cue are marked with a status icon that describes the state of the file on the Version Cue Server.
FLASH CS3 102 User Guide See also “Accessing Version Cue features” on page 85 “Editing and synchronizing offline files” on page 111 “Delete files or folders from a project” on page 107 “Edit files checked out by another user” on page 103 Open a file in a project Note: You can perform this task only if you have access to the full Version Cue feature set. See “Accessing Version Cue features” on page 85.
FLASH CS3 103 User Guide Remove local project files Note: You can perform this task only if you have access to the full Version Cue feature set. See “Accessing Version Cue features” on page 85. You can remove files that are not checked out by you from your local project folder if you want to free up more space on your hard drive, for example. Removing local project files does not affect checked in files that are stored on the Version Cue Server.
FLASH CS3 104 User Guide 3 If the project doesn’t have lock protection applied to it, you can save a new version of your edits. Version Cue displays an alert, warning you that conflicting edits will occur if you continue. Choose one of the following: Cancel Returns you to the open document without checking in a version. Check In Updates the master file in the Version Cue Server with the new version. (Version Cue displays an alert to the other user to note that a newer version of the file has been created.
FLASH CS3 105 User Guide Move Version Cue files ❖ Do any of the following: • Right-click the file in Bridge, choose Move To, and choose a project or project folder from the context menu (to specify a folder not listed, choose Folder, select a folder, and click OK). Note: Bridge moves files if you use the Move To command within the same Version Cue project.
FLASH CS3 106 User Guide Always add assets to a Version Cue project before placing them in a Version Cue-managed file. When you place a file that is not managed by Version Cue into a file that is, you cannot keep track of the placed asset's versions or status. The Links panel (in Illustrator, InCopy, and InDesign) displays additional information about placed files from Version Cue projects, identifying whether a linked file is being edited and which user is doing the editing.
FLASH CS3 107 User Guide Delete files or folders from a project Note: You can perform this task only if you have access to the full Version Cue feature set. See “Accessing Version Cue features” on page 85. You can delete files or folders in Bridge or any Version Cue-enabled Creative Suite component. Deleting a file or folder from Version Cue is a two-step process that safeguards against accidental deletions. The first step is deleting the file or folder and giving it Deleted status.
FLASH CS3 108 User Guide Restore a deleted file or folder in Bridge 1 Click Version Cue in the Favorites panel and open the project that contains the files you want to restore. 2 Choose Tools > Version Cue > View Project Trash. 3 Select the file you want to restore, and choose Tools > Version Cue > Restore. The file or folder is restored to its original location in the Version Cue project.
FLASH CS3 109 User Guide To check in a new version of a file, use the Check In or Save A Version (Acrobat) command, which saves your changes to the Version Cue Server and removes the Checked Out or In Use By (Acrobat) status from the file. When you check in a version, Version Cue transfers and saves only the changes you’ve made to the file. You can check in versions of non-Adobe files only if the files are in a Version Cue project and the files have been opened through Bridge.
FLASH CS3 110 User Guide Viewing versions in the Adobe dialog box See also “Use the Adobe dialog box” on page 86 “Open a project” on page 96 “Advanced Version Cue Server Administration tasks” on page 122 View versions 1 In Acrobat, Flash, InCopy, Illustrator, InDesign, or Photoshop, click Version Cue in the Favorites panel of the Adobe dialog box and open the project that contains the file whose versions you want to view. 2 Select the file whose versions you want to view.
FLASH CS3 111 User Guide Version Cue opens the previous version in its native application. The version number appears in the file’s title bar to remind you that it is not the current version. The file status is Never Saved, because the previous version is only a snapshot of a previous stage of the file. Promote a version Promoting a previous version saves a copy of the previous version as the current version.
FLASH CS3 112 User Guide See also “Use the Adobe dialog box” on page 86 “Open a project” on page 96 Edit local project files from an offline project 1 In Acrobat, Flash, InCopy, Illustrator, InDesign, or Photoshop, click Version Cue in the Favorites panel of the Adobe dialog box and open the project that contains the file you want to edit. It may take Version Cue a few seconds to verify that the Version Cue Server is unavailable.
FLASH CS3 113 User Guide 2 If prompted, choose an option in the File Conflict dialog box. Synchronize files in Bridge 1 In Bridge, click Version Cue in the Favorites panel. 2 Select a project, folder, or file, and do one of the following: • To download assets from the Version Cue Server for which you have no corresponding local project files, choose Tools > Version Cue > Download (if Download is not available, the assets are already synchronized).
FLASH CS3 114 User Guide A B Users/Groups and Projects tabs of Version Cue Server Administration A. Tabs B. Controls Version Cue Server Administration software requirements Version Cue Server Administration for Windows requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.5 or later to import projects from folders. You can download the Java Runtime Environment from the Sun Microsystems Java website at www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp.
FLASH CS3 115 User Guide 2 Choose Connect To Server from the Tools menu or Connect To from the Project Tools menu (Acrobat), type the IP or DNS address and port of the Version Cue Server you want to administer, and click OK. The default port number is 3703 (50900 if you’re connecting to a Version Cue CS3 server that’s installed on the same system as a Version Cue CS2 workspace). 3 Choose Edit Properties from the Tools or Project Tools (Acrobat) menu .
FLASH CS3 116 User Guide 3 Select Project Creation to enable the user to create new Version Cue projects. 4 (Optional) Type a phone number, an e-mail address, and comments in the remaining boxes. Make sure to enter an e-mail address if the user will participate in Version Cue PDF reviews. 5 Click Save. To edit a user, select the user, click Edit, change settings in the Edit [User Name] dialog box, and click Save. To delete a user, select the user, and click Delete.
FLASH CS3 117 User Guide Import users from an LDAP directory LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is a method of querying directory systems that contain information, such as user names and passwords, about users. You can import users from an LDAP server and map their user attributes (such as user name and password) to Version Cue user attributes. Users that you import from an LDAP that is different from the typical user icon .
FLASH CS3 118 User Guide 6 Click Export. The location of the user list appears under the Export Users heading. To import this list into another Version Cue Server, copy this file into the destination server’s Data/UsersExport folder in the Version Cue application folder. Import users from a list 1 Click the Users/Groups tab in Version Cue Server Administration and then click Import Users. 2 Click the user list that you want to import.
FLASH CS3 119 User Guide • To use a proxy server to connect to the server, select Use Proxy. • To use passive mode to connect to the server, select Use Passive Mode. 7 If you chose to require login for the project, click Assign Permissions and assign permissions to users (see “Assign user permissions,” below).
FLASH CS3 120 User Guide Duplicate a Version Cue project Duplicate a project to start a new project with the same users and privileges. Version Cue duplicates the folder hierarchy within the project structure. 1 Click the Projects tab in Version Cue Server Administration. 2 Select the check box next to the project you want to duplicate, and click Duplicate. 3 In the Duplicate Project page, type a unique name for the project. 4 Edit project properties, and click Duplicate.
FLASH CS3 121 User Guide When you back up a Version Cue project, Version Cue Server Administration creates backups of all the information in a Version Cue project, including all versions of all files in the project. Use a project backup to move a project from one Version Cue Server to another while retaining all the versions of that project. You can restore a backup copy that represents a Version Cue project as it was on a specific date.
FLASH CS3 122 User Guide 5 Select what to back up in the Include list of options: Project Content (which is always selected) to back up files, Project File Versions to back up all the versions of the project, Project Metadata to back up embedded information entered in Adobe Creative Suite components, and Users/User Assignments to back up information about the users and their project privileges. 6 (Optional) Add remarks to the backup file in the Comments box.
FLASH CS3 123 User Guide Back up the Version Cue Server You can back up the complete Version Cue Server to move a complete server from one computer to another. Important: If you restore a backup copy of the Version Cue Server, all current data on the server, including Version Cue projects, files, and versions, is replaced by the backup. Server backup files are saved to the default Backups folder in the Version Cue application folder.
FLASH CS3 124 User Guide 2 Choose a project from the Project Name menu. 3 To delete versions, select Delete All Versions Older Than, and then choose a month, day, and year. 4 To specify the maximum number of versions to remain in the server after you click Delete, select Number Of Versions To Keep, and then type a number in the box. 5 Click Delete.
FLASH CS3 125 User Guide As the review progresses, reviewers upload their comments to the Version Cue Server. When a review is complete, you can view all comments either in the context of the original document or as a list in Version Cue Server Administration. • To use Version Cue PDF review, reviewers need a Version Cue login name and privileges that allow them to log in to the Version Cue Server hosting the review. • To view the PDF and add comments, users need Acrobat 7.0 Professional or later.
FLASH CS3 126 User Guide Locate PDF reviews 1 log in to Version Cue Server Administration. (For instructions, see “Log in to Version Cue Server Administration” on page 114.) 2 Click the Version Cue CS3 PDF Review link at the top of the page. 3 Do one of the following: • If you don’t know the name of the PDF document under review, or want to view all active reviews, click Active Reviews in the Home tab.
FLASH CS3 127 User Guide • To let reviewers see each other’s comments, select Open under Review Mode. Select Private if you want reviewers to see only their own comments. • To add or edit a description of the review, type the information in the Description box. • To add or remove reviewers, select or deselect the reviewers’ names in the Reviewers section (click the check box next to the Reviewers column heading to select or deselect all reviewers). 4 Click Next.
FLASH CS3 128 User Guide • To delete review comments in Version Cue Server Administration, select the comment and click Delete Comments. (To select all comments, click the check box next to the Page column heading.
FLASH CS3 129 User Guide Files don’t appear in projects behind firewalls Version Cue uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) to communicate between Version Cue Servers and Adobe Creative Suite components. Rarely, older firewall software may not handle SOAP interactions properly. If you see folders but not files in your Version Cue projects, try disabling your proxy server. If disabling the proxy server resolves the problem, you may need to update your firewall.
FLASH CS3 130 User Guide Forgotten Version Cue system administrator password If you’ve forgotten your system administrator password, you’ll need to remove and reinstall Version Cue, creating a new system administrator user name and password in the process. There is no way to remove Version Cue without losing all Version Cue project files and data.
FLASH CS3 131 User Guide Result Windows Mac OS Select last entry Page Down or End Page Down or End Select an entry and all entries above Shift + Page Up or Home Shift + Page Up or Home Select an entry and all entries below Shift + Page Down or End Shift + Page Down or End Keys for navigation in Version Cue Result Windows Mac OS Open folder Control + O Command + O New folder Control + N Command + N Up one level Backspace Command + Up Arrow Open selected file Enter Return Delete se
132 Chapter 5: Using imported artwork A key advantage of Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional is that you can import artwork created in other applications, and use those assets in your flash documents. You can import vector graphics and bitmap images in a variety of file formats, making Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional a versatile media arts tool.
FLASH CS3 133 User Guide • Any sequence of images (for example, a PICT and BMP sequence) that you import directly into a Flash document is imported as successive keyframes of the current layer. For a video tutorial about the Flash and Fireworks workflow, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0194.
FLASH CS3 134 User Guide Importing file formats for vector or bitmap files Flash can import different vector or bitmap file formats depending on whether QuickTime 4 or later is installed on your system. Using Flash with QuickTime 4 installed is especially useful for collaborative projects in which authors work on both Windows and Macintosh platforms. QuickTime 4 extends support for certain file formats (including PICT, QuickTime Movie, and others) to both platforms.
FLASH CS3 135 User Guide Pasting Illustrator artwork You can create graphically rich artwork in Illustrator and copy and paste it into Flash simply, quickly, and seamlessly.
FLASH CS3 136 User Guide Symbol workflow Symbol workflow in Illustrator is similar to symbol workflow in Flash. Symbol creation When you create a symbol in Illustrator, the Symbol Options dialog box lets you name the symbol and set options specific to Flash: movie clip symbol type (which is the default for Flash symbols), Flash registration grid location, and 9-slice scaling guides.
FLASH CS3 137 User Guide Import text from Fireworks into Flash When you import text from Fireworks into Flash 8 or later, the text is imported with the default anti-alias setting of the current document. If you import the PNG file as a flattened image, you can start Fireworks from Flash and edit the original PNG file (with vector data). When you import multiple PNG files in a batch, you select import settings one time. Flash uses the same settings for all files in the batch.
FLASH CS3 138 User Guide 10 Click OK. See also “Edit bitmaps in an external editor” on page 157 “Convert bitmaps to vector graphics” on page 158 “Break apart a bitmap” on page 157 Import FreeHand MX files You can import FreeHand files in version 7 or later directly into Flash. FreeHand is a good choice for creating vector graphics for import into Flash, because you can preserve FreeHand layers, text blocks, library symbols, and pages, and choose a page range to import.
FLASH CS3 139 User Guide 7 For Pages, do one of the following: • To import all pages from the FreeHand document, select All. • To import a page range from the FreeHand document, enter page numbers for From and To. 8 For Options, select any of the following options: Include Invisible Layers Imports all layers (visible and hidden) from the FreeHand document. Include Background Layer Imports the background layer with the FreeHand document.
FLASH CS3 140 User Guide • Converts the AI file layers to individual Flash layers, keyframes, or a single Flash layer. You can also import the AI file as a single bitmap image, in which case Flash flattens (rasterizes) the file. • Provides an improved copy-and-paste workflow between Illustrator and Flash. A copy-and-paste dialog box provides settings to apply to AI files being pasted onto the Flash stage. For video tutorials, see: • Using symbols between Illustrator and Flash: www.adobe.
FLASH CS3 141 User Guide A B Illustrator AI Importer dialog box A. Layers panel B. Import options available for the selected object Choose from the following options when importing Adobe Illustrator files: • Convert layers to Flash layers or keyframes, or single Flash layers. • Import text as editable text, vector outlines, or bitmaps. • Import as a single bitmap image.
FLASH CS3 142 User Guide 5 For Convert Layers To, select one of the following: Flash Layers Converts each layer in the imported document to a layer in the Flash document. Keyframes Converts each layer in the imported document to a keyframe in the Flash document. Single Flash Layer Converts all layers in the imported document to a single flattened layer in the Flash document.
FLASH CS3 143 User Guide Note: When you import to the library, the AI file's contents are imported to the movie clip's timeline, not the main Flash timeline. Flash Library after importing an AI file. AI File Importer preferences The Flash Preferences dialog box lets you set import preferences for AI files and the AI File Importer dialog box. The preferences you specifiy for importing AI files affects the options the AI Import dialog box is initially populated with for the Illustrator object types.
FLASH CS3 144 User Guide Import Paths As Lets you specify the following path import preferences: • Editable Paths Creates an editable vector path. Supported blend modes, effects, and object transparency are preserved, but attributes not supported in Flash are discarded. • Bitmaps Rasterizes the path into a bitmap to preserve the exact appearance of the path in Illustrator. A rasterized image is no longer editable. • Create Movie Clips Specifies that path objects be imported inside a movie clip.
FLASH CS3 145 User Guide Illustrator object import options Layers manage all the items that make up Illustrator artwork. By default, all items are organized in a single, parent layer. Import all items in a given parent layer as a single, flattened bitmap, or, individually select each object and specify import options specific to the type of object it is (text, path, group, and so on).
FLASH CS3 146 User Guide Text import options Flash lets you import text as editable text, vector outlines, and a flattened bitmap. To maintain supported blend modes, AI effects, and transparency of less than 100% between Illustrator and Flash, use import text as a movie clip. Importing text as a movie clip preserves the editability of compatible visual effects. Editable Text By default, Illustrator text imports as editable Flash text.
FLASH CS3 147 User Guide Groups appear as items in the Import panel. When an item such as a group contains other items, a triangle appears to the left of the item’s name. Click the triangle to show or hide the contents of the group. If no triangle appears, the item contains no additional items. Import As Bitmap Rasterizes the group into a bitmap to preserve the appearance of the objects as they appeared in Illustrator.
FLASH CS3 148 User Guide See also “Import Photoshop PSD files” on page 149 “Exporting QuickTime” on page 453 About Photoshop PSD files Flash lets you import Photoshop PSD files, and preserves most of your artwork's data. The PSD Importer also lets you control how your Photoshop artwork is imported into Flash, both letting you specify how to import specific objects in a PSD file, as well as specifying that the PSD file be converted to a Flash movie clip.
FLASH CS3 149 User Guide To import multiple layers and maintain transparency without having any visible remnants of the layers behind the transparency, import the PSD file using the Bitmap Image With Editable Layer Styles option. This will encapsulate the imported objects as a movie clip, and use the movie clip's transparency. This is particularly useful if you need to animate the different layers in Flash. Import Photoshop PSD files Photoshop format (PSD) is the default Photoshop file format.
FLASH CS3 150 User Guide 5 For the remaining options, select from the following: Place Layers At Original Position The contents of the PSD file retain the exact position that they had in Photoshop. For example, if an object was positioned at X = 100 Y = 50 in Photoshop, it assumes the same coordinates on the Flash stage. If this option is not selected, the imported Photoshop layers are centered on the stage.
FLASH CS3 151 User Guide Flattened Bitmap Images Rasterizes the text into a flattened bitmap image to maintain the exact appearance the text layer had in Photoshop. Create Movie Clips Specifies that the image layers be converted to a movie clip when imported into Flash. This option can be changed in the PSD Import dialog box on an object by object basis if you do not want all of the image layers to be movie clips.
FLASH CS3 152 User Guide Layer group import preferences This option specifies how the options for layer groups will initially be set. Create Movie Clips Specifies that all groups be converted to a movie clip when imported into Flash. This can be changed on an object by object basis if you do not want some layer groups to be movie clips. Merged bitmap import preferences This option specifies how the import options for merged bitmaps will initially be set.
FLASH CS3 153 User Guide Select Photoshop Layers Lists all layers, groups, and layer effects in an image. To select which layers to import, use the options to the left of the layer’s thumbnail. By default, all layers visible in Photoshop are checked, and invisible layers are not checked. Note: Adjustment layers do not have a compatible layer type in Flash.
FLASH CS3 154 User Guide Importing image or fill layers If the image or fill layer is associated with a vector mask, it is treated as a shape layer object. Bitmap Image With Editable Layer Styles Creates a movie clip with a bitmap inside. Supported Blend modes, filters, and opacity are maintained. Unsupported blend modes that cannot be reproduced in Flash are removed. The object must be converted to a movie clip.
FLASH CS3 155 User Guide option, and enter a value between 1 and 100 in the Quality text field. (A higher setting preserves greater image integrity but yields a larger file size.). • Lossless Lossless (PNG/GIF) compresses the image with lossless compression, in which no data is discarded from the image. Note: Use Lossy compression for images with complex color or tonal variations, such as photographs or images with gradient fills.
FLASH CS3 156 User Guide 3 For Compression, select one of the following options: Photo (JPEG) Compresses the image in JPEG format. To use the default compression quality specified for the imported image, select Use Document Default Quality. To specify a new quality compression setting, deselect Use Document Default Quality and enter a value between 1 and 100 in the Quality text field. (A higher setting preserves greater image integrity but yields a larger file size.
FLASH CS3 157 User Guide See also “Transform gradient and bitmap fills” on page 190 Edit bitmaps in an external editor If you are editing a Fireworks PNG file imported as a flattened image, edit the PNG source file for the bitmap, when available. Note: You cannot edit bitmaps from Fireworks PNG files imported as editable objects in an external image editor.
FLASH CS3 158 User Guide Change the fill of areas of a broken-apart bitmap 1 Select the Lasso tool, click the Magic Wand modifier, and set the following options:. • For Threshold, enter a value between 1 and 200 to define how closely the color of adjacent pixels must match to be included in the selection. A higher number includes a broader range of colors. If you enter 0, only pixels of the exact same color as the first pixel you click are selected.
159 Chapter 6: Drawing The drawing tools in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional let you create and modify shapes for the artwork in your documents. Before you draw and paint in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional, it is important to understand how Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional creates artwork, how drawing tools work, and how drawing, painting, and modifying shapes can affect other shapes on the same layer.
FLASH CS3 160 User Guide Bitmap graphics Bitmap graphics describe images using colored dots, called pixels, arranged in a grid. For example, the image of a leaf is described by the specific location and color value of each pixel in the grid, creating an image in much the same manner as a mosaic. Pixels in bitmap art When you edit a bitmap graphic, you modify pixels rather than lines and curves.
FLASH CS3 161 User Guide When you select a shape created using the Object Drawing model, Flash surrounds the shape with a rectangular bounding box. Use the Pointer tool to move the object by clicking the bounding box and dragging the shape to position it on the Stage. Note: Set preferences for contact sensitivity when selecting shapes created using the Object Drawing model. Shapes created with the Object Drawing model remain as separate objects the you can individually manipulate.
FLASH CS3 162 User Guide Making a cutout with the kite image To avoid inadvertently altering shapes and lines by overlapping them, group the shapes or use layers to separate them. See also “Group objects” on page 201 “About layers” on page 36 Use the Object Drawing model By default, Flash uses the Merge Drawing model. To draw shapes using the Object Drawing model, click the Object Drawing button in the Tools panel.
FLASH CS3 163 User Guide The Pointer, Subselection, and Lasso tools select objects by clicking on them. The Pointer and Subselection tools select objects by dragging a rectangular selection marquee around the object. The Lasso tool selects objects by dragging a free-form selection marquee around the object. When an object is selected, a rectangular box appears around the object. 1 Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Flash > Preferences (Macintosh).
FLASH CS3 164 User Guide 2 Under Drawing Settings, select from the following options: Connect Lines Determines how close the end of a line being drawn must be to an existing line segment before the end point snaps to the nearest point on the other line. This setting also controls horizontal and vertical line recognition—that is, how nearly horizontal or vertical a line must be drawn before Flash makes it exactly horizontal or vertical.
FLASH CS3 165 User Guide Reshape lines and shape outlines in a variety of ways after you create them. Fills and strokes are treated as separate objects. Select fills and strokes separately to move or modify them. To automatically align elements with each other and with the drawing grid or guides, use snapping. To change the display of tools, customize the Tools panel.
FLASH CS3 166 User Guide Note: You cannot set fill attributes for the Line tool. 3 Click the Object Drawing button in the Options section of the Tools panel, to select either the Merge or Object drawing model. When the Object Drawing button is depressed, the Line tool is in Object drawing mode. 4 Position the pointer where the line is to begin, and drag to where the line is to end. To constrain the angle of the line to multiples of 45 degrees, Shift-drag.
FLASH CS3 167 User Guide Rectangle Corner Radius Controls Lets you specify the corner radiuses for the rectangle. You can enter a numerical value for the inner radius in the box, or click the slider and interactively adjust the size of the radius. Entering a negative value creates an inverse radius. You can also deselect the constrain corner radius icon, and adjust each corner radius individually.
FLASH CS3 168 User Guide 4 Drag on the Stage. If you are using the Rectangle tool, press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys while dragging to adjust the radius of rounded corners. For the Oval and Rectangle tools, Shift-drag to constrain the shapes to circles and squares. To specify a specific size of Oval or Rectangle in pixels, press the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Macintosh) with the Oval or Rectangle tool selected, and click the Stage to display the Oval And Rectangle Settings dialog box.
FLASH CS3 169 User Guide The Pressure modifier varies the width of brush strokes when you vary the pressure on the stylus. The Tilt modifier varies the angle of brush strokes when you vary the angle of the stylus on the tablet. The Tilt modifier measures the angle between the top (eraser) end of the stylus and the top (north) edge of the tablet. For example, if you hold the pen vertically against the tablet, the Tilt is 90.
FLASH CS3 170 User Guide A C E B D F Components of a path A. Selected (solid) endpoint B. Selected anchor point C. Unselected anchor point D. Curved path segment E. Direction line F. Direction point Paths can have two kinds of anchor points: corner points and smooth points. At a corner point, a path abruptly changes direction. At a smooth point, path segments are connected as a continuous curve. You can draw a path using any combination of corner and smooth points.
FLASH CS3 171 User Guide After selecting an anchor point (left), direction lines appear on any curved segments connected by the anchor point (right). A smooth point always has two direction lines, which move together as a single, straight unit. When you move a direction line on a smooth point, the curved segments on both sides of the point are adjusted simultaneously, maintaining a continuous curve at that anchor point.
FLASH CS3 172 User Guide Drawing with the Pen tool Interacting with the Pen tool To draw precise paths as straight lines or smooth, flowing curves, use the Pen tool. When you draw with the Pen tool, click to create points on straight line segments, and drag to create points on curved line segments. Adjust straight and curved line segments by adjusting points on the line.
FLASH CS3 173 User Guide See also “Reshaping lines and shape outlines” on page 177 Set Pen tool preferences Specify preferences for the appearance of the Pen tool pointer, for previewing line segments as you draw, and for the appearance of selected anchor points. Selected line segments and anchor points use the outline color of the layer on which the lines and points appear. 1 Select the Pen tool Editing.
FLASH CS3 174 User Guide 5 To complete the path as an open or closed shape, do one of the following: • To complete an open path, double-click the last point, click the Pen Tool in the Tools panel, or Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) anywhere away from the path. • To close the path, position the Pen Tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen Tool pointer when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.
FLASH CS3 175 User Guide A B C Drawing the second point in a curve A. Starting to drag second smooth point B. Dragging away from previous direction line, creating a C curve C. Result after releasing mouse button • To create an S-shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line and release the mouse button. A B C Drawing an S curve A. Starting to drag new smooth point B. Dragging in the same direction as previous direction line, creating an S curve C.
FLASH CS3 176 User Guide Add or delete anchor points 1 Select the path to modify. 2 Click and hold the mouse button on the Pen tool Delete Anchor Point tool , then select the Pen tool , Add Anchor Point tool , or the . 3 To add an anchor point, position the pointer over a path segment, and click. To delete an anchor point, position the pointer over an anchor point, and click.
FLASH CS3 177 User Guide • To delete a curve point, click the point once with the Pen tool. A minus (-) sign appears next to the Pen tool if an anchor point can be deleted from the selected line segment. If the line segment is not yet selected, click it with the Pen tool to select it, and then delete the corner point. (Click once to convert the point to a corner point, and once more to delete the point.) • Select the point with the Subselection tool and press Delete.
FLASH CS3 178 User Guide Reshape using the Selection tool To reshape a line or shape outline, drag any point on a line using the Selection tool. The pointer changes to indicate what type of reshaping it can perform on the line or fill. Flash adjusts the curve of the line segment to accommodate the new position of the moved point. If the repositioned point is an end point, lengthen or shorten the line.
FLASH CS3 179 User Guide Smoothing softens curves and reduces bumps or other variations in a curve’s overall direction. It also reduces the number of segments in a curve. Smoothing is relative, however, and has no effect on straight segments. It is particularly useful when you are having trouble reshaping a number of very short curved line segments. Selecting all the segments and smoothing them reduces the number of segments, producing a gentler curve that is easier to reshape.
FLASH CS3 180 User Guide 2 Click the Eraser Mode modifier and select an erasing mode: Erase Normal Erases strokes and fills on the same layer. Erase Fills Erases only fills; strokes are not affected. Erase Lines Erases only strokes; fills are not affected. Erase Selected Fills Erases only the currently selected fills and does not affect strokes, selected or not. (Select the fills to erase before using the Eraser tool in this mode.) Erase Inside Erases only the fill on which you begin the eraser stroke.
FLASH CS3 181 User Guide See also “About the main toolbar and edit bar” on page 26 Use object snapping To turn on object snapping, use the Snap To Objects modifier for the Selection tool, or the Snap To Objects command in the View menu. If the Snap To Objects modifier for the Selection tool is on, a small black ring appears under the pointer when you drag an element. The small ring changes to a larger ring when the object is within snapping distance of another object.
FLASH CS3 182 User Guide When Snap Alignment is turned on, dotted lines appear on the Stage when you drag an object to the specified snap tolerance. For example, if you set Horizontal snap tolerance to 18 pixels (the default setting), a dotted line appears along the edge of the object you are dragging when the object is exactly 18 pixels from another object.
183 Chapter 7: Working with color, strokes, and fills Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional includes many tools for creating your own artwork and for controlling the colors, strokes, and fills of your drawings. With Flash you can control and manipulate these aspects of your artwork both during and after its creation. Working with color About color Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional lets you apply, create, and modify colors.
FLASH CS3 184 User Guide The Color panel with the gradient controls displayed. Color panel options Stroke Color Changes the color of the stroke, or the border, of a graphic object. Fill Color Changes the color of the fill. The fill is the area of color that fills up the shape. Type Menu Changes the fill style: • None Removes the fill. • Solid Provides a solid, single fill color. • Linear Produces a gradient that blends on a linear path.
FLASH CS3 185 User Guide Note: Overflow modes are supported only in Flash Player 8 and later. Linear RGB Creates a Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)-compliant linear or radial gradient. Modifying color palettes About color palettes Each Flash file contains its own color palette, stored in the Flash document. Flash displays a file’s palette as swatches in the Fill Color and Stroke Color controls and in the Swatches panel. The default color palette is the web-safe palette of 216 colors.
FLASH CS3 186 User Guide Import and export color palettes To import and export both RGB colors and gradients between Flash files, use Flash Color Set files (CLR files). Import and export RGB color palettes by using Color Table files (ACT files). You can also import color palettes, but not gradients, from GIF files. You cannot import or export gradients from ACT files.
FLASH CS3 187 User Guide Select a stroke color, style, and weight by using the Property inspector 1 Select an object or objects on the Stage (for symbols, first double-click to enter symbol-editing mode). 2 Select Window > Properties > Properties. 3 To select a stroke style, click the triangle next to the Style menu and select an option from the menu. To create a custom style, select Custom from the Property inspector, select options in the Stroke Style dialog box, and click OK.
FLASH CS3 188 User Guide 2 Select Window > Properties > Properties. 3 To select a color, click the triangle next to the Fill color control and do one of the following: • Select a color swatch from the palette. • Type a color’s hexadecimal value in the box. Creating gradients A gradient is a multicolor fill in which one color gradually changes into another color. Flash lets you apply up to 15 color transitions to a gradient.
FLASH CS3 189 User Guide • To return to the default color settings, black and white (white fill and black stroke), click the Default Stroke and Fill button. • To swap colors between the fill and the stroke, click the Swap Stroke and Fill button. • To apply no color to the fill or stroke, click the No Color button. Note: You cannot apply a stroke or fill of No Color to an existing object. Instead, select the existing stroke or fill, and delete it.
FLASH CS3 190 User Guide Using the Ink Bottle tool, rather than selecting individual lines, makes it easier to change the stroke attributes of multiple objects at one time. 1 Select the Ink Bottle tool from the Tools panel. 2 Select a stroke color. 3 Select a stroke style and stroke width from the Property inspector. 4 To apply the stroke modifications, click an object on the Stage. Apply solid, gradient, and bitmap fills with the Paint Bucket tool The Paint Bucket tool fills enclosed areas with color.
FLASH CS3 191 User Guide Width Adjusts the width of the gradient. The rollover icon for the width handle (the square handle) is a double- ended arrow. A B C D E Radial Gradient controls A. Center point B. Width C. Rotation D. Size E. Focal point Press Shift to constrain the direction of a linear gradient fill to multiples of 45˚. 3 Reshape the gradient or fill in any of the following ways: • To reposition the center point of the gradient or bitmap fill, drag the center point.
FLASH CS3 192 User Guide • To change the height of the gradient or bitmap fill, drag the square handle at the bottom of the bounding box. • To rotate the gradient or bitmap fill, drag the circular rotation handle at the corner. You can also drag the lowest handle on the bounding circle of a circular gradient or fill. • To scale a linear gradient or a fill, drag the square handle at the center of the bounding box.
FLASH CS3 193 User Guide • To skew or slant a fill within a shape, drag one of the circular handles on the top or right side of the bounding box. • To tile a bitmap inside a shape, scale the fill. Note: To see all the handles when working with large fills or fills close to the edge of the Stage, select View > Pasteboard. Copy strokes and fills with the Eyedropper tool Use the Eyedropper tool to copy fill and stroke attributes from one object and immediately apply them to another object.
FLASH CS3 194 User Guide Use a locked gradient fill 1 Select the Brush or Paint Bucket tool and select a gradient or bitmap as a fill. 2 Select Linear or Radial from the Type menu in the Color panel. 3 Click the Lock Fill modifier . 4 First paint the areas where you want to place the center of the fill, and then move to other areas. Use a locked bitmap fill 1 Select the bitmap to use. 2 Select Bitmap from the Type menu in the Color panel. 3 Select the Brush or Paint Bucket tool.
195 Chapter 8: Working with graphic objects In Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional, you can work with several different kinds of graphic objects. Each kind has its own advantages and disadvantages. By understanding the capabilities of the different object types, you can make good decisions about which types of objects to use in your work. About graphic objects Understanding graphic objects in Flash In Flash, graphic objects are items on the Stage.
FLASH CS3 196 User Guide Depending on your drawing style and the content you want to create, object drawing mode may be best suited to your goals. To enter object drawing mode 1 Select the Object Drawing option in the Tools panel. 2 Select a drawing tool from the Tools panel and draw on the Stage. About primitive objects Primitive objects are graphic shapes that allow you to adjust their characteristics in the Property inspector.
FLASH CS3 197 User Guide Select objects with the Selection tool The Selection tool lets you select entire objects by clicking an object or dragging to enclose the object within a rectangular selection marquee. Note: To select the Selection tool, you can also press the V key. To temporarily switch to the Selection tool when another tool is active, hold down the Control key (Windows) or Command key (Macintosh). To disable the Shift-selecting option, deselect the option in Flash General Preferences.
FLASH CS3 198 User Guide 4 To close the selection area, do one of the following: • Release the mouse button; Flash will close the selection area for you. • Double-click on the starting end of the selection area line. Hide selection highlighting Hiding highlighting while you are selecting and editing objects lets you see how artwork appears in its final state. ❖ Select View > Hide Edges. Select the command again to show selection highlighting.
FLASH CS3 199 User Guide Note: When Snap To Pixels is selected, the arrow keys move objects by pixel increments on the document’s pixel grid, not by pixels on the screen. Move objects by using the Property inspector 1 Select an object or multiple objects. 2 If the Property inspector is not visible, select Window > Properties > Properties. 3 Enter x and y values for the location of the upper-left corner of the selection. The units are relative to the upper-left corner of the Stage.
FLASH CS3 200 User Guide 3 Enter scale, rotation, or skew values. 4 Click the Create Copy button in the Transform panel. Delete objects Deleting an object removes it from the file. Deleting an instance of an object on the Stage does not delete the symbol from the library. 1 Select an object or multiple objects. 2 Do one of the following: • Press Delete or Backspace. • Select Edit > Clear. • Select Edit > Cut.
FLASH CS3 201 User Guide If more than one group is selected, the groups move in front of or behind all unselected groups, while maintaining their order relative to each other. See also “About layers” on page 36 Align objects The Align panel lets you align selected objects along the horizontal or vertical axis. You can align objects vertically along the right edge, center, or left edge of the selected objects, or horizontally along the top edge, center, or bottom edge of the selected objects.
FLASH CS3 202 User Guide Break apart groups and objects To separate groups, instances, and bitmaps into ungrouped, editable elements, you break them apart, which significantly reduces the file size of imported graphics. Although you can select Edit > Undo immediately after breaking apart a group or object, breaking apart is not entirely reversible.
FLASH CS3 203 User Guide For scaling, skewing, or rotating graphic objects, groups, and text blocks, the point opposite the point you drag is the point of origin by default. For instances, the transformation point is the point of origin by default. You can move the default point of origin for a transformation. You begin a transformation by selecting the Free Transform tool , or selecting one of the Modify > Transform commands.
FLASH CS3 204 User Guide 3 To transform the selection, drag the handles: • To move the selection, position the pointer over the object within the bounding box, and drag the object to a new position. Do not drag the transformation point. • To set the center of rotation or scaling, drag the transformation point to a new location. • To rotate the selection, position the pointer just outside a corner handle and drag. The selection rotates around the transformation point.
FLASH CS3 205 User Guide 2 Select Modify > Transform > Envelope. 3 Drag the points and tangent handles to modify the envelope. Scale objects Scaling an object enlarges or reduces the object horizontally, vertically, or both. 1 Select a graphic object or objects on the Stage. 2 Select Modify > Transform > Scale. 3 Do one of the following: • To scale the object both horizontally and vertically, drag one of the corner handles. Proportions are maintained as you scale. Shift-drag to scale nonuniformly.
FLASH CS3 206 User Guide 3 Do one of the following: • Drag a corner handle to rotate the object. • Drag a center handle to skew the object. 4 To end the transformation, click outside the selected object or objects. Rotate objects by 90˚ 1 Select the object or objects. 2 Select Modify > Transform > Rotate 90˚ CW to rotate clockwise, or Rotate 90˚ CCW to rotate counterclockwise. Skew objects Skewing an object transforms it by slanting it along one or both axes.
207 Chapter 9: Using symbols, instances, and library assets Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional allows you to import and create many kinds of assets to populate your Flash documents. These assets are managed in Flash as symbols, instances, and library assets. Understanding how the types of assets work together lets you make good choices about how and when to use them, and anticipate the best design options for your work.
FLASH CS3 208 User Guide Types of symbols Each symbol has a unique Timeline and Stage, complete with layers. You can add frames, keyframes, and layers to a symbol Timeline, just as you can to the main Timeline. When you create a symbol you choose the symbol type. • Use graphic symbols for static images and to create reusable pieces of animation that are tied to the main Timeline. Graphic symbols operate in sync with the main Timeline.
FLASH CS3 209 User Guide See also “About changing instance properties” on page 213 “Using shared library assets” on page 218 “Embed and share fonts” on page 268 Convert selected elements to a symbol 1 Select an element or several elements on the Stage. Do one of the following: • Select Modify > Convert To Symbol. • Drag the selection to the Library panel. • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Convert To Symbol from the context menu.
FLASH CS3 210 User Guide Convert animation on the Stage into a movie clip To reuse an animated sequence on the Stage, or to manipulate it as an instance, select it and save it as a movie clip symbol. 1 On the main Timeline, select every frame in every layer of the animation on the Stage that you want to use. For information on selecting frames, see “Manage frames and keyframes in the Timeline” on page 69.
FLASH CS3 211 User Guide • In a separate window, using the Edit In New Window command. Editing a symbol in a separate window lets you see the symbol and the main Timeline at the same time. The name of the symbol you are editing appears in the Edit bar at the top of the Stage. You edit the symbol by changing the window from the Stage view to a view of only the symbol, using symbol-editing mode.
FLASH CS3 212 User Guide • Select the symbol in the Library panel and select Edit from the Library Panel menu, or right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the symbol in the Library panel and select Edit. 2 Edit the symbol. 3 To exit symbol-editing mode and return to editing the document, do one of the following: • Click the Back button at the left of the Edit bar at the top of the Stage. • Select Edit > Edit Document. • Click the scene name in the Edit bar at the top of the Stage.
FLASH CS3 213 User Guide About changing instance properties Each symbol instance has its own properties that are separate from the symbol. You can change the tint, transparency, and brightness of an instance; redefine how the instance behaves (for example, change a graphic to a movie clip); and specify how animation plays inside a graphic instance. You can also skew, rotate, or scale an instance without affecting the symbol.
FLASH CS3 214 User Guide You can also change the color of an instance using the ActionScript ColorTransform object. For detailed information on the Color object, see ColorTransform in ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference or ActionScript 3.0 Language and Components Reference.
FLASH CS3 215 User Guide An animated graphic symbol is tied to the Timeline of the document in which the symbol is placed. In contrast, a movie clip symbol has its own independent Timeline. Animated graphic symbols, because they use the same Timeline as the main document, display their animation in document-editing mode. Movie clip symbols appear as static objects on the Stage and do not appear as animations in the Flash editing environment.
FLASH CS3 216 User Guide 2 Display the Property inspector (Window > Properties > Properties) or panel to use: • To display the Info panel, select Window > Info. • To display the Movie Explorer, select Window > Movie Explorer. • To display the Actions panel, select Window > Actions. View the symbol definition for the selected symbol in the Movie Explorer 1 Click the Show Buttons, Movie Clips, and Graphics button at the top of the Movie Explorer.
FLASH CS3 217 User Guide Copy a library asset by dragging ❖ With the destination document open, select the asset in the Library panel in the source document and drag the asset into the Library panel in the destination document. Copy a library asset by opening the source document library in the destination document 1 With the destination document active, select File > Import > Open External Library. 2 Select the source document, and click Open.
FLASH CS3 218 User Guide Using shared library assets About shared library assets Shared library assets let you use assets from a source document in multiple destination documents: • For runtime shared assets, assets from a source document are linked as external files in a destination document. Runtime assets are loaded into the destination document during document playback—that is, at runtime.
FLASH CS3 219 User Guide When you publish the SWF file, you must post the SWF file to the URL you specified, so that the shared assets are available to destination documents. Link to runtime shared assets from a destination document Link a shared asset to a destination document by entering the identifier and URL 1 In the destination document, select Window > Library. • Select a movie clip, button, graphic symbol, bitmap, or sound in the Library panel, and select Properties from the Library Panel menu.
FLASH CS3 220 User Guide 5 Navigate to a symbol, and click OK. 6 In the Symbol Properties dialog box, under Source, select Always Update Before Publishing and click OK. Working with button symbols Create a button Buttons are actually four-frame interactive movie clips. When you select the button behavior for a symbol, Flash creates a Timeline with four frames. The first three frames display the button’s three possible states; the fourth frame defines the active area of the button.
FLASH CS3 221 User Guide Flash inserts a keyframe that duplicates the contents of the Up frame. 6 Change or edit the button image for the Over state. 7 Repeat steps 5 and 6 for the Down frame and the Hit frames. The Hit frame is not visible on the Stage, but it defines the area of the button that responds when clicked. The graphic for the Hit frame must be a solid area large enough to encompass all the graphic elements of the Up, Down, and Over frames. It can also be larger than the visible button.
FLASH CS3 222 User Guide • Select Control > Test Scene or Control > Test Movie. Movie clips in buttons are not visible in the Flash authoring environment. Scaling and caching symbols About 9-slice scaling and movie clip symbols 9-slice scaling allows you to specify how scaling is applied to specific areas of a movie clip. With 9-slice scaling, you can ensure that the movie clip looks correct when scaled.
FLASH CS3 223 User Guide Edit movie clip symbols with 9-slice scaling By default, slice guides are placed at 25% (or one-fourth) of the symbol’s width and height from the edge of the symbol. In symbol-editing mode, the slice guides appear as dotted lines superimposed on the symbol. The slice guides don’t snap when you drag them on the pasteboard. The guides do not appear when the symbol is on the Stage. You cannot edit 9-slice-enabled symbols in place on the Stage.
FLASH CS3 224 User Guide For more information, see When to enable caching in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Note: You can only use the Use Runtime Bitmap Caching option for movie clip and button symbols. Under the following circumstances, a movie clip does not use a bitmap (even if Use Runtime Bitmap Caching is selected) but instead renders the movie clip or button symbol by using vector data: • The bitmap is too large (greater than 2880 pixels in either direction).
FLASH CS3 225 User Guide Behavior Purpose Select or input Load Graphic Loads an external JPEG file into a movie clip or screen. Path and filename of JPEG file. Loads an external SWF file into a target movie clip or screen. URL of external SWF file. Duplicates a movie clip or screen. Instance name of movie clip to duplicate. Load External Movieclip Duplicate Movieclip Instance name of movie clip or screen receiving the graphic. Instance name of movie clip or screen receiving the SWF file.
FLASH CS3 226 User Guide 3 Select the movie clip to control with the behavior. 4 Select a relative or absolute path. 5 If required, select or input settings for the behavior parameters and click OK. Default settings for the behavior appear in the Behaviors panel. 6 Under Event, click On Release (the default event) and select a mouse event from the menu. To use the On Release event, leave the option unchanged.
FLASH CS3 227 User Guide For example (from the Movieclip_loadMovie.xml behavior file) (ActionScript 2.0): 6 Save the file and test the behavior.
228 Chapter 10: Creating animation Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional provides several ways to create animation and special effects; Timeline effects, tweened animation, changing the contents of successive frames in the Timeline, and frame-by-frame animation all provide you with different possibilities to create engaging, animated content.
FLASH CS3 229 User Guide About representations of animation in the Timeline Flash distinguishes tweened animation from frame-by-frame animation in the Timeline as follows: • A black dot at the beginning keyframe indicates motion tweens; a black arrow with a light blue background indicates intermediate tweened frames. • A black dot at the beginning keyframe indicates shape tweens; a black arrow with a light green background indicates intermediate frames.
FLASH CS3 230 User Guide See also “Create or open a document and set its properties” on page 52 About frame-by-frame animation Frame-by-frame animation changes the contents of the Stage in every frame and is best suited to complex animation in which an image changes in every frame instead of moving across the Stage. Frame-by-frame animation increases file size more rapidly than tweened animation. In frame-by-frame animation, Flash stores the values for each complete frame.
FLASH CS3 231 User Guide • To extend the duration of a keyframe, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Macintosh) it to the final frame of the new sequence. • To copy and paste a frame or frame sequence, select it and select Edit > Timeline > Copy Frames. Select a frame or sequence to replace, and select Edit > Timeline > Paste Frames.
FLASH CS3 232 User Guide Onion All Displays all frames on either side of the current frame. Move an entire animation Move the graphics in all frames and layers at once to avoid realigning everything. 1 Unlock all layers. To move everything on one or more layers but nothing on other layers, lock or hide all the layers you don’t want to move. 2 Click the Edit Multiple Frames button .
FLASH CS3 233 User Guide Rotation And Skew The rotation and skew of the object. These properties must be jointly applied to an object. Skew is a measurement of rotation in degrees, and when you rotate and skew, each property affects the other. Color All color values such as Tint, Brightness, and Alpha are applied to the object. Filters All filter values and changes for the selected span.
FLASH CS3 234 User Guide For a video tutorial about copying and pasting motion as ActionScript, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0126. 1 Select the frames in the Timeline that contain the motion tween to copy. The frames you select must be on the same layer, however, they do not have to span a single motion tween. The selection can span a tween, empty frames, or two or more tweens. 2 Select Edit > Timeline > Copy Motion As ActionScript 3.0. Provide the name of the instance to attach the motion tween to.
FLASH CS3 235 User Guide To create a mask layer from a movie clip, use ActionScript. A mask layer created with ActionScript can be applied only to another movie clip. See Using movie clips as masks in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. For a video tutorial about animating masks, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0127. For a sample of scriptable masks, see the Flash Samples web page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples.
FLASH CS3 236 User Guide • Select Modify > Timeline > Layer Properties, and select Normal. Animate a filled shape, type object, or graphic symbol instance on a mask layer 1 Select the mask layer in the Timeline. 2 To unlock the mask layer, click in the Lock column. 3 Do one of the following: • If the mask object is a filled shape, apply shape tweening to the object. • If the mask object is a type object or graphic symbol instance, apply motion tweening to the object.
FLASH CS3 237 User Guide When you add a Timeline effect, a folder with the effect’s name is added to the library, containing elements used in creating the effect. 1 Do one of the following: • Select the object to add the Timeline effect to. Select Insert > Timeline Effects, make a selection, and select an effect from the list. • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the object to add the Timeline effect to. Select Timeline Effects, make a selection, and select an effect.
FLASH CS3 238 User Guide Motion effect name and description Settings Creates a motion blur effect by changing the alpha value, position, or scale of an object over time.
FLASH CS3 239 User Guide Motion effect name and description Settings Adjusts the position, scale, rotation, alpha, and tint of the selected elements. Use Transform to apply a single effect or a combination of effects to create Fade In/Out, Fly In/Out, Grow/Shrink, and Spin Left/Right effects.
FLASH CS3 240 User Guide • In shape tweening, you draw a shape at one specific time, and change that shape or draw another shape at another specific time. Flash interpolates the values or shapes for the frames in between, creating the animation. Note: To apply shape tweening to groups, instances, or bitmap images, break these elements apart. To apply shape tweening to text, break the text apart twice to convert the text to objects.
FLASH CS3 241 User Guide About new layers New layers created during the Distribute To Layers operation are named according to the name of the element that each contains: • A new layer containing a library asset (such as a symbol, bitmap, or video clip) receives the same name as the asset. • A new layer containing a named instance receives the name of the instance. • A new layer containing a character from a broken-apart text block is named with the character.
FLASH CS3 242 User Guide See also “Create symbols” on page 208 “Break text apart” on page 270 “Tweened animation” on page 239 Create a motion tween by using the Motion Tweening option 1 Click a layer name to make it the active layer, and select an empty keyframe in the layer where you want the animation to start. 2 To create the first frame of the motion tween, do one of the following: • Create a graphic object with the Pen, Oval, Rectangle, Pencil, or Brush tool, and then convert it to a symbol.
FLASH CS3 243 User Guide 9 If you’re using a motion path, select Orient To Path to orient the baseline of the tweened element to the motion path. 10 To synchronize the animation of graphic symbol instances with the main Timeline, select the Sync option in the Property inspector. Note: Modify > Timeline > Synchronize Symbols and the Sync option both recalculate the number of frames in a tween to match the number of frames allotted to it in the Timeline.
FLASH CS3 244 User Guide Tween motion along a path Motion guide layers let you draw paths along which tweened instances, groups, or text blocks can be animated. You can link multiple layers to a motion guide layer to have multiple objects follow the same path. A normal layer that is linked to a motion guide layer becomes a guided layer. In this example, two objects on separate layers are attached to the same motion path. For a video tutorial about motion tweens, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0125.
FLASH CS3 245 User Guide The group or symbol follows the motion path when you play the animation. Link layers to a motion guide layer ❖ Do one of the following: • Drag an existing layer below the motion guide layer. The layer is indented under the motion guide layer. All objects on this layer automatically snap to the motion path. • Create a new layer under the motion guide layer. Objects you tween on this layer are automatically tweened along the motion path.
FLASH CS3 246 User Guide Property pop-up menu Enabled only when the Use One Setting for All Properties check box is not selected. When enabled, a separate curve is maintained for each of the five properties appearing in the menu. Selecting a property in the menu displays the curve for that property. The properties are: • Position Specifies custom ease settings for the position of an animated object on the Stage. • Rotation Specifies custom ease settings for the rotation of an animated object.
FLASH CS3 247 User Guide Copy and paste an ease curve • To copy the current ease curve, press Control+C (Windows) or Command+C (Macintosh). • To paste the copied curve into another ease curve, press Control+V (Windows) or Command+V (Macintosh). You can copy and paste the ease curve. The copied curve remains available until you exit the Flash application.
FLASH CS3 248 User Guide 4 Select the last keyframe in the tweening sequence. The ending shape hint appears somewhere on the shape as a green circle with the letter a. 5 Move the shape hint to the point in the ending shape that should correspond to the first point you marked. 6 To view how the shape hints change the shape tweening, play the animation again. To fine-tune the tweening, move the shape hints. 7 Repeat this process to add additional shape hints.
249 Chapter 11: Special effects Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional special effects include filters, which let you add visual effects to text, buttons, and movie clips; and blend modes, which let you create composite images. About filters Filter overview Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional filters (graphic effects) let you add interesting visual effects to text, buttons, and movie clips. A feature unique to Flash is that you can animate the filters you apply using motion tweens.
FLASH CS3 250 User Guide For example, if you create a motion tween using the drop shadow filter, and apply a drop shadow with a knockout on the first frame of the tween, and an inner shadow on the last frame of the tween, Flash corrects the inconsistent use of the filter in the motion tween. In this case, Flash applies the filter settings used on the first frame of the tween— a drop shadow with a knockout.
FLASH CS3 251 User Guide 3 Select the object to apply the filter to, and click the Paste Filter button . Apply a preset filter to an object 1 Select the object to apply a filter preset to, and select the Filter tab. 2 Click the Add Filter (+) button, and select Presets. 3 Select the filter preset to apply from the list of available presets at the bottom of the preset menu.
FLASH CS3 252 User Guide Apply a drop shadow The Drop Shadow filter simulates the look of an object casting a shadow onto a surface. Text with the Drop Shadow filter applied. For a sample of a drop shadow, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Graphics\AnimatedDropShadow directory. 1 Select the object to apply a drop shadow to, and select Filters. 2 Click the Add Filter (+) button, and select Drop Shadow.
FLASH CS3 253 User Guide Apply a blur The Blur filter softens the edges and details of objects. Applying a blur to an object can make it appear as if it is behind other objects, or make an object appear to be in motion. Text with the Blur filter applied. 1 Select an object to apply a blur to, and select Filters. 2 Click the Add Filter (+) button, and select Blur. 3 Edit the filter settings on the Filter tab: • To set the width and height of the blur, drag the Blur X and Y slider.
FLASH CS3 254 User Guide Apply a bevel Applying a bevel applies a highlight to the object that makes it appear to be curved up above the background surface. 1 Select an object to apply a bevel to, and select Filters. 2 Click the Add Filter (+) button, and select Bevel. 3 Edit the filter settings in the Filter tab: • To apply a bevel to the object from the Type pop-up menu, select the bevel type. • To set the width and height of the bevel, drag the Blur X and Y slider.
FLASH CS3 255 User Guide To change a color in the gradient, select one of the color pointers below the gradient definition bar and click the color space that appears directly below the gradient bar to display the Color Picker. Sliding these pointers adjusts the level and position of that color in the gradient. To add a pointer to the gradient, click on or below the gradient definition bar. To create a gradient with up to 15 color transitions, add up to 15 color pointers.
FLASH CS3 256 User Guide Brightness Adjusts the brightness of an image. Saturation Adjusts the intensity of a color. Hue Adjusts the shade of a color. 4 To reset all of the color adjustments to 0 and return the object to its original state, click Reset. See also “Change the color and transparency of an instance” on page 213 About blend modes Blend modes in Flash Blend modes let you create composite images.
FLASH CS3 257 User Guide Erase Removes all base color pixels, including those in the background image. Note: Erase and Alpha blend modes require that a Layer blend mode be applied to the parent movie clip. You cannot change the background clip to Erase and apply it because the object would appear invisible. Blend mode examples The following examples illustrate how different blend modes affect the appearance of an image.
FLASH CS3 258 User Guide 3 Select a blend mode for movie clips from the Blend pop-up menu in the Properties panel. The blend mode is applied to the selected movie clip instance. 4 Verify that the blend mode you selected is appropriate to the effect you’re trying to achieve. Experiment with both the color and transparency settings of the movie clip and the different blend modes to achieve the desired effect.
FLASH CS3 259 User Guide Fireworks blending mode Flash blending mode Overlay Overlay Hard light Hard light Additive Add Difference Difference Invert Invert Alpha Alpha Erase Erase Flash ignores all other blending modes imported from Fireworks. The blending modes that Flash does not support are Average, Negation, Exclusion, Soft Light, Subtractive, Fuzzy Light, Color Dodge, and Color Burn. For a video tutorial about the Flash and Fireworks workflow, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0194.
260 Chapter 12: Working with text This chapter describes the various ways that text can be incorporated into your Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional documents. Text and fonts in Flash About text You can include text in your Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional applications in a variety of ways. You can create text fields containing static text, which you create when you author the document.
FLASH CS3 261 User Guide High quality anti-aliasing is automatically enabled whenever you publish to Flash Player 8 or later, and Anti-Alias For Readability or Custom Anti-Alias is selected. Anti-Alias For Readability may cause a slight delay when you load Flash SWF files, especially if you are using four or five different character sets in the first frame of a Flash document. High quality anti-aliasing may also increase Flash Player’s memory usage.
FLASH CS3 262 User Guide Device fonts For static horizontal text, use device fonts as an alternative to embedding font outline information. Flash includes three device fonts, _sans (similar to Helvetica or Arial), _serif (similar to Times Roman), and _typewriter (similar to Courier). When you specify one of these fonts and then export the document, Flash Player uses the font on the user’s computer that most closely resembles the device font.
FLASH CS3 263 User Guide Substituting missing fonts If you work with a document that contains fonts that aren’t installed on your system, Flash uses the fonts available on your system. You can select which fonts are substituted for the missing fonts, or you can let Flash substitute missing fonts with the Flash System Default Font. When a font is substituted, the text is displayed on your system using the substitute font, but the missing font information is saved with the document.
FLASH CS3 264 User Guide 3 To delete a font mapping, select the mapping and press Delete. Turn off the Missing Fonts alert • To turn the alert off for the current document, in the Missing Fonts alert box select Don’t Show Again For This Document, Always Use Substitute Fonts. Select Edit > Font Mapping to view mapping information for the document again. • To turn the alert off for all documents, select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Flash > Preferences (Macintosh), and click the Warnings tab.
FLASH CS3 265 User Guide • For static vertical text that has left-to-right flow and extends, a round handle appears at the lower-right corner of the text field. • For static vertical text that has left-to-right flow and a fixed height, a square handle appears at the lower-right corner of the text field. • For dynamic or input text fields that extend, a round handle appears at the lower-right corner of the text field.
FLASH CS3 266 User Guide See also “Setting text attributes” on page 271 Add text to the Stage 1 Select the Text tool . 2 In the Property inspector (Window > Properties > Properties), select a text type from the pop-up menu to specify the type of text field: Dynamic Text Creates a field that displays dynamically updating text. Input Text Creates a field in which users can enter text. Static Text Creates a field that cannot update dynamically.
FLASH CS3 267 User Guide Set dynamic and input text options 1 Click in an existing dynamic text field. 2 In the Property inspector, make sure Dynamic or Input is displayed in the pop-up menu. 3 Enter an instance name for the text field. 4 Specify the height, width, and location of text. 5 Select the font and style. 6 In the Line Type box, specify one of the following options: Multiline Displays the text in multiple lines. Single line Displays the text as one line.
FLASH CS3 268 User Guide The box in the upper-left corner identifies words not found in the selected dictionaries, and also identifies the type of element that contains the text (such as a text field or frame label). 2 Do one of the following: • Click Add To Personal to add the word to your personal dictionary. • Click Ignore to leave the word unchanged. Click Ignore All to leave all occurrences of the word in the document unchanged.
FLASH CS3 269 User Guide See also “Using shared library assets” on page 218 “Copy library assets between documents” on page 216 Create a font library item 1 Open the library to add a font symbol to. 2 Select New Font from the Library Panel menu. 3 Enter a name for the font item in the Name text field. 4 Select a font from the Font menu or enter the name of a font in the Font text field. 5 (Optional) Select Bold or Italic.
FLASH CS3 270 User Guide Text effects You can create text effects by transforming text fields. For example, you can rotate, skew, flip, and scale text fields. (When you scale a text field as an object, the Property inspector does not reflect increases or decreases in point size.) The text in a transformed text field can still be edited, although severe transformations may make it difficult to read. You can also animate text by using Timeline effects.
FLASH CS3 271 User Guide Setting text attributes About text attributes You can set the font and paragraph attributes of text. Font attributes include font family, point size, style, color, letter spacing, autokerning, and character position. Paragraph attributes include alignment, margins, indents, and line spacing. For static text, font outlines are exported in a published SWF file. For horizontal static text, you can use device fonts instead of exporting font outlines.
FLASH CS3 272 User Guide Set letter spacing, kerning, and character position Letter spacing inserts a uniform amount of space between characters. Use letter spacing to adjust the spacing of selected characters or entire blocks of text. Kerning controls the spacing between pairs of characters. Many fonts have built-in kerning information. For example, A and V are often closer together than A and D.
FLASH CS3 273 User Guide Work with vertical text 1 Using the Text tool , select one or more text fields on the Stage. 2 To apply settings to existing text, select text fields on the Stage. 3 In the Property inspector (Window > Properties > Properties), set the following options: • To set alignment, click Top, Center, Bottom, or Full Justification.
FLASH CS3 274 User Guide Custom Anti-Alias Lets you modify the font’s properties. Use Sharpness to specify the smoothness of the transition between the text edges and the background. Use Thickness to specify how thick the font anti-aliasing transition appears. (Larger values cause the characters to look thicker.) Specifying Custom Anti-Alias creates a larger SWF file, because font outlines are embedded. To use this option, you must publish to Flash Player 8 or later.
275 Chapter 13: Creating multilanguage text Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional provides several features that enhance the work flow for authoring multiple language Unicode-based applications. Creating multilanguage text About multilanguage text You can include multilanguage text in your document in the following ways: • The Strings panel lets localizers edit strings in a central location in Flash or in external XML files with their preferred software or translation memory.
FLASH CS3 276 User Guide About fonts for Unicode-encoded text When you use external files that are Unicode encoded, your users must have access to fonts containing all the glyphs used in your text files. By default, Flash stores the names of fonts used in dynamic or input text files. During SWF file playback, Flash Player 7 (and earlier versions) looks for those fonts on the operating system running the player.
FLASH CS3 277 User Guide XML font embedding table When you select ranges of fonts to embed, the list of selected fonts is stored and maintained as an external XML file and resides in the user configuration folder. It is named Unicode_Table.xml and contains the one-to-many relationship between a particular language and all the necessary Unicode glyph ranges as shown in the following Korean examples. The font set groupings are based on the Unicode Blocks as defined by the Unicode Consortium.
FLASH CS3 278 User Guide Range Description Basic Hangul Most commonly used Korean characters, Roman characters, punctuations, and special characters/symbols Hangul (All) 11,720 Korean characters (sorted by Hangul syllables), Roman characters, punctuations, and special characters/symbols) Traditional Chinese – Level 1 5000 most commonly used Traditional Chinese characters used in Taiwan Traditional Chinese (All) All Traditional Chinese characters used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and punctuations Simp
FLASH CS3 279 User Guide Non-Unicode external files If you load external text or XML files that are not Unicode-encoded into a Flash Player 7 application, the text in the external files does not appear correctly when Flash Player attempts to show them as Unicode. To tell Flash Player to use the traditional code page of the operating system that is running the player, add the following code as the first line of code in the first frame of the Flash application that is loading the data: system.
FLASH CS3 280 User Guide Unicode and Flash Player Flash Player 6 and later versions support Unicode text encoding. Users with Flash Player 6 or later can view multilanguage text, regardless of the language that the operating system running the player uses, if they have the correct fonts installed. Flash Player assumes that all external text files associated with a Flash Player application are Unicode encoded, unless you tell the player otherwise.
FLASH CS3 281 User Guide Authoring multilanguage text Workflow for authoring multilanguage text with the Strings panel The Strings panel lets you create and update multilingual content. You can specify content for text fields that span multiple languages, and have Flash automatically determine the content that should appear in a certain language based on the language of the computer running Flash Player. The following steps describe the general work flow: 1. Author a FLA file in one language.
FLASH CS3 282 User Guide • If the language does not appear in the Languages box, in the blank field below the Languages box, type a language code in the format xx. (The language code is from ISO 639-1.) Click Add. 3 Repeat step 3 until you have added all the necessary languages. 4 Select a default language from the Default runtime language menu. This language appears on systems that do not have one of the active languages you selected.
FLASH CS3 283 User Guide Note: If a static text field is selected on the Stage, the Stage text selection section on the Strings panel displays the message “Static text cannot have an ID associated with it.” If a nontext item is selected or multiple items are selected, the message “Current selection cannot have an ID associated with it” appears. Add a string ID to the Strings panel without assigning it to a text field 1 Select Window > Other Panels > Strings.
FLASH CS3 284 User Guide Publishing multilanguage FLA files When you save, publish, or test the FLA file, a folder with an XML file is created for each available language you selected in the Strings panel. The default location for the XML folders and files is the same folder indicated as the SWF publish path. If no SWF publish path was selected, the XML folder and files are saved in the folder in which the FLA file is located.
FLASH CS3 285 User Guide Note: The ActionScript code that the Strings panel generates does not use the Locale.initialize function. Decide how to call this function based on the language detection customizations your project requires. Use custom language detection To access the language XML files to control text replacement at a time that you designate, create your own custom component or use ActionScript code.
FLASH CS3 286 User Guide Exported XML file sample The following examples show what an XML file that the Strings panel generates looks like in the source language— in this example, English—and in another language—in this example, French: English source version sample PAGE 293FLASH CS3 287 User Guide Translate text in the Strings panel or an XML file When sending files to translators, include not only the FLA file but also the folders for the XML files and the XML file for each language. Translators can either work directly in the language columns in the Strings panel or work in the XML files for each language to translate the FLA file to selected languages.
FLASH CS3 288 User Guide See also “Publishing overview” on page 418 Multilanguage text and ActionScript Use ActionScript to load external files To load existing XML data, or use a different format for the XML file, use the loadVariables action, the getURL action, the LoadVars object, or the XML object to create a document that contains multilanguage text by placing the text in an external text or XML file and loading the file into the movie clip at runtime.
FLASH CS3 289 User Guide Use an application that supports UTF-8 encoding, such as Dreamweaver, to save the text file in UTF-8 format. To identify the file as Unicode to the Flash authoring tool, include the following header as the first line of the file: //!-- UTF8 Note: Include a space after the second dash (-). By default, the Flash authoring application assumes that external files that use the #include action are encoded in the traditional code page of the operating system running the authoring tool.
FLASH CS3 290 User Guide Using the XMLConnector component to connect to external XML files Use the version 2 XMLConnector component to connect to an external XML document to bind to properties in the document. Its purpose is to read or write XML documents by using HTTP GET operations, POST operations, or both. It acts as a connector between other components and external XML documents.
291 Chapter 14: Working with sound You can use sound in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional in several different ways to make your work more interesting and involving. You can import sounds and edit them after they are imported. You can attach sounds to different kinds of objects and trigger them in different ways, depending on your desired effect. Using sounds in Flash About sounds and Flash Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional offers several ways to use sound.
FLASH CS3 292 User Guide • Sound Designer II (Macintosh only) • Sound Only QuickTime Movies (Windows or Macintosh) • Sun AU (Windows or Macintosh) • System 7 Sounds (Macintosh only) • WAV (Windows or Macintosh) Flash stores sounds in the library along with bitmaps and symbols. You need only one copy of a sound file to use that sound multiple ways in your document. If you want to share sounds among Flash documents, you can include the sounds in shared libraries.
FLASH CS3 293 User Guide 7 Select an effect option from the Effects pop-up menu: None Applies no effects to the sound file. Select this option to remove previously applied effects. Left Channel/Right Channel Plays sound in the left or right channel only. Fade Left To Right/Fade Right To Left Shifts the sound from one channel to the other. Fade In Gradually increases the volume of a sound over its duration. Fade Out Gradually decreases the volume of a sound over its duration.
FLASH CS3 294 User Guide 4 Select Window > Properties > Properties, and click the arrow in the lower right-corner to expand the Property inspector. 5 In the Property inspector, select the same sound from the Sound pop-up menu. 6 Select Stop from the Sync pop-up menu. When you play the SWF file, the sound stops playing when it reaches the ending keyframe. 7 To play back the sound, simply move the playhead. Add a sound to a button You can associate sounds with the different states of a button symbol.
FLASH CS3 295 User Guide Using sounds in Flash Lite Adobe® Flash® Lite supports two types of sound: standard Flash sounds, like those used in Flash desktop applications, and device sounds. Flash Lite 1.0 supports device sounds only; Flash Lite 1.1 and 2.x support both standard sounds and device sounds. Device sounds are stored in the published SWF file in their native audio format (such as MIDI or MFi); during playback, Flash Lite passes the sound data to the device, which decodes and plays the sound.
FLASH CS3 296 User Guide See also “Publishing overview” on page 418 “Set publish options for the Flash SWF file format” on page 420 “Exporting Flash content, images, and video” on page 447 Compress a sound for export 1 Do one of the following: • Double-click the sound’s icon in the Library panel. • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a sound file in the Library panel and select Properties from the context menu.
FLASH CS3 297 User Guide If you are exporting a file that was imported in mp3 format, you can export the file using the same settings the file had when it was imported. Use Imported mp3 Quality Default setting. Deselect to select other mp3 compression settings. Select to export an imported mp3 file with the same settings the file had when it was imported. Bit Rate Determines the bits per second in the exported sound file. Flash supports 8 through 160 Kbps CBR (constant bit rate).
FLASH CS3 298 User Guide • When exporting QuickTime movies, use as many sounds and channels as you want without worrying about file size. The sounds are combined into a single sound track when you export as a QuickTime file. The number of sounds you use has no effect on the final file size. Sound and ActionScript Control sounds using behaviors Using sound behaviors, prewritten ActionScript 2.0, you can add sounds to your document and control sound playback.
FLASH CS3 299 User Guide Accessing ID3 properties in mp3 files with Flash Player Macromedia Flash Player 7 from Adobe and later supports ID3 v2.4 and v2.4 tags. With this version, when you load an mp3 sound using the ActionScript 2.0 attachSound() or loadSound() method, the ID3 tag properties are available at the beginning of the sound data stream. The onID3 event executes when the ID3 data is initialized. Flash Player 6 (6.0.40.0) and later supports mp3 files with ID3 v1.0 and v1.1 tags. With ID3 v1.
300 Chapter 15: Working with video Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional is a powerful tool for incorporating video footage into web-based presentations. Flash Video offers technological and creative benefits that let you fuse video together with data, graphics, sound, and interactive control. Flash Video lets you easily put video on a web page in a format that almost anyone can view.
FLASH CS3 301 User Guide Controlling external video playback using ActionScript Play back external FLV files in a Flash document at runtime using the NetConnection and NetStream ActionScript objects. You can use video behaviors (prewritten ActionScript scripts) to control video playback. Controlling video playback in the Timeline To control video playback, write custom ActionScript. For video tutorials about working with video in Flash, see the following: • Using video in Flash: www.adobe.
FLASH CS3 302 User Guide You can apply the following actions to imported video objects in movie clips: goTo, play, stop, toggleHighQuality, stopAllSounds, getURL,FScommand, loadMovie, unloadMovie, ifFrameLoaded, and onMouseEvent. To apply actions to a Video object, first convert the Video object to a movie clip. To show a live video stream from a camera, use ActionScript. First, to place a Video object on the Stage, use the New Video Object in the Library panel.
FLASH CS3 303 User Guide • Network resources are used more efficiently, because only the parts of the video that are viewed are sent to the client. • Delivery of media is more secure, because media is not saved to the client’s cache when streamed. • Streaming video provides better tracking, reporting, and logging ability. • Streaming lets you deliver live video and audio presentations, or capture video from a web cam or digital video camera.
FLASH CS3 304 User Guide About Linked QuickTime video Using Flash, you can create QuickTime movies (MOV files) that can be played back by users who have the QuickTime plug-in installed on their computers. This is often done when people use Flash to create title sequences or animation for use as video content. The published QuickTime file can be distributed as a DVD, or incorporated into other applications such as Adobe® Director® or Adobe® Premiere®.
FLASH CS3 305 User Guide View video clip properties in the Video Properties dialog box 1 Select a video clip in the Library panel. 2 Select Properties from the Library Panel menu, or click the Properties button located at the bottom of the the Library panel. The Video Properties dialog box is displayed. Assign a new name to, update, or replace a video clip with an FLV clip 1 Select the video clip in the Library panel and select Properties from the Library Panel menu.
FLASH CS3 306 User Guide • The video component To edit the component’s URL field to that of the web server that you are uploading the video to, use the Component inspector. See also “Select a video encoding profile” on page 313 “Specify the contentPath parameter” on page 323 “About the FLVPlayback component” on page 322 Embed video in a SWF file Import video clips as embedded files in several file formats, depending on your system.
FLASH CS3 307 User Guide If you’re creating a simple video presentation with linear narration and little to no interaction, accept the default setting and import the video to the Stage. To create a more dynamic presentation, work with multiple video clips, or add dynamic transitions or other elements using ActionScript, import the video into the library. After a video clip is in the library, customize it by converting it into a MovieClip object that you can more easily control with ActionScript.
FLASH CS3 308 User Guide 3 If you imported the video clip directly to the Stage in step 1, a warning appears if the imported clip contains more frames than the span in which you are placing it in the current Flash document. Do one of the following: • To extend the span the required number of frames, click Yes. • To keep the span at its current size, click No. Frames in the imported clip that exceed the frames in the span do not appear unless you subsequently add frames to the span.
FLASH CS3 309 User Guide About digital video and Flash Supported file formats for video If QuickTime 7 for Macintosh, QuickTime 6.5 for Windows, or DirectX 9 or later (Windows only) is installed on your system, you can import video clips in several file formats, including MOV, AVI, and MPG/MPEG. You can import linked video clips in MOV format. Flash documents with embedded video can be published as SWF files. Flash documents with linked video must be published in QuickTime format.
FLASH CS3 310 User Guide If you are encoding MPEG video with audio on a Macintosh computer, it is recommended that you first convert the MPEG video clip into another format that encodes audio and video as separate tracks within the file. You can then encode the other format as an FLV file, and preserve the audio content. An alternative is to use a computer with the Windows operating system.
FLASH CS3 311 User Guide Whenever possible, always encode a file from its uncompressed form If you convert a precompressed digital video format into the FLV format, the previous encoder can introduce video noise. The first compressor already performed its encoding algorithm on the video and reduced its quality, frame size, and rate. It might have also introduced some of its own digital artifacts or noise.
FLASH CS3 312 User Guide Use clean video The higher the quality of the original, the better the final result. Although frame rates and sizes of Internet video are usually smaller than those of television, computer monitors have much better color fidelity, saturation, sharpness, and resolution than conventional televisions. Even with a small window, image quality can be more important for digital video than for standard analog television.
FLASH CS3 313 User Guide The FLV Export plug-in supports the following video-editing applications: • Adobe After Effects (Windows and Macintosh) • Apple FinalCut Pro (Macintosh) • Apple QuickTime Pro (Windows and Macintosh) • Avid Xpress DV (Windows and Macintosh) Using the FLV QuickTime Export plug-in to export FLV files from either Flash Video Encoder or other video-editing applications significantly streamlines working with FLV files in your Flash documents.
FLASH CS3 314 User Guide By default, Flash Video Encoder places a keyframe every two seconds of playback time. For example, if the video you’re encoding has a frame rate of 30 fps, a keyframe is inserted every 60 frames. In general, the default keyframe value provides a reasonable level of control when seeking within a video clip. To select a custom keyframe placement value, be aware that the smaller the keyframe interval, the larger the file size.
FLASH CS3 315 User Guide 3 To move to the next panel of the Video Import wizard, click Next. To further modify the video clip, select another of the Advanced Settings tabs. Embed cue points Cue points cause the video playback to trigger other actions within the presentation. For example, you can create a Flash presentation video playing in one area of the screen while text and graphics appear in another area.
FLASH CS3 316 User Guide Crop and resize video Flash Video Encoder provides the following editing options to crop and resize video clips before encoding them: Cropping alters the dimensions of a video clip. You can eliminate areas of the video to emphasize a particular focal point within the frame such as highlighting a character by removing ancillary imagery or removing unwanted backdrops. Trimming edits the beginning and ending points (the in and outpoints) of a video.
FLASH CS3 317 User Guide If you export video files in other standard formats, Adobe Flash can encode your videos within Flash applications, using the latest compression technologies to deliver the greatest quality possible at small file sizes. Moving content between Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Flash After you start and edit a video in Adobe Premiere Pro, you can add sequence markers to the timeline that serve as cue points in a Flash application.
FLASH CS3 318 User Guide Because video looks much better at native frame rates, leave the frame rate high if your delivery channels and playback platforms allow. For web delivery, get this detail from your hosting service. For mobile devices, use the device-specific encoding presets, and the device emulator available through Adobe Media Encoder in Adobe Premiere Pro. If you need to reduce the frame rate, the best results come from dividing the frame rate by whole numbers.
FLASH CS3 319 User Guide Adobe Flash is intended for progressive display on computer screens and other devices, rather than on interlaced displays such as TVs. Interlaced footage viewed on a progressive display can exhibit alternating vertical lines in highmotion areas. Thus, all the Adobe Flash Video presets in the Adobe Media Encoder have deinterlacing turned on by default. Follow the same guidelines for audio The same considerations apply to audio production as to video production.
FLASH CS3 320 User Guide Both applications can be used to create original graphics and animation. Both use a timeline and offer scripting capabilities for controlling animation programmatically. After Effects includes a larger set of effects, while Flash’s ActionScript™ language is the more robust of the two scripting environments. Both applications allow you to place graphics and effects on separate layers for compositing. These layers can be turned on and off as needed.
FLASH CS3 321 User Guide Using external FLV files provides the following capabilities that are not available when using imported video: • You can use longer video clips without slowing down playback. External FLV files are played using cached memory, which means that large files are stored in small pieces and accessed dynamically; they do not require as much memory as embedded video files. • An external FLV file can have a different frame rate from the Flash document in which it plays.
FLASH CS3 322 User Guide Behavior Purpose Parameters Fast Forward Video Fast-forwards the video by the specified number of frames. Instance name of target video Hide Video Hides the video. Instance name of target video Show Video Shows the video. Instance name of target video Number of frames Control video playback using behaviors 1 Select the movie clip to trigger the behavior.
FLASH CS3 323 User Guide Note: In most instances, it is not necessary to alter the settings in the FLVPlayback component unless you want to change the appearance of a video skin. The Video Import wizard sufficiently configures the parameters for most deployments. autoPlay Boolean value that determines how to play the FLV. If true, the FLV plays immediately when it is loaded. If false, loads the first frame and pauses. The default value is true.
FLASH CS3 324 User Guide b Enter the URL or local path to either the FLV file or the XML file (for Flash Media Server or FVSS) that describes how to play the FLV. If you do not know the location of the FLV or XML file, click the folder icon to navigate to the correct location. When browsing for an FLV file, if it is at or below the location of the target SWF file, Flash automatically makes the path relative to that location so that it is ready for serving from a web server.
325 Chapter 16: Creating e-learning content Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional e-learning content is designed to facilitate rapid e-learning development, letting you create online courses and instructional materials. Note: The Flash e-learning content works only with ActionScript™ 2.0 documents. E-learning content will not work with ActionScript 3.
FLASH CS3 326 User Guide Drag And Drop The user responds to a question by dragging one or more onscreen objects to a target. Hot Spot The user responds by clicking a region (or regions) on the screen. Hot Object The user responds by clicking an object (or objects) on the screen. Each learning interaction has unique parameters that determine how the interaction appears to the user. For additional information about Flash components, see Using ActionScript 2.0 Components or Using ActionScript 3.0 Components.
FLASH CS3 327 User Guide 3 In the Category column, select Quiz; in the Templates column, select one of the quiz styles. Set quiz parameters Quiz parameters control how the entire quiz is presented to users—for example, whether the questions are presented in a random or sequential order, the number of questions to display, and whether the Results page appears. 1 Select the Quiz Options component with instructions to the left of the Stage in the quiz template.
FLASH CS3 328 User Guide • In the Property inspector, click Launch Component Inspector. Note: If the text in the Component inspector is too small to be legible, undock the panel and drag a corner of the panel to enlarge it. 3 Select Randomize to present the quiz questions in a random order. 4 In the Questions To Ask box, specify the number of questions to ask for one presentation of the quiz. If you set this number to 0, the quiz uses all the questions you add to the document.
FLASH CS3 329 User Guide Modify learning interactions in a quiz template Each question in the quiz is considered an interaction. When you use a quiz template, you place interactions sequentially between the first and last frame of the Interactions layer on the root Timeline. Add or remove frames and keyframes as needed, as long as the interactions remain sequential and the first and last frames are reserved for the Welcome and Results pages.
FLASH CS3 330 User Guide 3 Select the Learning Interaction component. Note: Do not delete these instructions; they contain necessary ActionScript code and do not appear in the SWF file. 4 In the Property inspector, click Launch Component Inspector. 5 If the Flash application sends tracking information to a server-side LMS, specify a name for the interaction in the Interaction ID box. Each interaction in the quiz templates is uniquely named.
FLASH CS3 331 User Guide “Configure a Hot Object interaction” on page 340 “Configure a Hot Spot interaction” on page 341 “Configure a Multiple Choice interaction” on page 342 “Configure a True or False interaction” on page 343 “Adding, naming, and registering assets” on page 334 “Set Knowledge Track options for a learning interaction” on page 344 “Set navigation options for a learning interaction” on page 344 Add learning interactions to a quiz template When you use a quiz template, you add learning inter
FLASH CS3 332 User Guide • To use an interaction from the library, drag the desired interaction movie clip type from the Learning Interactions library (Window > Common Libraries > Learning Interactions) to the blank keyframe. Break the interaction apart (select the interaction and select Modify > Break Apart), and edit the assets and parameters.
FLASH CS3 333 User Guide Managing library assets for learning interactions When you drag a learning interaction from the Learning Interactions common library to the Stage, the symbols that comprise the learning interaction are copied from the common library to the library of the Flash document you are creating. For example, if you copy a Hot Object learning interaction from the Learning Interactions common library to your document, the symbols in the following example become part of the document library.
FLASH CS3 334 User Guide Test a quiz Test a quiz frequently as you add and remove interactions. 1 Select Control > Test Movie. 2 Answer the questions as they appear. 3 When you complete the quiz, close it in the Flash Player window to return to the workspace.
FLASH CS3 335 User Guide Name dynamic text fields If you have more than one of any type of learning interaction in a quiz, the objects in each learning interaction must have unique names. Register these new unique instance names in the Component inspector for the learning interaction. 1 Select the dynamic text field on the Stage. 2 In the Property inspector, type a name in the Instance Name box. Note: Enter the instance name, not the variable name. 3 Register the name in the Component inspector.
FLASH CS3 336 User Guide Asset name defaults The assets supplied in the movie clip interaction containers are prenamed with the instance names listed in the following tables.
FLASH CS3 337 User Guide Asset Description Object type Instance name Control button Submits user response and controls navigation Flash UI Button component Template_ControlButton Reset button Resets hot spot distractors Flash UI Button component Template_ResetButton 1-8 hot spots Hot spot distractors Movie clip symbol HotSpot1 - 8 Multiple Choice learning interaction asset names Asset Description Object type Instance name Question text field Holds question text Dynamic text field Tem
FLASH CS3 338 User Guide Configure a Drag and Drop interaction As many as eight Drag objects and eight Target objects can be in each Drag and Drop interaction. Each Drag object can snap to any target named in the Drag and Drop component for evaluation. Drag objects can also share targets; for example, both Drag 1 and Drag 2 can match Target 8. You can also specify a target without matching a Drag object to it, which lets you add incorrect target distractors for evaluation.
FLASH CS3 339 User Guide 3 Remove the deleted object’s instance name from the appropriate column in the Component inspector. Configure a Fill In The Blank interaction The Fill In The Blank interaction uses a question text field, a user entry text field, a control button, and a feedback text field. 1 If you are not using a quiz template, place the learning interaction on the Stage.
FLASH CS3 340 User Guide Configure a Hot Object interaction The Hot Object interaction accepts up to eight hot objects. The default sample uses six hot objects. 1 If you are not using a quiz template, place the learning interaction on the Stage. If you are using a quiz template, select the frame on the Interactions layer that contains the Hot Object interaction (Frame 5, if you did not add or remove keyframes).
FLASH CS3 341 User Guide 2 Select the Hot Object component on the Stage, and then drag the symbol from the Library panel to the Stage. 3 In the Property inspector, name the instance. 4 Add the instance name to the Component inspector for the hot object. The component does the rest of the work automatically at runtime. Remove a hot object distractor 1 Select the Hot Object movie clip instance to remove, and delete it from the Stage.
FLASH CS3 342 User Guide 3 In the Property inspector, name the instance. 4 Add the instance name to the Component inspector for the hot spot. Remove a hot spot distractor 1 Select the hot spot instance to remove and delete it from the Stage. 2 Select the Hot Spot component (to the left of the Stage in the quiz template) and display the Component inspector (Window > Component Inspector). 3 Remove the deleted object’s instance name from the list in the Component inspector.
FLASH CS3 343 User Guide Remove a multiple-choice distractor 1 Select the CheckBox instance to remove, and delete it from the Stage. 2 Select the Multiple Choice component (to the left of the Stage in the quiz template) and display the Component inspector (Window > Component Inspector). 3 Remove the deleted object’s instance name from the list in the Component inspector.
FLASH CS3 344 User Guide Set Knowledge Track options for a learning interaction Knowledge Track is an automatic data-tracking feature that lets you transmit student performance data to an LMS or to other back-end tracking systems. Knowledge Track works with both AICC- and SCORM-compliant learning management systems. Knowledge Track captures or stores student information internal to the Flash application and transmits that data to an HTML page.
FLASH CS3 345 User Guide 2 If the Component inspector is not already visible, open it from the Property inspector, and then click Options at the bottom of the panel. 3 Under Navigation, specify how the interaction proceeds after the user submits a response for this interaction: • Select Off to disable navigation if you are using the quiz templates, because the templates include their own navigation. • Select Next Button to require that the user click Next after submitting a response.
FLASH CS3 346 User Guide 4 Place an instance of the symbol in the desired location on the Stage. In the Property inspector, type the name of the movie clip instance, such as DragA, in the Instance Name box. 5 In the Component inspector for the interaction, enter the same instance name (such as DragA) of the movie clip in the appropriate Name box. The Component inspector should include only the unique instance names of the movie clips that you’re using for the current interaction.
FLASH CS3 347 User Guide See also “Adding, naming, and registering assets” on page 334 Tracking to AICC- or SCORM-compliant learning management systems AICC- and SCORM-compliant learning management systems The Flash learning interactions and quiz templates allow easy communication with both AICC- and SCORMcompliant LMSs. The code built into both the Flash documents and the corresponding HTML/JavaScript files send properly formatted data to the LMS.
FLASH CS3 348 User Guide SCORM communication overview When a student takes a SCORM-compliant quiz, the following events occur: • The LMS is initialized. • The student logs in to the LMS. • The student starts a quiz built using a Flash quiz template. • The content is embedded in the Flash/SCORM HTML template, which is opened in a SCORM-compliant frameset. Note: This frameset is not exposed to the user.
FLASH CS3 349 User Guide 10 Start the LMS system (or create the AICC Course Descriptor Files) that references the frameset.htm file. Prepare a SCORM-compliant learning interaction for web hosting 1 Open the document in Flash. 2 Select File > Publish Settings. 3 In the Publish Settings dialog box, check that (at least) both Flash (SWF) and HTML are selected in the Formats panel.
FLASH CS3 350 User Guide SessionArray[0].interaction_id To reference the result value for interaction #2, use the following command: SessionArray[1].
FLASH CS3 351 User Guide Review or edit the LToolboxClass script The LToolboxClass script creates a built-in object that each interaction can use for data storage and basic functionality. The data pattern and functionality shared by all interactions is defined in this script. Access the LToolboxClass script from the library. 1 In the Library panel, select Learning Interactions > Assets > Controls > ComponentSuperClass.
352 Chapter 17: Creating accessible content You can create content that is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, using the accessibility features that Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional provides in the authoring environment user interface, taking advantage of ActionScript™ designed to implement accessibility. As you design accessible Flash applications, consider how users might interact with the content and follow recommended design and development practices.
FLASH CS3 353 User Guide You cannot control how any screen reader behaves; you can control only the content, which you can mark up in your Flash applications to expose the text and ensure that screen reader users can activate the controls. You decide which objects in the Flash application are exposed to screen readers, provide descriptions for them, and decide the order in which they are exposed to screen readers.
FLASH CS3 354 User Guide Movie clips Exposed to screen readers as graphic objects when they do not contain any other accessible objects, or when you use the Accessibility panel to provide a name or a description for a movie clip. When a movie clip contains other accessible objects, the clip itself is ignored, and the objects inside it are made available to screen readers. Note: All Flash Video objects are treated as simple movie clips.
FLASH CS3 355 User Guide Flash Player can’t determine the actual text content of features such as Text Break Apart to animate text. Screen readers can only provide accurate accessibility to information-carrying graphics such as icons and gestural animation, if you provide names and descriptions for these objects in your document or for the entire Flash application. You can also add supplementary text to your document or shift important content from graphics to text.
FLASH CS3 356 User Guide Flash Player automatically provides names for static and dynamic text objects, which are the contents of the text. For each of these accessible objects, you can set descriptive properties for screen readers to read aloud. You can also control how Flash Player decides which objects to expose to screen readers—for example, you can specify that certain accessible objects are not exposed to screen readers at all.
FLASH CS3 357 User Guide Tab Index (Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional only) Creates a tab order in which objects are accessed when the user presses the tab key. The tab index feature works for keyboard navigation through a page, but not for screen reader reading order. For more information, see the Flash Accessibility web page at www.adobe.com/go/flash_accessibility/. For a tutorial about accessible content, see Create Accessible Flash Content on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.
FLASH CS3 358 User Guide Provide a name for an object You can turn off automatic labeling for part of an application and provide names for the objects in the Accessibility panel. If you have automatic labeling turned on, you can select specific objects and provide names for the objects in the Name text field in the Accessibility panel so that the name is used instead of the object text label.
FLASH CS3 359 User Guide Make an entire Flash application accessible After a Flash document is complete and ready to be published or exported, make the entire Flash application accessible. 1 Deselect all elements in the document. 2 Select Window > Other Panels > Accessibility. 3 Select Make Movie Accessible (the default setting) to expose the document to screen readers. 4 Select or deselect Make Children Accessible to expose or omit any accessible objects in the document to screen readers.
FLASH CS3 360 User Guide • Screens Note: You can also use ActionScript code to create a tab-order index for keyboard navigation. Tab focus occurs in numerical order, starting from the lowest index number. After tab focus reaches the highest tab index, focus returns to the lowest index number. When you move tab-indexed objects that are user-defined in your document, or to another document, Flash retains the index attributes.
FLASH CS3 361 User Guide 2 Select Window > Other Panels > Accessibility. 3 Select Make Object Accessible (the default setting). 4 Enter a name for the object. The name is read as the label for the button or text field. 5 To turn off accessibility for the automatic label (and hide it from screen readers), select the text object on the Stage. 6 If the text object is static text, convert it to dynamic text (in the Property inspector, select Text type > Dynamic Text). 7 Deselect Make Object Accessible.
FLASH CS3 362 User Guide 3 In the Shortcut field, type the name of the keyboard shortcut, using the following conventions: • Spell out key names, such as Control or Alt. • Use capital letters for alphabetic characters. • Use a plus sign (+) between key names, with no spaces (for example, Control+A). Important: Flash does not check that the ActionScript to code the keyboard shortcut was created.
FLASH CS3 363 User Guide Property Type Equivalent selection in the Accessibility panel Applies to .silent Boolean Make Movie AccesEntire documents sible/Make Object AccesButtons sible (inverse logic) Movie clips Dynamic text Input text .forceSimple Boolean Make Child Objects Entire documents Accessible (inverse logic) Movie clips .name string Name Entire documents Buttons Movie clips Input text .description string Description Entire documents Buttons Movie clips Dynamic text Input text .
FLASH CS3 364 User Guide For example, you could use the Accessibility.isActive() method to decide whether to include unsolicited animation. Unsolicited animation happens without the screen reader doing anything, which can be confusing for screen readers. The Accessibility.
FLASH CS3 365 User Guide Using accessible components A core set of UI components accelerates building accessible applications. These components automate many of the most common accessibility practices related to labeling, keyboard access, and testing and help ensure a consistent user experience across rich applications.
366 Chapter 18: Working with screens The Screens feature in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional does not support ActionScript™ 3.0. To use screens, you must start with an ActionScript 2.0-based FLA file. Screen-based documents and the screen authoring environment About the screen authoring environment Screens provide an authoring user interface with structural building blocks that make it easy for you to create complex, hierarchical Flash documents, such as slide presentations or form-based applications.
FLASH CS3 367 User Guide • A Flash Form Application uses the form screen as the default screen type. A form screen is designed for a nonlinear, form-based application. Although each document has a default screen type, you can include and mix slide screens and form screens in any screen-based document. To control screens, set parameters for slide or form screens in the Property inspector or use ActionScript. For more information, see “Screen class”, “Form class”, and “Slide class”, in the ActionScript 2.
FLASH CS3 368 User Guide Top-level slide has three children, Slide 1, Slide 2, and Slide 3. Slide 1 has one child and one grandchild To learn more about creating screen-based documents that use ActionScript, see “About organizing code for screens in” in Using ActionScript 2.0 Components.
FLASH CS3 369 User Guide • Flash inserts a nested screen directly after the currently selected screen, and nested one level down. If the document contains a nested screen or screens below the currently selected screen, the new screen is added after all nested screens already in place, one level below the selected screen. Add a default-type screen or a screen of a specified type at the current screen level 1 Select a screen in the Screen Outline pane.
FLASH CS3 370 User Guide Using timelines with screens Each screen in a screen-based Flash document has its own Timeline that is collapsed by default. To work with frames or layers, open the Timeline (Window > Timeline). You cannot view or modify the root Timeline of a screen-based Flash document. You can add frames, keyframes, and layers, and manipulate content on a screen’s Timeline. In the Timeline, nested screens work much as nested movie clips do, with some exceptions.
FLASH CS3 371 User Guide • To navigate through the screens, select View > Go To and select the screen name from the submenu, or select First, Previous, Next, or Last. • Click the Edit Screen button at the right side of the edit bar and select the screen name. Select multiple screens in the Screen Outline pane • To select multiple contiguous screens, Shift-click the first and the last screen to select.
FLASH CS3 372 User Guide Remove a screen ❖ Do one of the following: • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the screen, and select Cut or Delete from the context menu. • Select the screen, and click the Delete Screen (-) button at the top of the Screen Outline pane. • Press Backspace (Windows) or Delete (Macintosh). About screen names By default, screens are named with their default type, in the order in which they are created: slide1, slide2, form1, form2, and so on.
FLASH CS3 373 User Guide Use Find And Replace in a document with screens You can search for a text string, font, color, symbol, sound file, video file, or imported bitmap file. You can search for elements in the entire document or in the current screen. 1 Select Edit > Find And Replace. 2 Do one of the following: • To search the entire document, select Current Document from the Search In pop-up menu.
FLASH CS3 374 User Guide • Width and height are specified in pixels. The values in the W and H fields are read-only. Width and height are determined by the screen contents. To make sure the registration point stays in the same relative position when the screen width and height change, use the Auto Snap option. • The x and y coordinates of a screen are specified in pixels. Move a child screen on the Stage by changing its x and y coordinates.
FLASH CS3 375 User Guide Change the ActionScript class of a screen 1 Select a screen in the Screen Outline pane. 2 Select Window > Properties > Properties. 3 In the Property inspector, click the Properties tab. 4 Enter a class name in the Class Name box. For more information on ActionScript classes, see Classes in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Change the registration point of a screen 1 Select a screen in the Screen Outline pane. 2 Select Window > Properties > Properties.
FLASH CS3 376 User Guide The following parameters are available for slide and form screens: • The autoload parameter indicates whether the content should load automatically (true), or wait to load until the Loader.load() method is called (false). The default value is true. This parameter is inherited from the Loader component. • The contentPath parameter is an absolute or relative URL indicating the file to load when the Loader.load() method is called.
FLASH CS3 377 User Guide Note: Some behaviors select a target screen by default; for example, the Go to First Slide screen automatically targets the first screen. These behaviors do not show the Select Screen dialog box. 5 In the Event column, click in the row for the new behavior and select an event from the list. This specifies the event that triggers the behavior—for example, a user clicking a button, a movie clip loading, or a screen receiving focus.
FLASH CS3 378 User Guide 9 Click OK. 10 In the Behaviors panel, in the Event column, click in the row for the new behavior and select an event from the list. This action specifies the event that triggers the behavior—for example, the mouse pointer moving over the screen. Screen instance names, class names, and registration points The screen name automatically generates the instance name and class name of the screen.
FLASH CS3 379 User Guide • Each screen is automatically associated with ActionScript, based on its class. You can change the class to which that screen is assigned, and you can set some parameters for a screen in the Property inspector. • To control screens with ActionScript, use the Screen class, Slide class, and Form class. • To create interactivity, use components whenever possible. Put no more than 125 total component instances in a single FLA file.
380 Chapter 19: ActionScript ActionScript™ is the scripting language in Flash. Use ActionScript to make your applications play in a nonlinear way, and to add interesting or complex functionality that cannot be represented in the timeline. Working with ActionScript About ActionScript The ActionScript scripting language lets you add complex interactivity, playback control, and data display to your application.
FLASH CS3 381 User Guide • Add Interactivity • Work with Objects and Classes ActionScript versions Flash includes more than one version of ActionScript to meet the needs of different kinds of developers and playback hardware. • ActionScript 3.0 executes extremely fast. This version requires somewhat more familiarity with object-oriented programming concepts than the other ActionScript versions. ActionScript 3.
FLASH CS3 382 User Guide Writing ActionScript When you write ActionScript code in the authoring environment, you use the Actions panel or Script window. The Actions panel and Script window contain a full-featured code editor that includes code hinting and coloring, code formatting, syntax highlighting, syntax checking, debugging, line numbers, word wrapping, and support for Unicode.
FLASH CS3 383 User Guide Display the Actions panel ❖ Select Window > Actions or press F9. Use the Actions toolbox ❖ Insert an ActionScript element into the Script pane by double-clicking or dragging it directly into the Script pane. The Actions toolbox separates items into categories, and also provides an alphabetical index. Use the Script pane ❖ Type your code. Resize the Actions toolbox or Script pane • Drag the vertical bar that appears between the Actions toolbox and Script pane.
FLASH CS3 384 User Guide If you have more than one external file open, filenames are displayed on tabs across the top of the Script window. In the Script window, you can use the following features: the Add (+) menu (which is like the Actions toolbox), find and replace, syntax checking, syntax coloring, auto format, code hinting, code commenting, code collapse, debug options (ActionScript files only), and word wrap. The Script window also lets you display line numbers and hidden characters.
FLASH CS3 385 User Guide Apply Block Comment Adds comment markers to the beginning and end of the selected code block. Adds a single-line comment marker at the insertion point, or at the beginning of each line of code in a multiline selection. Apply Line Comment Remove Comment Show/Hide Toolbox Removes comment markers from the current line or all lines of the current selection. Displays or hides the Actions Toolbox.
FLASH CS3 386 User Guide • Prompt (Default) A warning is displayed, and you can choose whether to reload the file. When you build applications with external scripts, this preference helps you avoid overwriting a script that a team member has modified since you opened the application, or avoid publishing the application with older versions of scripts. The warnings let you automatically close a script and reopen the newer, modified version. Syntax Colors Specifies code coloring in your scripts.
FLASH CS3 387 User Guide Start Script Assist mode 1 Select Window > Actions. 2 In the Actions panel, click Script Assist . In Script Assist mode, the Actions panel changes in the following ways: • Add (+) functions differently in Script Assist mode. When you select an item from the Actions toolbox or the Add menu , the item is added after the currently selected text block. • Delete (-) lets you remove the current selection in the Script pane.
FLASH CS3 388 User Guide Search for text in a script • To go to a specific line in a script, choose Go To Line from the Actions panel pop-up menu or press Control+G (Windows) or Command+G (Macintosh); then enter the line number. • To find text, click Find , select Find from the Actions panel pop-up menu, or press Control+F (Windows) or Command+F (Macintosh). • To find text again, press F3 or select Find Again from the Actions panel pop-up menu.
FLASH CS3 389 User Guide See also “Controlling instances with behaviors” on page 224 “Add and configure a behavior” on page 225 “Create custom behaviors” on page 226 Writing and managing scripts Use code hints When you work in the Actions panel or Script window, the software can detect what action you are entering and display a code hint.
FLASH CS3 390 User Guide For multiple parameters, separate the values with commas. For functions or statements, such as the for loop, separate the parameters with semicolons. Overloaded commands (functions or methods that can be invoked with different sets of parameters) such as gotoAndPlay() or for display an indicator that lets you select the parameter you want to set. To select the parameter, click the small arrows or press Control+Left Arrow and Control+Right Arrow.
FLASH CS3 391 User Guide • Press Control+Spacebar (Windows) or Command+Spacebar (Macintosh). • From the panel menu (at the upper-right corner of the Actions panel), select Show Code Hint. Reload code hints without restarting the software ❖ From the panel menu (at the upper-right corner of the Actions panel), select Reload Code Hints. You might need to do this if you customize Script Assist mode by writing custom methods. Triggering code hints You can trigger code hints in various ways.
FLASH CS3 392 User Guide Object type Variable suffix Error _err LoadVars _lv LocalConnection _lc Microphone _mic MovieClip _mc MovieClipLoader _mcl PrintJob _pj NetConnection _nc NetStream _ns SharedObject _so Sound _sound String _str TextField _txt TextFormat _fmt Video _video XML _xml XMLNode _xmlnode XMLSocket _xmlsocket Comments and code hints You can also use ActionScript comments to specify an object’s class for code hints.
FLASH CS3 393 User Guide 2 In the Preferences dialog box, select Auto Format. 3 Select any of the Auto Format options. After you set Auto Format options, your settings are applied automatically to the code you write, but not to existing code; you must apply your settings to existing code manually. Format code according to Auto Format settings • Click Auto Format in the Actions panel or Script window toolbar. • From the panel menu (at the upper-right corner of the Actions panel), select Auto Format.
FLASH CS3 394 User Guide Remove a comment 1 Place the insertion point in the line that contains the comment, or select the block of code that is commented. 2 Click Remove Comment . Use syntax coloring In ActionScript, as in any language, syntax is the way elements are put together to create meaning. If you use incorrect ActionScript syntax, your scripts cannot work. To highlight syntax errors, set a color-code for parts of your scripts.
FLASH CS3 395 User Guide Collapse sections of code To make your code more readable and easier to navigate during programming and debugging, collapse sections of code into a single line. By collapsing sections that you don’t need to look at, you can focus on the code you are writing or debugging. Collapse selected code 1 Select the code to collapse. 2 Click Collapse Selection . Collapse code between braces or parentheses 1 Place the insertion point inside the braces or parentheses.
FLASH CS3 396 User Guide Display hidden characters Characters such as spaces, tabs, and line breaks are hidden in ActionScript code. You may need to display these characters; for example, you must find and remove double-byte spaces that are not part of a string value, because they cause compiler errors. • From the panel menu (at the upper-right corner of the Actions panel), Select Hidden Characters. • Press Control+Shift+8 (Windows) or Command+Shift+8 (Macintosh).
FLASH CS3 397 User Guide Check syntax and punctuation You can do a quick check of your ActionScript code without publishing the FLA file. When you check syntax, the current script is checked. If the current script calls ActionScript classes, those classes are compiled and their syntax is also checked. Other scripts that might be in the FLA file are not checked. Check syntax • In the Actions panel or Script window, click Check Syntax • From the panel menu .
FLASH CS3 398 User Guide 2 Do one of the following: • In the Actions panel, select Import Script from the panel menu, or press Control+Shift+I (Windows) or Command+Shift+I (Macintosh). • In the Script window, select File > Import Script or press Control+Shift+I (Windows) or Command+Shift+I (Macintosh). Export a script from the Actions panel 1 Select the script to export. Then select Export Script from the Actions Panel menu, or press Control+Shift+X (Windows) or Command+Shift+X (Macintosh).
FLASH CS3 399 User Guide See also “Debugging ActionScript 3.0” on page 410 “Debugging ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0” on page 400 Pin a script 1 Click the Timeline so the script appears in a tab at the lower left of the Script pane in the Actions panel. 2 Do one of the following: • Click the Pushpin icon to the right of the tab. • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the tab, and select Pin Script. • From the panel menu (at the upper-right corner of the Actions panel), select Pin Script.
FLASH CS3 400 User Guide Debugging ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0 Debugging your ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0 scripts The ActionScript 2.0 debugger helps you find ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0 errors while your SWF file runs in Flash Player. When using Flash to debug ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0, you view your SWF files in the debugger version of Flash Player, which is installed automatically with Flash.
FLASH CS3 401 User Guide Important: When you use a non-English application on an English system, the Test Movie command fails if any part of the SWF file path has characters that cannot be represented with the MBCS encoding scheme. For example, Japanese paths on an English system do not work.
FLASH CS3 402 User Guide Flash creates a debugging file, with the extension .swd, and saves it in the same directory as the SWF file. The SWD file is used to debug ActionScript, and contains information that lets you use breakpoints and step through code. 6 Upload the SWF file and the SWD file to the same directory on your web server, or leave it on the local machine to perform a remote debug session on the localhost.
FLASH CS3 403 User Guide Display a variable and its value 1 In the Debugger’s display list, select the movie clip containing the variable. (To display global variables, select the _global clip in the display list.) 2 Click the Variables tab. The display list updates automatically as the SWF file plays. Note: If a movie clip is removed from the SWF file at a specific frame, that movie clip, along with its variable and variable name, is also removed from the display list in the Debugger.
FLASH CS3 404 User Guide Remove variables from the Watch list ❖ On the Watch tab or the Variables tab, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Remove from the context menu. Display movie clip properties and change editable properties The Debugger’s Properties tab shows all the property values of any movie clip on the Stage. If you change a value, you can see its effect in the SWF file while it runs. (Some movie clip properties are read-only and cannot be changed.
FLASH CS3 405 User Guide Note: In some previous versions of Flash, clicking in the left margin of the Script pane selected the line of code; now it adds or removes a breakpoint. To select a line of code, use Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh). Set and remove breakpoints in the Debugger • Click in the left margin of the code pane. A red dot indicates a breakpoint. • Click Toggle Breakpoint or Remove All Breakpoints above the code view.
FLASH CS3 406 User Guide on(press){ myFunction(); } When you click the button, Flash Player reaches the breakpoint and pauses. You can now bring the Debugger to the first line of myFunction() wherever it is defined in the document. You can also continue through or exit out of the function. As you step through lines of code, the values of variables and properties change in the Variables, Locals, Properties, and Watch tabs.
FLASH CS3 407 User Guide • Warnings Mode causes extra warnings to be reported that are useful for discovering incompatibilities when updating ActionScript 2.0 code to ActionScript 3.0. Output panel overview When you test a SWF file, the Output panel can show information to help you troubleshoot your SWF file. To show this information, add trace() statements to your code or use the List Objects and List Variables commands.
FLASH CS3 408 User Guide A list of all the objects currently on the Stage appears in the Output panel. The list does not update automatically as the SWF file plays; you must select the List Objects command each time you want to send the information to the Output panel. List a SWF file’s variables in the Output panel In the test environment, the List Variables command shows a list of all the variables in the SWF file.
FLASH CS3 409 User Guide • The properties appear in the following order: variable, text, htmlText, html, textWidth, textHeight, maxChars, borderColor, backgroundColor, textColor, border, background, wordWrap, password, multiline, selectable, scroll, hscroll, maxscroll, maxhscroll, bottomScroll, type, embedFonts, restrict, length, tabIndex, autoSize. The Debug > List Objects command lists TextField objects.
FLASH CS3 410 User Guide Debugging ActionScript 3.0 About the ActionScript 3.0 debugger Flash includes a separate debugger for ActionScript 3.0 that operates somewhat differently from the ActionScript 2.0 debugger. The ActionScript 3.0 debugger only works with ActionScript 3.0 FLA and AS files. FLA files must have publish settings set to Flash Player 9. When you initiate an ActionScript 3.0 debugging session, Flash launches the stand-alone debug version of Flash Player to play the SWF file.
FLASH CS3 411 User Guide Note: Breakpoints cannot be added to ASC (ActionScript for Communication) or JSFL (Flash JavaScript) files. Set a breakpoint ❖ In the Actions panel or Script window, click in the left margin next to the line of code where you want the break- point to appear. Remove a breakpoint ❖ In the Actions panel or Script window, click on the breakpoint to remove.
FLASH CS3 412 User Guide • Show Additional Hexadecimal Display adds hexadecimal values wherever decimal values are displayed. This is mainly useful for color values. Hexadecimal values are not displayed for decimal values from 0 through 9. • Show Qualified Names displays variables types with both the package name and the class name. 2 Expand the tree view of the object structure of the FLA until you see the variable to view.
FLASH CS3 413 User Guide 2 Select File > Publish Settings. 3 On the Flash tab of the Publish Settings dialog box, select Permit Debugging. 4 Close the Publish Settings dialog box, and select one of the following commands: • File > Export > Export Movie • File > Publish 5 Leave the SWF file on the local machine to perform a remote debug session on the localhost, or upload it to your web server.
FLASH CS3 414 User Guide Modify the classpath The classpath tells the ActionScript compiler where to look for external ActionScript files your FLA file references. When you use ActionScript 2.0, you can set a document-level classpath. This is useful when you create your own classes and you want to override the global ActionScript classpath that is set in the ActionScript preferences.
FLASH CS3 415 User Guide Declare a document class When you use ActionScript 3.0, a SWF file may have a top-level class associated with it. This class is called the document class. When the SWF is loaded by Flash Player, an instance of this class is created to be the SWF file's toplevel object. This object of a SWF file can be an instance of any custom class you choose.
FLASH CS3 416 User Guide • Macintosh: Hard Disk/Users/user/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS3/language/Configuration/Classes The Classes folder is organized into classes for Flash Player 7 (FP7), classes for Flash Player 8 (FP8), and the mx package, which is used in both players and in ASO files. No separate folder is needed for Flash Player 9. For more information on the organization of this directory, see the Read Me file in the Classes folder.
FLASH CS3 417 User Guide Typical paths to the First Run folder are as follows: • In Windows XP or Vista, browse to boot drive\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\language\First Run\. • On the Macintosh, browse to Macintosh HD/Applications/Adobe Flash CS3/First Run/. User-level configuration folder Found in the user profile area, this folder is always writable by the current user.
418 Chapter 20: Publishing Flash content When you're ready to deliver Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional content to an audience, you can publish it for playback. This chapter describes the various publishing options available with which to distribute your Flash content. Publishing Flash documents Publishing overview By default, the Publish command creates a Flash SWF file, an HTML document that inserts your Flash content in a browser window, and a JavaScript file labeled AC_OETags.
FLASH CS3 419 User Guide Edit a SWF file from Dreamweaver in Flash If you have both Flash and Dreamweaver installed, you can select a SWF file in a Dreamweaver document and use Flash to edit it. Flash does not edit the SWF file directly; it edits the source document (FLA file) and re-exports the SWF file. 1 In Dreamweaver, open the Property inspector (Window > Properties).
FLASH CS3 420 User Guide • As part of a QuickTime video • As a stand-alone application called a projector The Flash SWF file format is an open standard that other applications support. For more information about Flash file formats, see www.adobe.com/go/flashplayer. Control applications from Flash Player ❖ Do one of the following: • To open a new or existing file, select File > New, or Open. • To change your view of the application, select View > Magnification and make a selection.
FLASH CS3 421 User Guide 5 If you are using ActionScript 2.0, and selected either Permit Debugging or Protect From Import, enter a password in the Password text field. If you add a password, other users must enter the password before they can debug or import the SWF file. To remove the password, clear the Password text field. For more information on the Debugger, see “Debugging ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0” on page 400. If you are using ActionScript 3.0, see “Debugging ActionScript 3.0” on page 410.
FLASH CS3 422 User Guide • To edit an existing classpath folder, select the path in the Classpath list, click the Browse to Path button, browse to the folder to add, and click OK. Alternatively, double-click the path in the Classpath list, type the desired path, and click OK. • To delete a folder from the classpath, select the path in the Classpath list and click the Remove Selected Path button . Set the classpath for ActionScript 3.
FLASH CS3 423 User Guide See also “Configuring a web server for Flash” on page 432 “HTML publishing templates” on page 435 “Editing Flash HTML settings” on page 439 “Using publish profiles” on page 434 “Use device fonts” on page 274 Specify the settings 1 Select File > Publish Settings and click Formats. The HTML file type is selected by default. 2 Use the default filename, which matches the name of your document, or enter a unique name, including the .html extension.
FLASH CS3 424 User Guide Auto High Emphasizes playback speed and appearance equally at first but sacrifices appearance for playback speed if necessary. Playback begins with anti-aliasing turned on. If the actual frame rate drops below the specified frame rate, anti-aliasing is turned off to improve playback speed. To emulate the View > Antialias setting, use this setting. Medium Applies some anti-aliasing but does not smooth bitmaps.
FLASH CS3 425 User Guide Browsers that support windowless modes Operating system Internet Explorer Netscape Other Macintosh OS X 10.1.5 and 10.2 5.1 and 5.2 7.0 and later • Opera 6 or later • Mozilla 1.0 or later • AOL/Compuserve • Opera 6 and later • Mozilla 1.0 and later • AOL/Compuserve Windows 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 7.
FLASH CS3 426 User Guide Set publish settings for GIF files Use GIF files to export drawings and simple animations for use in web pages. Standard GIF files are compressed bitmaps. An animated GIF file (sometimes referred to as a GIF89a) offers a simple way to export short animation sequences. Flash optimizes an animated GIF file, storing only frame-to-frame changes.
FLASH CS3 427 User Guide Alpha Sets partial transparency. Enter a Threshold value between 0 and 255. A lower value results in greater trans- parency. A value of 128 corresponds to 50% transparency. 6 To specify how pixels of available colors are combined to simulate colors not available in the current palette, select a Dither option. Dithering can improve color quality, but it increases the file size.
FLASH CS3 428 User Guide 2 For the JPEG filename, either use the default filename, or enter a new filename with the .jpg extension. 3 Click JPEG. Dimensions Enter values for width and height in pixels for the exported bitmap image, or select Match Movie to make the JPEG image the same size as the Stage and maintain the aspect ratio of your original image. Quality Drag the slider or enter a value to control the amount of JPEG file compression.
FLASH CS3 429 User Guide Smooth Applies anti-aliasing to an exported bitmap to produce a higher-quality bitmap image and improve text display quality. However, smoothing might cause a halo of gray pixels to appear around an anti-aliased image placed on a colored background, and it increases the PNG file size. Export an image without smoothing if a halo appears or if you’re placing a PNG transparency on a multicolored background. Dither Solids Applies dithering to solid colors and gradients.
FLASH CS3 430 User Guide Path Computes a simple linear function of the three neighboring pixels (left, above, upper left), and selects the neighboring pixel closest to the computed value as a predictor of the color. Adaptive Analyzes the colors in the image and creates a unique color table for the selected PNG file. Best for systems showing thousands or millions of colors; it creates the most accurate color for the image but results in a file size larger than a PNG created with the web 216-color palette.
FLASH CS3 431 User Guide Bottom Places the Flash track always behind other tracks. Auto Places the Flash track in front of other tracks if Flash objects are in front of video objects in the Flash appli- cation, and behind all other tracks if Flash objects are not in front. Streaming Sound Exports all the streaming audio in the Flash SWF file to a QuickTime sound track, recompressing the audio using the standard QuickTime audio settings.
FLASH CS3 432 User Guide Note: Depending on the mobile device for which you are developing, certain restrictions can apply to which ActionScript commands and sound formats are supported. For more details, see Mobile Articles on the Mobile and Devices Development Center. Adobe also provides Adobe Device Central, a new way to test content created with Adobe products on emulated mobile devices. When creating a new mobile document of any kind, start the creation process from Device Central.
FLASH CS3 433 User Guide A browser that receives the correct MIME type can load the appropriate plug-in, control, or helper application to process and properly display the incoming data. If the MIME type is missing or not properly delivered by the server, the browser might display an error message or a blank window with a puzzle piece icon. • If your site is established through an Internet service provider (ISP), ask the ISP to add this MIME type to the server: application/x-shockwave-flash with the .
FLASH CS3 434 User Guide Local and network playback security Flash Player 8 and later include a security model that lets you determine the local and network playback security for SWF files that you publish. By default, SWF files are granted read access to local files and networks. However, a SWF file with local access cannot communicate with the network, and the SWF file cannot send files or information to any networks.
FLASH CS3 435 User Guide See also “Publishing overview” on page 418 Export a publish profile 1 From the Current Profile pop-up menu (File > Publish Settings), select the publish profile to export. 2 Click the Import/Export Profile button, and select Export. Export a publish profile as an XML file for import into other documents. 3 Either accept the default location in which to save the publish profile or browse to a new location, and click Save.
FLASH CS3 436 User Guide Customize HTML publishing templates Modify HTML template variables to create an image map, a text report, or a URL report, or to insert custom values for some of the most common Flash object and embed parameters (for Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator or Navigator, respectively). Flash templates can include any HTML content for your application or even code for interpreters such as ColdFusion and ASP. Flash templates use the AC_OETags.
FLASH CS3 437 User Guide Attribute/parameter Template variable Height $HE Movie $MO HTML alignment $HA Looping $LO Parameters for object $PO Parameters for embed $PE Play $PL Quality $QU Scale $SC Salign $SA Wmode $WM Devicefont $DE Bgcolor $BG Movie text (area to write movie text) $MT Movie URL (location of SWF file URL) $MU Image width (unspecified image type) $IW Image height (unspecified image type) $IH Image filename (unspecified image type) $IS Image map name $I
FLASH CS3 438 User Guide Attribute/parameter Template variable PNG width $PW PNG height $PH PNG filename $PN See also “Editing Flash HTML settings” on page 439 Create an image map Flash can generate an image map to show any image and maintain the function of buttons that link to URLs. When an HTML template includes the $IM template variable, Flash inserts the image map code. The $IU variable identifies the name of the GIF, JPEG, or PNG file.
FLASH CS3 439 User Guide Using shorthand template variables The $PO (for object tags) and $PE (for embed tags) template variables are useful shorthand elements. Each variable causes Flash to insert into a template any nondefault values for some of the most common object and embed parameters, including PLAY ($PL), QUALITY ($QU), SCALE ($SC), SALIGN ($SA), WMODE ($WM), DEVICEFONT ($DE), and BGCOLOR ($BG).
FLASH CS3 440 User Guide See also “Publishing overview” on page 418 “HTML publishing templates” on page 435 Using object and embed tags To display a SWF file in a web browser, an HTML document must use the object and embed tags with the proper parameters. Note: You can generate an HTML document using the correct object and embed tags using the Publish settings dialog box, and selecting the HTML option.
FLASH CS3 441 User Guide Parameters and attributes The following tag attributes and parameters describe the HTML code that the Publish command creates. Refer to this list as you write custom HTML to show Flash content. Unless noted, all items apply to both the object and embed tags. Optional entries are noted. Internet Explorer recognizes parameters used with the object tag; Netscape recognizes the embed tag. Attributes are used with both the object and embed tags.
FLASH CS3 442 User Guide width attribute Value n or n% Template variable: $WI Description Specifies the width of the application either in pixels or as a percentage of the browser window. height attribute Value n or n% Template variable: $HE Description Specifies the height of the application either in pixels or as a percentage of the browser window. Note: Because Flash applications are scalable, quality doesn’t degrade at different sizes if the aspect ratio is maintained.
FLASH CS3 443 User Guide (Optional) Specifies whether the browser should start Java when loading Flash Player for the first time. The default value is false if this attribute is omitted. If you use JavaScript and Flash on the same page, Java must be running for the fscommand() function to work. However, if you use JavaScript only for browser detection or another purpose unrelated to fscommand() actions, you can prevent Java from starting by setting SWLIVECONNECT to false.
FLASH CS3 444 User Guide aliasing is turned off to improve playback speed. Use this setting to emulate the Antialias command (View > Preview Mode > Antialias). Medium Applies some anti-aliasing and does not smooth bitmaps. It produces a better quality than the Low setting but a lower quality than the High setting. High Favors appearance over playback speed and always applies anti-aliasing.
FLASH CS3 445 User Guide Specifies the align value for the object, embed, and img tags and determines how the SWF file is positioned within the browser window. Default Centers the application in the browser window and crops edges if the browser window is smaller than the application. L, R, T, and B Align the application along the left, right, top, and bottom edge, respectively, of the browser window and crop the remaining three sides as needed.
FLASH CS3 446 User Guide Window | Opaque | Transparent Template variable: $WM Description (Optional) Lets you use the transparent Flash content, absolute positioning, and layering capabilities available in Internet Explorer 4.0. For a list of browsers this attribute/parameter supports, see “Publishing Flash documents” on page 418. Window Plays the application in its own rectangular window on a web page.
447 Chapter 21: Exporting from Flash Flash provides many formats that you can use to export flash content for use in other applications. About exporting from Flash Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional lets you create content that can be edited in other applications and export Flash content directly into a single format. Exporting Flash content, images, and video Export Flash content Export commands do not store export settings separately with each file, as does the Publish command.
FLASH CS3 448 User Guide • In Design view, press Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh), and double-click the Flash content. • In Design view, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the Flash content, and select Edit with Flash. • In Design view, in the Site panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the Flash content, and select Open with Flash. 3 If the FLA file for the exported file does not open, the Open File dialog box appears. Navigate to the FLA file, and click Open.
FLASH CS3 449 User Guide File type Extension Windows “Enhanced Metafile (EMF) Sequence and Image (Windows)” on page 450 .emf • “Encapsulated PostScript .eps (EPS) 3.0 with Preview” on page 450 • • “Flash document (SWF)” on page 451 .swf • • “Flash video (FLV)” on page 451 .flv • • “JPEG Sequence and JPEG Image” on page 451 .jpg • • “PICT Sequence and PICT .pct Image (Macintosh)” on page 451 Macintosh • “PNG Sequence and PNG .
FLASH CS3 450 User Guide Animated GIF, GIF Sequence, and GIF Image The settings are the same as those on the GIF tab in the Publish Settings dialog box, with the following exceptions: Resolution Set in dots per inch (dpi). To use the screen resolution, enter a resolution or click Match Screen. Include Export the minimum image area or the full document size. Colors Set the number of colors that can be used to create the exported image.
FLASH CS3 451 User Guide Flash document (SWF) To place the Flash content in another application, such as Dreamweaver, export the entire document as a SWF file. The same options are available for exporting a document as for publishing the document. See also “Publishing Flash documents” on page 418 Flash video (FLV) Import or export a static video stream with encoded audio.
FLASH CS3 452 User Guide Color Depth Designate whether the PICT file is object based or bitmap. Object-based images generally look better when printed, and scaling doesn’t affect their appearance. Bitmap PICT images normally look best onscreen and can be manipulated in applications such as Adobe Photoshop. You can also select a variety of color depths with bitmap PICT files.
FLASH CS3 453 User Guide You must set your Publish settings to Flash 5 or earlier to publish QuickTime with Flash track. This means you cannot use Flash features implemented after Flash 6. Note: Beginning with QuickTime 7.1.3, the use of Flash tracks were disabled by default. To publish a QuickTime file with a Flash track using QuickTime 7.1.3 or later, select Edit > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences > Advanced Media Types within QuickTime, and enable the use of Flash tracks.
FLASH CS3 454 User Guide See also “Specify publish settings for QuickTime videos” on page 430 WAV audio (Windows) Exports only the sound file of the current document to a single WAV file. You can specify the sound format of the new file. To determine the sampling frequency, bit rate, and stereo or mono setting of the exported sound, select Sound Format. To exclude events sounds from the exported file, select Ignore Event Sounds.
455 Chapter 22: Printing with Flash You can add printing functionality to your Flash document that lets users print from Flash Player. You can use the ActionScript 2.0 PrintJob class, or you can use the print() or printAsBitmap() ActionScript functions. Users can also access the Flash Player context menu and select the Print command there. Additionally, users can print from a browser, rather than from Flash Player, by selecting a command such as File > Print from the browser window.
FLASH CS3 456 User Guide Printing from SWF files at runtime using ActionScript 2.0 You can add printing functionality to Flash documents that lets users print from Flash Player. You can use the ActionScript™ PrintJob class, or you can use the print() or printAsBitmap() ActionScript functions. Users can also access the Flash Player context menu and select the Print command there.
FLASH CS3 457 User Guide Additionally, with properties populated by the PrintJob.start()method, your document can access your user’s printer settings, such as page height, width, and orientation, and you can configure your document to dynamically format Flash content that is appropriate for the printer settings. Build a print job Because you are spooling a print job to the user’s operating system between your calls to the PrintJob.start() and PrintJob.
FLASH CS3 458 User Guide If the user selects an option to begin printing, the PrintJob.start() method returns a value of true. (The value is false if the user cancels the print job, in which case the script should call only delete). If successful, the PrintJob.start() method sets values for the paperHeight, paperWidth, pageHeight, pageWidth, and orientation properties. Depending on the user’s operating system, an additional dialog box might appear until spooling is complete and the PrintJob.
FLASH CS3 459 User Guide Note: Any ActionScript code that needs to be called to change a resulting printout must run before the PrintJob.addPage() method is called. The ActionScript can, however, run before or after a new PrintJob()method. If a frame has a call to PrintJob.addPage(), the call itself does not guarantee that the ActionScript script on that frame will run when that frame is printed. Note: For information on printing from SWF files at runtime using ActionScript 3.
FLASH CS3 460 User Guide The following list further illustrates the relationship between units of measure. • 1 pixel = 20 twips • 1 point = 20 twips • 72 pixels = 1 inch • 72 points = 1 inch • 567 twips = 1 cm • 1440 twips = 1 inch To scale a movie clip before printing, set its MovieClip.xscale and MovieClip.yscale properties before calling this method, and set them back to their original values afterward.
FLASH CS3 461 User Guide Printing frames independent of the PrintJob class The ActionScript 2.0 PrintJob class, available for Flash Player 7 and later, offers many advantages over the print() and printAsBitmap() methods for printing. However, to print targeting Flash Player 6 and earlier versions, back to Flash Player 4.0.25 (Windows) and 4.0.20 (Macintosh), use print() and printAsBitmap() functions and frame labels.
FLASH CS3 462 User Guide 4 Select the frame in the Timeline that contains the shape to use for the bounding box. 5 In the Property inspector (Window > Properties > Properties), enter #b for Frame Label to specify the selected shape as the bounding box for the print area. Only one #b frame label per Timeline is allowed. This option is the same as selecting the Movie bounding box option with the Print action.
FLASH CS3 463 User Guide Disable printing in the Flash Player context menu 1 Open or make active the Flash document (FLA file) to publish. 2 Select the first keyframe in the main Timeline. 3 Select Window > Properties > Properties to view the Property inspector. 4 In the Property inspector, for Frame Label enter !#pto specify the frame as nonprinting. Specify only one !#p label to dim the Print command in the context menu. Note: You can also select a blank frame (rather than a keyframe) and label it #p.
464 Chapter 23: Best practices Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional contains features and capabilities that make it a flexible tool and allow more than one way to do the same thing in Flash. Over time, the Flash community has developed preferred methods for accomplishing many common tasks. Best practices encourage consistency when you work on Flash or ActionScript™ documents, share FLA or ActionScript files, work on applications, and when you are learning or teaching Flash and ActionScript.
FLASH CS3 465 User Guide Using scenes Using scenes is similar to using several SWF files to create a larger presentation. Each scene has a timeline. When the playhead reaches the final frame of a scene, the playhead progresses to the next scene. When you publish a SWF file, the timeline of each scene combines into a single timeline in the SWF file. After the SWF file compiles, it behaves as if you created the FLA file using one scene.
FLASH CS3 466 User Guide You can use several options to save a file: Save, Save As, and Save and Compact. When you save a file, Flash does not analyze all the data before creating an optimized version of the document. Instead, the changes you make to the document are appended to the end of the FLA file’s data, which shortens the time it takes to save the document. When you Save As, Flash writes a new and optimized version of the file, which results in a smaller file size.
FLASH CS3 467 User Guide Attaching code to objects Avoid attaching ActionScript to objects in a FLA file, even in simple SWF files. (Only ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0. can be attached to objects; ActionScript 3.0 cannot.) Attaching code to an object means that you select a movie clip, component, or button instance; open the Actions panel; and add ActionScript using the on() or onClipEvent() handler functions.
FLASH CS3 468 User Guide Comparing timeline code with object code To avoid problems that decentralized ActionScript 2.0 code creates, carefully plan a document that uses behaviors. Many developers do not place ActionScript on symbol instances, and instead place their code on the Timeline (timeline code) or in classes. Because behaviors add code to many locations in a FLA file, your ActionScript is not centralized and can be difficult to locate.
FLASH CS3 469 User Guide Using behaviors consistently Use behaviors consistently throughout a document when they are your main or only source of ActionScript. Use behaviors when you have little or no additional code in the FLA file, or have a consistent system in place for managing the behaviors that you use. If you add ActionScript to a FLA file, put code in the same locations where behaviors are added, and document how and where you add code.
FLASH CS3 470 User Guide Using video in an application Before you import video into Flash, consider what video quality you need, what video format to use with the FLA file, and how to download it. When you import video into a FLA file (called embedded video), it increases the size of the SWF file that you publish. This video starts progressively downloading to the user’s computer whether or not they view the video.
FLASH CS3 471 User Guide Trim the beginning and end of your video, and edit your video to remove any unnecessary content. This can be accomplished directly in Flash using the Video Import wizard. • Adjust your compression settings. If you compress footage and it looks great, try changing your settings to reduce the file size. Test your footage, and modify it until you find the best setting possible for the video you are compressing.
FLASH CS3 472 User Guide • Check security guidelines. If you load FLV files from another server, make sure that you have the proper files or code in place to load from that external server. For information on policy files, see Server-side policy files for permitting access to data in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. For information about loading and security, see Understanding security in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. • Check your target paths to your video are correct.
FLASH CS3 473 User Guide • Uploads everything to the server. • Creates a clear structure for the project, and communicates how it works and where to add additional assets (such as class and image files) to everyone who is working on the application. Authoring projects Authors on a Flash project do not change the project root, directory structure of the project, or the site.
FLASH CS3 474 User Guide 5 The data is processed and sent back to the web server. 6 The web server sends the results to the SWF file. 7 The SWF file receives the formatted data. 8 Your ActionScript processes the data so the application can use it. When you build an application, you must select a protocol for transferring data. The protocol alerts the application when data is sent or received, in what format the data is transferred, and how it handles a server’s response.
FLASH CS3 475 User Guide Send data Description LoadVars.send and LoadVars.sendAndLoad Sends name-value pairs to a server-side script for processing. LoadVars.send sends variables to a remote script and ignores any response. LoadVar.sendAndLoad sends name-value pairs to a server and loads or parses the response into a target LoadVars object. XML.send and XML.sendAndLoad Similar to LoadVars, but XML.send and XML.sendAndLoad send XML packets instead of name-value pairs.
FLASH CS3 476 User Guide In both cases, you could receive complex data structures, such as arrays, objects, or record sets, which you must parse and bind appropriately. Using error handling and debugging Your application needs to be robust enough to anticipate certain errors and handle them accordingly. One of the best ways to perform error handling in ActionScript 2.0 is to use the try-catch-finally blocks that let you throw and catch custom errors.
FLASH CS3 477 User Guide example, one that includes Flash interacting with other applications on the page), consider the multiple interfaces as part of the view in the design pattern. The MVC design pattern supports handling a variety of views. The controller Handles the requirements of the model and view to process and display data, and typically contains a lot of code.
FLASH CS3 478 User Guide Accessibility guidelines About accessibility guidelines Screen readers are complex, and you can easily encounter unexpected results in FLA files developed for use with screen readers, which is software that visually impaired users run to read websites aloud. Text is read aloud using specially designed software. A screen reader can only interpret textual content.
FLASH CS3 479 User Guide Many nations have specified guidelines to follow to create accessible web sites, or follow guidelines established by other organizations. For more information on accessibility and web standards, see the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative website. These standards and guidelines describe what factors you must address when you create accessible HTML websites, and some of this information applies to Flash.
FLASH CS3 480 User Guide Note: Do not type a description in the Description field of the Accessibility panel for instances (such as text) that the screen reader reads aloud. See also “Using Flash to enter accessibility information for screen readers” on page 355 Using color You must make decisions about using colors in an accessible file. You must not rely only on color to communicate particular information or directives to users.
FLASH CS3 481 User Guide See also “Creating accessibility with ActionScript” on page 362 Handling audio, video, and animation When you provide audio narrations or video that contains speech, provide captions for those users who cannot hear. You can use text fields in Flash, import video that contains captions, or even use an XML caption file. You can use video cue points to specify when a text field should update text information at runtime.
FLASH CS3 482 User Guide • Do you have adequate descriptions for navigating the site’s structure? • Is the SWF file content read when it is updated or refreshed? • If you change the context of any elements on the Stage (such as a button that changes from Play to Pause), is that change announced by the screen reader? No official tool is available for validating SWF files, unlike HTML validation. However, some third-party tools exist to help you validate the file.
FLASH CS3 483 User Guide • Create a GIF banner advertisement in Flash that is 12K or smaller. • Limit looping banner advertisements to three repetitions. Many websites adopt the standardized file size recommendations as advertising specifications. • Use the GET command to pass data between an advertisement and a server, and do not use the POST command. For more information on GET and POST, see the getURL function in ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference. Note: Provide control to the user.
FLASH CS3 484 User Guide Add the following code in your HTML: For more information on advanced tracking techniques, see the Rich Media Advertising Center at www.adobe.com/go/rich_media_ads. To download the Rich Media Tracking Kit, which includes examples and documentation, see www.adobe.com/go/richmedia_tracking.
FLASH CS3 485 User Guide • Use mp3, the smallest sound format, whenever possible. Optimize elements and lines • Group elements. • Use layers to separate elements that change during the animation from elements that do not. • Use Modify > Shape > Optimize to minimize the number of separate lines that are used to describe shapes. • Limit the number of special line types, such as dashed, dotted, ragged, and so on. Solid lines require less memory.
FLASH CS3 486 User Guide Optimizing graphics and animation Before you create optimized and streamlined animations or graphics, outline and plan your project. Make a target for the file size and length of the animation, and test throughout the development process. Follow these guidelines to optimize graphics and animation: • Avoid using gradients, because they require many colors and calculations to be processed, which is more difficult for a computer processor to render.
FLASH CS3 487 User Guide Animation frame rate and performance When you add animation to an application, consider the frame rate that you set your FLA file to. Frame rate can affect the performance of your SWF file and the computer that plays it. Setting a frame rate too high can lead to processor problems, especially when you use many assets or use ActionScript to create animation. However, you also need to consider the frame rate setting, because it affects how smoothly your animation plays.
FLASH CS3 488 User Guide You can encounter errors if you use invalid parameter types. Some filter parameters also have a particular valid range. If you set a value that's outside of the valid range, the value changes to a valid value that's within the range. For example, quality should be a value from 1 to 3 for a standard operation, and can only be set to 0 to 15. Anything higher than 15 is set to 15. Some constructors have restrictions on the length of arrays required as input parameters.
FLASH CS3 489 User Guide Windowing system An application with a complex system of overlapping windows. Each window can be open or closed (for example, web browser windows). If you mark each window as a surface (set the cacheAsBitmap property to true), each window is isolated and cached. Users can drag the windows so that they overlap each other, and each window doesn't need to regenerate the vector content. When to avoid using bitmap caching Misusing bitmap caching can negatively affect your SWF file.
FLASH CS3 490 User Guide Components Flash Player 6 (6.0.65.0) and earlier Flash Player 6 (6.0.65.0) Flash Player 7 and 8 Flash Player 9 ActionScript 3.0 Not supported Not supported Not supported Supported ActionScript 2.
FLASH CS3 491 User Guide Displaying special characters Computer systems have a specific code page that is regional. For example, a computer in Japan has a different code page than a computer in England. Flash Player 5 and earlier versions relied on the code page to display text; Flash Player 6 and later versions use Unicode to display text. Unicode is more reliable and standardized for displaying text because it is a universal character set that contains characters for all languages.
FLASH CS3 492 User Guide Character description Unicode escape sequence forward slash (/) \u002F open curly brace ({) \u007B close curly brace (}) \u007D greater than (<) \u003C less than (>) \u003E asterisk (*) \u002A Test document download performance Flash Player attempts to meet the frame rate you set; the actual frame rate during playback can vary on different computers.
FLASH CS3 493 User Guide • Select File > Open, and select a SWF file. 2 Select View > Download Settings, and select a download speed to determine the streaming rate that Flash simulates. To enter a custom user setting, select Customize. 3 When viewing the SWF file, select View > Bandwidth Profiler to show a graph of the downloading performance. The left side of the profiler displays information about the document, its settings, its state, and streams, if any are included in the document.
FLASH CS3 494 User Guide Flash Lite developers face additional challenges because performance on mobile devices varies greatly. If content must be published to many different devices, developers sometimes have to author for the lowest common denominator. Optimizing mobile content requires making trade-offs. For example, one technique may make the content look better, while another results in better performance.
FLASH CS3 495 User Guide Flash Lite bitmap and vector graphics in mobile devices Flash Lite can render both vector and bitmap graphics. Each type of graphic has its advantages and disadvantages. The decision to use vector rather than bitmap graphics is not always clear and often depends on several factors. Vector graphics are compactly represented in SWF files as mathematical equations and rendered at run time by the Flash Lite player.
FLASH CS3 496 User Guide 3 Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the bitmap icon in the Library window, and select Properties from the context menu to open the Bitmap Properties dialog box. 4 In the Compression pop-up menu, select one of the following options: • Select the Photo (JPEG) option for images with complex color or tonal variations, such as photographs or images with gradient fills. This option produces a JPEG file.
FLASH CS3 497 User Guide • Always try to access properties directly rather than using ActionScript getter and setter methods, which have more overhead than other method calls. • Manage events wisely. Keep event listener arrays compact by using conditions to check whether a listener exists (is not null) before calling it. Clear any active intervals by calling clearInterval, and remove any active listeners by calling removeListener before removing content using unloadapplication or removeapplicationClip.
FLASH CS3 498 User Guide • Minimize the use of Math functions and floating-point numbers. Calculating these values slows performance. If you must use the Math routines, consider precalculating the values and storing them in an array of variables. Retrieving the values from a data table is much faster than having Flash calculate them at run time. Managing Flash Lite file memory for mobile devices Flash Lite regularly clears from memory any objects and variables that a file no longer references.
FLASH CS3 499 User Guide function func() { // Create the Date object. var funcDateObject = new Date(); // Returns the current date as a string. trace(funcDateObject); // Delete has no effect. delete funcDateObject; // Still returns the current date. trace(funcDateObject); // Set the object reference to null. funcDateObject = null; // Returns null. trace(funcDateObject); } // Call func() function.
FLASH CS3 500 User Guide The values specified for the name attributes in the tags are the names of classes that should be excluded from the SWF file. Add as many as required for the file. For example, the following XML file excludes the mx.core.UIObject and mx.screens.Slide classes from the SWF file: ) )
501 Index A absolute target path 71 printing 383 reordering 387 integration with Flash 319 accessibility selecting 387 testing mobile content created in 58 animation and 354 Actions panel 41 Adobe After Effects Adobe Authorware, playing a Flash SWF file in 420 authoring for screens 373 about 382 automatic labeling 357 Actions toolbox 383 button and text field labels for 357 coding in 384 components 365 instance information in 215 adding files to Version Cue projects 99 creating propertie
INDEX 502 customizing context menu 415 Adobe Version Cue Adobe Video Workshop 6 debugging version 400 about 82, 83, 84 default reading order for screen readers 359 enabling 87 ADPCM compression, for sounds 296 download simulation 493 icon visibility 91 file format 419 migrating to version CS3 93 importing files into 134 removing local project files 100 levels 70 printing from context menu of 463 using with Creative Suite 2 and Acrobat 8 85 security 433 what’s new 82 text encoding 280 Unic
INDEX 503 dragging a library item onto a keyframe 231 asset names 336 editing frames in the Timeline 230 AutoCAD DXF files, importing 139 editing multiple frames 231 AutoCAD DXF Image 450 extending background images in several frames 234 autoKeyNav parameter for slide screen 375 anti-aliasing 30, 155, 485 frame rates 229 automatic labeling 359 compared to vector graphics 159 Authorware.
INDEX 504 brightness adjusting in Illustrator 17 classes finding and replacing 77 Brightness effect 213 classid attribute 441 importing and exporting palettes 186 Bring Forward classpaths 414 in Actions toolbox 394 behavior 225 Clear command 200 optimizing 485 command 200 Clear Keyframe command 70, 231 saving current palette as default 185 Bring To Front excluding from compilation 499 behavior 225 Clear Local Files command, in Bridge 103 command 200 Click Accuracy preference 164 Brush
INDEX 505 MediaDisplay 322 Customize Toolbar command 27 MediaPlayback 322 Cut command 200 screens and 379 cutting a screen 371 compressing sounds 295 compression for mobile devices 495 scenes 75 screens 372 deploying Flash SWF files 419 Deselect All command 197 D Darken blending mode 256 Design Center 10 Device Central integration Compression menu, for sounds 296 Data folder, in Version Cue 92 configuration files 415 Debug Player 400 Device Font publish settings 423 Flash 432 configuring a
INDEX 506 dimensions, setting 53 click accuracy tolerance 164 elements and lines, optimizing 485 combining objects 163 DXF Sequence, AutoCAD DXF Image 450 Fast display 485 converting lines to fills 180 dynamic text Flash Player, loading into 70 Crop command 163 about 260 form application 366 curve points and corner points 176 HTML option 267 frame rate, setting 53 curves, optimizing 179 setting options 267 dynamic text fields Full display 485 curves, smoothing 164 levels 70 erasing line
INDEX 507 EPS files finding missing, in projects 63 Flash content, aligning and cropping 424 exporting 450 importing 133 in imported FreeHand files 138 moving and opening, in projects 61 Flash Form Application 367 Erase blending mode 257 opening, with version control 64 Flash Player.
INDEX 508 form application in 366 formatting code 392, 393 G Gap Size modifier, Paint Bucket tool 190 Frame by Frame graph, in Bandwidth Profiler 493 General preferences, Disable Auto or Add Delete 175 Frame command 69, 230 Generate Size Report option 493 frame rate Get More Commands option 50 visible parameter 375 in animation 229 setting 53 GIF files exporting 450 Frame Rate option 53 GIF89a file format 426 Frame View menu 35 importing 134 frame-by-frame animation 230 publishing 426 fram
INDEX 509 tag reference 439 input text fields templates 436 HTML Alignment publish setting 424 creating 361 accessible descriptions for 358 customizing 31 naming for accessibility 358 deleting 32 turning off accessible labels for 360 for actions 387 HTTP Proxy server, specifying in Version Cue 123 input text, about 260 for dialog box controls 46 Insert Blank Keyframe command 69, 230 for library items 47 I icons Insert Keyframe command 69, 230 for pinned scripts 399 Insert Layer command 36
INDEX 510 organizing 39 renaming 38 libraries linked files assets, resolving conflicts between 217 linking text blocks 270 about 36 common 68 Links palette Add Layer button 36 components in 64 adding layer folder 37 creating permanent 68 changing height of 37 included in Flash 68 changing number displayed 38 opening from other Flash files 65 changing order of 39 resolving conflicts between assets 217 List Objects command 407 sounds in 292 Live Effects, enabling or disabling 251 layers
INDEX 511 Make Child Objects Accessible option movie clips accessibility for children 358 about 356 accessible descriptions for 358 movie clips and 358 changing properties in Debugger 404 Make Movie Accessible option 359 Make Object Accessible option 356, 358 child, about 71 margins, text 272 controlling with target path 73 mask layers creating symbol instances 212 controlling with behaviors 224 about 234 listing objects 407 creating 235 listing variables 408 linking additional layers 235
INDEX 512 selection highlighting 196 Paste Frames command 70, 231 sending to back 200 P Page Setup command (Windows only) 455 size, matching 201 Paint Bucket tool pasting sending backward 200 Paste In Place command 199 pasteboard, showing and hiding 24 skewing 206 applying fills with 190 history steps 49 snapping 181 Gap Size modifier 190 objects 199 stacking 200 transformed, copying 199 transformed, restoring 206 transforming freely 203 On Launch preferences 29 onion skin markers changing d
INDEX 513 plug-ins 8 in Adobe Store 11 printing sound properties 292 pluginspage attribute 442 from authoring environment 455 Stroke and Fill Color controls in 186 PNG files FLA files 455 tools 164 exporting 452 importing 134, 136 actions 383 Flash Player context menu 463 PNG filter options 429 Printing Options preference (Windows only) 30 publishing 428 PrintJob class video, changing properties 304 Protect from Import option 420 PSD files importing 148 PNG Import Settings dialog box 137
INDEX 514 R Radial Gradient option 189 Raw compression, for sound 296 revealing previous versions 110 Scene panel 75 scenes Version Cue files, in Bridge 102 best practices 74, 465 Reverse command, for animation 231 changing order of 75 in Accessibility panel 359 Revert command 54 pasting into 199 in ActionScript 364 RGB colors, importing and exporting 186 selecting everything on every layer of 197 Recognize Lines preference 164 rich media templates 80 testing download performance 492 Recogn
INDEX 515 default screen and instance names 372 deleting 372 document structure and hierarchy 367, 369 document types 366 Document window, viewing in 370 dragging and dropping 371 moving statements in 387 resizing 383 Script window about 382, 383 about breakpoints XML file 405 coding in 384 scripts Smooth modifier 179 Straighten modifier 179 Send Backward behavior 225 command 200 Send To Back behavior 225 editing contents 371 correcting text display problems 397 Find and Replace 373 shape hints, for
INDEX 516 Silicon Graphics files, importing 134 in library 292 Simulate Download command 493 looping 293 Single Frame option 215 looping to reduce file size 297 Single Line option, for dynamic text 267 options menu 292 properties 292 Stop Dragging Movieclip behavior 225 size report 493 raw compression 296 Stop option, for sound 293 skewing reusing to reduce file size 297 Straighten modifier, for Selection tool 179 objects 206 shared libraries, adding to 156 with Transform panel 206 Sound
INDEX 517 Swatches panel synchronizing Add Colors option 186 files, in Version Cue 112 loading default 185 sounds 293 Replace Colors option 186 syntax projects 62 sounds 296 text aliasing 262 Save Colors option 186 checking 397 alignment 272 sorting 185 color options, setting in the Actions panel 394 anti-aliasing 485 Web 216 option 185 SWF files configuring for server MIME type 432 editing in Flash from Dreamweaver 419 exporting from Illustrator 135 breaking apart 202, 270 System 7 sounds
INDEX 518 Unicode in Flash Player 280 keyframes, converting into frames 231 Pen 172 URL, linking to 270 widening text block 266 keyframes, creating in 228 Pointer 163, 164 keyframes, deleting 230 PolyStar 168 appearance 264 layer folder order, changing 39 Rectangle 165 resizing 266 layer height, changing 37 selecting 26 selecting 197, 266 layer name fields in 35 Selection 197 widening 266 locking layer folders in 38 Subselection 176 locking layers in 38 viewing 26 text blocks text fi
INDEX 519 tweened frames, dragging keyframes in 231 V Variable option for dynamic text 267 View Esc Shortcut Keys command 387 tweening variables 411 View menu, changing document display with 485 about 239 and Debugger Variables tab 402 along a path 244 and Debugger Watch list 403 motion 239, 241 HTML template 436 motion paths for 244 modifying in Debugger 403 shape 240 symbol colors 241 naming 391 Variables tab, Debugger 402 vector graphics U Undo button, in Transform panel 206 compared to
INDEX 520 XMLConnector component multilanguage text 290 Z Zoom tool 24 zooming 24
