Page 1 CS 3 ADOBE FLASH ® ® PROFESSIONAL USER GUIDE...
Page 2 The content of this guide is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorpo- rated.
Page 3: Table Of Contents
............51 Creating and previewing mobile content with Adobe Device Central .
Page 4 Chapter 6: Drawing Drawing Basics ................159 Using Flash drawing and painting tools .
Page 5 Chapter 14: Working with sound Using sounds in Flash ..............291 Exporting Sounds .
Page 6 HTML publishing templates ............. 435 Editing Flash HTML settings .
Page 7: Chapter 1: Getting Started
Note: For more information, see the Read Me file on the installation DVD. Activate the software If you have a single-user retail license for your Adobe software, you will be asked to activate your software; this is a simple, anonymous process that you must complete within 30 days of starting the software.
Page 8: Using Help
FLASH CS3 User Guide For instructions, see TechNote 14157 on the Adobe® Flash® Support Center at www.adobe.com/go/tn_14157. 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.
Page 9 Printed editions of the in-product Help are available for purchase in the Adobe Store, at www.adobe.com/go/store. You can also find books published by Adobe publishing partners in the Adobe Store. A printed workflow guide is included with all Adobe Creative Suite® 3 products, and stand-alone Adobe products may include a printed getting started guide.
Page 10 FLASH CS3 User Guide You can search Flash Help for a combination of words and phrases: Return a list of help pages that contain the specified word. For example, if you type Single-word searches timeline in the search text field, Flash returns a list of help pages that contain the word timeline or Timeline. Return a list of help pages that each contain all of the search terms you enter.
Page 11 JavaScript APIs created for that purpose. • Getting Started with Flash Lite 2.x provides an introduction to the process of developing content with Adobe® Flash® Lite™ 2.x for delivery on mobile phones and devices. Flash Lite 2.x supports a subset of ActionScript 2.0.
Page 12: Resources
The Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop offers over 200 training videos covering a wide range of subjects for print, web, and video professionals. You can use the Adobe Video Workshop to learn about any Creative Suite 3 product. Many videos show you how to use Adobe applications together.
Page 13 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 14 Extras You have access to a wide variety of resources that will help you make the most of your Adobe software. Some of these resources are installed on your computer during the setup process; additional helpful samples and documents are included on the installation or content DVD.
Page 15 Bridge Home, a new destination in Adobe Bridge CS3, provides up-to-date information on all your Adobe Creative Suite 3 software in one convenient location. Start Adobe Bridge, then click the Bridge Home icon at the top of the Favorites panel to access the latest tips, news, and resources for your Creative Suite tools.
Page 16 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...
Page 17 Visit the Adobe Support website, at www.adobe.com/support, to find troubleshooting information for your product and to learn about free and paid technical support options. Follow the Training link for access to Adobe Press books, a variety of training resources, Adobe software certification programs, and more.
Page 18: What's New
Adobe Labs fosters a collaborative software development process. In this environment, customers quickly become productive with new products and technologies. Adobe Labs is also a forum for early feedback, which the Adobe development teams use to create software that meets the needs and expectations of the community.
Page 19 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 limita- tions are.
Page 20 This release improves the quality of the exported QuickTime video file, which you can distribute as streaming video or on a DVD, or import into a video-editing application such as Adobe® Premiere®. See “Exporting QuickTime” on page 453.
Page 21: Chapter 2: Workspace
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.
Page 22 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.
Page 23 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. Hide or show all panels •...
Page 24 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). Narrow blue drop zone indicates Color panel will be docked on its own above Layers panel group.
Page 25 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 26 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 27 FLASH CS3 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 •...
Page 28 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 29: Using The Stage And Tools Panel
The Welcome screen also offers quick access to Help resources. You can take a tour of Flash, learn about documen- tation resources, and find Adobe Authorized Training facilities. • To hide the Welcome screen, select Don’t Show Again. • To show the Welcome screen, select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or select Flash > Preferences (Macintosh), and select Show Welcome screen in the General category.
Page 30 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 31 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 32 FLASH CS3 User Guide Turn snapping to grid lines on or off ❖ Select View > Snapping > Snap to Grid. Set grid preferences Select View > Grid > Edit Grid and select from the options. 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.
Page 33 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 34 FLASH CS3 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”...
Page 35 Set warning preferences • To receive a warning when you try to save documents with content that is specific to the Adobe® Flash® CS3 Profes- sional authoring tool as a Flash 8 file, select Warn On Save For Adobe Flash 8 Compatibility (default).
Page 36 FLASH CS3 User Guide Document-level undo maintains a single list of all your actions for the entire Flash Document- or Object-level undo 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.
Page 37 FLASH CS3 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. • To keep text editable in a pasted FreeHand file, select Maintain Text As Blocks. FreeHand Text Customize keyboard shortcuts To match the shortcuts you use in other applications, or to streamline your workflow, select keyboard shortcuts.
Page 38 FLASH CS3 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. Click Change. Repeat this procedure to add or remove additional shortcuts, and click OK. Delete a keyboard shortcut set Select Edit >...
Page 39: The Timeline
FLASH CS3 User Guide Remove a shortcut from a command From the Commands pop-up menu, select a command category, select a command from the Commands list, and select a shortcut. Click Remove Item (-). Add a shortcut to a command From the Commands pop-up menu, select a command category and select a command.
Page 40 Controls in the layers section of the Timeline let you hide, show, lock, or unlock layers, as well as display layer contents as outlines. You can drag frames to a new location on the same layer or to a different layer. For a video tutorial about the Timeline, keyframes, and frame rates, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0123. See also “Manage frames and keyframes in the Timeline”...
Page 41 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 42 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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 •...
Page 43 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 44 FLASH CS3 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. In the Layer Properties dialog box, select an option for Layer Height and click OK. Change the number of layers displayed in the Timeline ❖...
Page 45 FLASH CS3 User Guide Click the new layer and select Edit > Timeline > Paste Frames. Copy the contents of a layer folder 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.
Page 46: Using Flash Authoring Panels
FLASH CS3 User Guide Note: Dragging a normal layer onto a guide layer converts the guide layer to a motion guide layer. To prevent acciden- tally converting a guide layer, place all guide layers at the bottom of the layer order. ❖...
Page 47 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 48 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 49 If you are not using the Stage but instead are writing ActionScript code for the connectivity layer of your application, you can use the Web Services panel to manage your web services. For detailed information about using the web services panel, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_web_services.
Page 50: Accessibility In The Flash Workspace
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 51 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 52 FLASH CS3 User Guide Move the focus through the controls in a panel 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. To activate the currently selected panel control, press Enter (Windows only). Navigate dialog box controls using keyboard shortcuts (Windows only) •...
Page 53: Undo, Redo, And History
FLASH CS3 User Guide • To move to the child folder of an expanded folder, press Right Arrow. Work with library items using keyboard shortcuts 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.
Page 54 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 55: Automating Tasks With The Commands Menu
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 56 Note: The command is saved as a JavaScript file (with the extension .jsfl) in your Commands folder. This folder is in the following locations: Windows 2000 or Windows XP: boot drive\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Appli- cation Data\Adobe\Flash CS3\<language>\Configuration\Commands; Mac OS X: Macintosh HD/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS3/<language>/Configuration/Commands.
Page 57: 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.
Page 58 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.com/go/vid0117...
Page 59 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 60 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 61: Creating And Previewing Mobile Content With Adobe Device Central
Working with other Adobe applications Flash is designed to work with other Adobe applications to enable a broad range of creative workflows. You can import Illustrator and Photoshop files directly into Flash. You can also create video from Flash and edit it in Premier Pro or After Effects, or import video from either of those applications into Flash.
Page 62 FLASH CS3 User Guide Create mobile content with Adobe Device Central and Flash CS3 Start Flash. On the main Flash screen, select Create New > Flash File (Mobile). Flash opens Device Central and displays the New Document tab. In Device Central, select a Player version and ActionScript version.
Page 63 Note: To simply open Device Central from Photoshop (instead of creating and testing a file), select File > Device Central. For a tutorial about creating content using Photoshop and Device Central, see http://www.adobe.com/go/vid0185. Create mobile content with Adobe Device Central and Illustrator Start Illustrator.
Page 64 Preview a movie on a virtual mobile device using Adobe Premiere Pro Using Adobe Device Central, you can preview movies formatted for mobile devices in emulations of those devices. This option is available for most of the H.264 formats listed in the Adobe Media Encoder.
Page 65 Rendering may take a few minutes, depending on the size of the file. When rendering is complete, a temporary file is displayed in the Adobe Device Central Emulator tab. To continue testing, double-click the name of a different device in the Device Sets or Available Devices lists.
Page 66: Working With Projects
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 67 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 68 FLASH CS3 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 Click Test Project in the Project panel.
Page 69 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 70: Adding Media To The Library
FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. 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.
Page 71 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 72 FLASH CS3 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 ❖...
Page 73 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 74: Working With Timelines
Flash can tween, or automatically fill in, the frames between keyframes in order to produce fluid animations. Because keyframes let you produce animation without drawing each individual frame, they make creating animation easier. For a video tutorial about the Timeline, keyframes, and frame rates, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0123.
Page 75 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 76 Timelines can send messages to each other with ActionScript. For example, an action on the last frame of one movie clip can tell another movie clip to play. To use ActionScript to control a Timeline, you must use a target path to specify the location of the Timeline. For a video tutorial about using multiple timelines, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0128.
Page 77 Stage. For a video tutorial about using multiple timelines, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0128. See also “Using symbols, instances, and library assets” on page 207 About absolute paths An absolute path starts with the name of the level into which the document is loaded and continues through the display list until it reaches the target instance.
Page 78 FLASH CS3 User Guide You can use the alias to refer to the main Timeline of the current level. For the main Timeline, the alias _root _root stands for when targeted by a movie clip also on . For a document loaded into _level0 _level0 _level5...
Page 79 FLASH CS3 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 .
Page 80: Working With Scenes
FLASH CS3 User Guide This becomes the controlling Timeline. 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. Click the parameter box or location in the script where you want to insert the target path. Enter an absolute or relative target path in the Actions panel.
Page 81 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 82: Find And Replace
FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 83 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. To replace text, do one of the following: •...
Page 84 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. •...
Page 85: Templates
Note: The skins are on guide layers and won’t export with your content or appear at runtime. For more information on authoring Flash files for mobile devices, see the Adobe Mobile Devices site at www.adobe.com/go/devnet_devices.
Page 86 FLASH CS3 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 Adver- tising Bureau (IAB) and accepted by the industry. For more information on IAB-endorsed ad types, see the IAB site at IAB.net.
Page 87 FLASH CS3 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. Delete the old images that were included in this document from the library.
Page 88: Chapter 4: Adobe Version Cue
Version Cue is integrated with Adobe Bridge: use Bridge as a file browser for Version Cue projects. With Bridge, you can access Version Cue Servers, projects, and files, and view, search for, and compare information about Version Cue-managed assets.
Page 89 Version Cue Server is installed on your computer, but is not turned on. Version Cue Servers store Version Cue projects and their related assets. You access the Version Cue Server by using Adobe Bridge or the Adobe dialog box in Version Cue-enabled Creative Suite components. You can start the Version Cue Server on your computer, or, optimally, install and run the Version Cue Server on a dedicated computer accessible to others on your network.
Page 90 Create projects by using Bridge, the Adobe dialog box, or Version Cue Server Administration. To specify advanced project properties, such as requiring user login and assigning user access permissions, you must use Version Cue Server Administration.
Page 91 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.
Page 92 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 93 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.
Page 94 85. You can view information about Version Cue Servers, projects, and assets in the Adobe dialog box or by using the Inspector in Bridge. For help on viewing information in Bridge, see “Inspect Version Cue files” in Bridge Help.
Page 95: Working With The Version Cue Server
Collection edition installer on the dedicated computer, following the on-screen prompts to install only the Version Cue Server. Note: Consult the End-User License Agreement (EULA) for your copy of Adobe Creative Suite before installing the Version Cue Server on a dedicated computer.
Page 96 • 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.
Page 97 Version Cue CS3 Preferences from the menu. • Open the Control Panel and double-click Adobe Version Cue CS3 (Windows) or click Adobe Version Cue CS3 in System Preferences (Mac OS).
Page 98 Version Cue CS3 Preferences from the menu. • Open the Control Panel and double-click Adobe Version Cue CS3 (Windows) or click Adobe Version Cue CS3 in System Preferences (Mac OS).
Page 99 Connect to a Version Cue Server using WebDAV Adobe recommends managing non-Adobe files with Adobe Bridge. However, if you’re collaborating with other users who don’t have access to Adobe Bridge, you can use the Version Cue WebDAV Server URL to access projects on a Version Cue Server.
Page 100: Working With Version Cue Projects
Documents (Windows) or Documents (Mac OS) folder, and adds a project folder to the Version Cue folder. Version Cue also creates a shortcut to the project that appears in Bridge and in the Adobe dialog box after you click the Version Cue favorite icon.
Page 101 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.
Page 102 You can edit most of the properties of a project, including the project name, description, and shared status; the location of local project files; and the location of project backups in Bridge or in the Adobe dialog box. However, if you want to enable lock protection, edit or assign users, or require users to log in to the project, use Version Cue Server Administration instead.
Page 103 “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.
Page 104 To save versions of a file, share the file with your workgroup, and take advantage of Version Cue file management, you must add the file to a Version Cue project. You can add both Adobe and non-Adobe files to Version Cue projects.
Page 105 85. You can delete a Version Cue project in Bridge or any Version Cue-enabled Adobe Creative Suite component, or by using Version Cue Server Administration. You can’t delete a project if any user has files that are marked as Checked Out or In Use (Acrobat).
Page 106: Working With Files In Version Cue
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. You may want to disconnect to free up more space on your hard drive (new local project files are created the next time you open, download, edit, or synchronize a file).
Page 107 To quickly view all files checked out in a particular project, open the project and click Checked Out Files beneath the Version Cue entry in the Favorites panel of the Adobe dialog box. The latest known version of the file is available for editing and you have a local copy of it on your Synchronized computer.
Page 108 Double-click the project that contains the file you want to open. Select the file, and click Open. Note: To reveal a file in Bridge, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the file in the Adobe dialog box, and choose Reveal In Bridge.
Page 109 Disconnecting from a project also removes local project files; however, the Disconnect command also removes shortcuts to the project from Bridge and the Adobe dialog box. • In Bridge, select a Version Cue project or project file, and choose Tools > Version Cue > Clear Local Files.
Page 110 When you copy or move a file, Version Cue copies or moves only the most current version. See also “Open a project” on page 96 “Use the Adobe dialog box” on page 86 Copy Version Cue files ❖ Do any of the following: •...
Page 111 Metadata is added to Version Cue project files as you work with them. In addition, you can add other metadata to files in Adobe Creative Suite components through the File Info dialog box. Adobe Creative Suite components can contain specific metadata fields; for example, fonts and colors in InDesign files and colors in Illustrator files.
Page 112 The Links panel also displays a Version Cue status icon that describes the state of the file on the Version Cue Server (see “File statuses” on page 101), and displays a linked file’s versions so you can promote and use previous versions. You can even create versions of linked non-Adobe files. ❖...
Page 113 Version Cue Server Administration. In Bridge and Version Cue-enabled components of Adobe Creative Suite, you can view project files with Deleted status in Project Trash view. You can restore files or folders that have Deleted status to reinstate Version Cue management.
Page 114: Version Cue Versions
In Acrobat, Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, or Photoshop, open the project containing the file or folder that you want to delete permanently in the Adobe dialog box. Click Project Trash in the Favorites panel, right-click the file you want to delete permanently, and choose Delete Permanent.
Page 115 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.
Page 116 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. Select the file whose versions you want to view.
Page 117: Editing And Synchronizing Offline Files
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 118 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.
Page 119: Version Cue Server Administration
FLASH CS3 User Guide If prompted, choose an option in the File Conflict dialog box. Synchronize files in Bridge In Bridge, click Version Cue in the Favorites panel. Select a project, folder, or file, and do one of the following: •...
Page 120 You can download the Java Runtime Environment from the Sun Microsystems Java website at www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp. Version Cue Server Administration for both Windows and Mac OS requires Adobe Flash Player 9 for user and group administration. When you first create users and groups, Version Cue will prompt you to install Flash Player.
Page 121 Adobe Flash Player 9 is required to create and manage users in Version Cue Server Administration. When you first create users, Version Cue will prompt you to install Adobe Flash Player 9.
Page 122 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select Project Creation to enable the user to create new Version Cue projects. (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. Click Save.
Page 123 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 124 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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 Click the Users/Groups tab in Version Cue Server Administration and then click Import Users.
Page 125 Creates a project that uses the Version Cue CS2 Maximize Compatibility With CS2 Applications And Acrobat 8 project structure so that Adobe Creative Suite 2 or Acrobat 8 users can work with Version Cue CS3 projects. Stores any remarks you type about the project.
Page 126 FLASH CS3 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. Click the Projects tab in Version Cue Server Administration. Select the check box next to the project you want to duplicate, and click Duplicate.
Page 127 Choose the project components that you want to back up: Project Content (which is always selected) to back up files, Project File Versions to back up all versions of the files, 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.
Page 128 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.
Page 129 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 130: Version Cue Pdf Reviews
Version Cue Server. You can conduct Version Cue PDF reviews for Adobe Illustrator (AI) files that have been saved with the Enable PDF Compatibility option without first converting them to PDF. The AI files appear with PDF files in the Document List...
Page 131 FLASH CS3 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 Admin- istration.
Page 132 FLASH CS3 User Guide Locate PDF reviews log in to Version Cue Server Administration. (For instructions, see “Log in to Version Cue Server Administration” on page 114.) Click the Version Cue CS3 PDF Review link at the top of the page. Do one of the following: •...
Page 133 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 134 In some cases, less frequently used commands don’t automatically update the Version Cue information displayed in Adobe Bridge or in the Adobe dialog box. If you don’t see the results of an action you have completed, refresh the view by doing one of the following: •...
Page 135 • Make sure that your network connection is functioning properly. • If you’re trying to connect to the server from Acrobat 8 or from a Version Cue-enabled Adobe Creative Suite 2 component, make sure that you haven’t enabled SSL for the server. In addition, Acrobat 8 and Adobe Creative Suite 2 components can’t connect to Version Cue CS3 Servers installed on the same computer (that is, a local...
Page 136 Version Cue Server preferences” on page 91). • If you’re using Acrobat 8 or a Version Cue-enabled Adobe Creative Suite 2 component to access the project, make sure the creator of the project specified that it be compatible with CS2. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see the project on the Version Cue CS3 Server.
Page 137 FLASH CS3 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...
Page 138: Chapter 5: Using Imported Artwork
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®...
Page 139 • 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. See also “Working with imported bitmaps”...
Page 140 PICT, QuickTime Movie, and others) to both platforms. You can import the following vector or bitmap file formats into Flash 8 or later, regardless of whether QuickTime 4 is installed: File type Extension Windows Macintosh Adobe Illustrator • • (version 10 or earlier Adobe Photoshop; .psd •...
Page 141 FLASH CS3 User Guide Pasting Illustrator artwork You can create graphically rich artwork in Illustrator and copy and paste it into Flash simply, quickly, and seamlessly. When you paste Illustrator artwork into Flash, the following attributes are preserved: • Paths and shapes •...
Page 142 (called effects in FireWorks) and guides in the PNG file when you import it as editable objects. For a video tutorial about the Flash and Fireworks workflow, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0194. Using Fireworks effects and blend modes in Flash Flash 8 and later provides support for Fireworks filters, blend modes, and text.
Page 143 Note: To edit bitmap images in Flash convert the bitmap images to vector artwork or break apart the bitmap images. For a video tutorial about the Flash and Fireworks workflow, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0194. Select File > Import > Import To Stage or Import To Library.
Page 144 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 145: Working With Illustrator Ai Files
ASCII before importing them into Flash. Working with Illustrator AI files About Adobe Illustrator AI files Flash lets you import Illustrator AI files, and to a large extent preserves your artwork's editability and visual fidelity. The AI Importer also provides you with a great degree of control in determining how your Illustrator artwork is imported into Flash, letting you specify how to import specific objects into an AI file.
Page 146 PNG depends on the version of QuickTime installed. Note: To import an Illustrator EPS or Adobe Acrobat PDF file, open the file in Illustrator CS 3, save it as a CS 3- compatible AI file, and import the resulting AI file into Flash Note: The AI Importer was developed to import AI files created with Illustrator CS3.
Page 147 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.
Page 148 FLASH CS3 User Guide For Convert Layers To, select one of the following: Converts each layer in the imported document to a layer in the Flash document. Flash Layers Converts each layer in the imported document to a keyframe in the Flash document. Keyframes Converts all layers in the imported document to a single flattened layer in the Flash document.
Page 149 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 150 FLASH CS3 User Guide Lets you specify the following path import preferences: Import Paths As • Creates an editable vector path. Supported blend modes, effects, and object transparency are Editable Paths preserved, but attributes not supported in Flash are discarded. •...
Page 151 FLASH CS3 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).
Page 152 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 153: Working With Photoshop Psd Files
Working with Photoshop PSD files Working with Photoshop and Flash You can use Adobe® Photoshop® and Adobe® Flash® together to create visually compelling web-based applications, animations, or interactive messaging elements. Photoshop lets you create still images and artwork, providing a high degree of creative control.
Page 154 • Drag-and-drop from Photoshop to Flash invokes the PSD file importer, letting you choose how to import your Photoshop artwork. For a video tutorial about designing website with Photoshop and Flash, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0201. Compatibility between Flash and Photoshop Certain visual attributes can either not be accurately imported, or, after they are imported, lose their ability to be further edited in the Flash authoring environment.
Page 155 Select File > Import To Stage or Import To Library. Navigate to the Adobe Photoshop PSD file to import, select it, and click OK. (Optional) In the PSD Import dialog box, select layers, groups, and individual objects and choose how to import each item.
Page 156 FLASH CS3 User Guide For the remaining options, select from the following: The contents of the PSD file retain the exact position that they had in Photoshop. Place Layers At Original Position For example, if an object was positioned at X = 100 Y = 50 in Photoshop, it assumes the same coordinates on the Flash stage.
Page 157 FLASH CS3 User Guide Rasterizes the text into a flattened bitmap image to maintain the exact appearance the text Flattened Bitmap Images layer had in Photoshop. Specifies that the image layers be converted to a movie clip when imported into Flash. This Create Movie Clips 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.
Page 158 FLASH CS3 User Guide Layer group import preferences This option specifies how the options for layer groups will initially be set. Specifies that all groups be converted to a movie clip when imported into Flash. This can be Create Movie Clips changed on an object by object basis if you do not want some layer groups to be movie clips.
Page 159 FLASH CS3 User Guide Lists all layers, groups, and layer effects in an image. To select which layers to import, use Select Photoshop Layers 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.
Page 160 FLASH CS3 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. Creates a movie clip with a bitmap inside. Supported Blend modes, filters, Bitmap Image With Editable Layer Styles and opacity are maintained.
Page 161: Imported Bitmaps
FLASH CS3 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 (PNG/GIF) compresses the image with lossless compression, in which no data is discarded from Lossless the image.
Page 162 BitmapData To do so, specify a linkage identifier for the bitmap. For more information, see Assigning linkage to assets in the library in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or Exporting library symbols for ActionScript in Programming ActionScript 3.0. Select the bitmap in the Library panel.
Page 163 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 164 FLASH CS3 User Guide Change the fill of areas of a broken-apart bitmap 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.
Page 165: Chapter 6: Drawing
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.
Page 166 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 167 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 168 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 169 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 170: Using Flash Drawing And Painting Tools
FLASH CS3 User Guide Under Drawing Settings, select from the following options: Determines how close the end of a line being drawn must be to an existing line segment before the Connect Lines end point snaps to the nearest point on the other line. This setting also controls horizontal and vertical line recog- nition—that is, how nearly horizontal or vertical a line must be drawn before Flash makes it exactly horizontal or vertical.
Page 171 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 172 FLASH CS3 User Guide Note: You cannot set fill attributes for the Line tool. 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. Position the pointer where the line is to begin, and drag to where the line is to end.
Page 173 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 174 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 175 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 176 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 177 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 178: Drawing With The Pen Tool
Converts a corner point without direction lines to a corner point with Convert Anchor Point pointer independent direction lines. To enable the convert anchor point pointer, use the Shift + C modifier keys to toggle the Pen tool. For a video tutorial about the Pen tool, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0120.
Page 179 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 180 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. •...
Page 181 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 182 FLASH CS3 User Guide Add or delete anchor points Select the path to modify. Click and hold the mouse button on the Pen tool , then select the Pen tool , Add Anchor Point tool , or the Delete Anchor Point tool To add an anchor point, position the pointer over a path segment, and click.
Page 183: Reshaping Lines And Shape Outlines
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 184 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 185 FLASH CS3 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 partic- ularly useful when you are having trouble reshaping a number of very short curved line segments.
Page 186: Snapping
FLASH CS3 User Guide Click the Eraser Mode modifier and select an erasing mode: Erases strokes and fills on the same layer. Erase Normal Erases only fills; strokes are not affected. Erase Fills Erases only strokes; fills are not affected. Erase Lines Erases only the currently selected fills and does not affect strokes, selected or not.
Page 187 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 188 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 189: Chapter 7: Working With Color, Strokes, And Fills
About color Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional lets you apply, create, and modify colors. Using the default palette or a palette you create, you can choose colors to apply to the stroke or fill of an object you are about to create, or an object already on the Stage.
Page 190 FLASH CS3 User Guide The Color panel with the gradient controls displayed. Color panel options Changes the color of the stroke, or the border, of a graphic object. Stroke Color Changes the color of the fill. The fill is the area of color that fills up the shape. Fill Color Changes the fill style: Type Menu...
Page 191: Modifying Color Palettes
FLASH CS3 User Guide Note: Overflow modes are supported only in Flash Player 8 and later. Creates a Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)-compliant linear or radial gradient. Linear RGB 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.
Page 192: Strokes, Fills, And Gradients
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 193 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select a stroke color, style, and weight by using the Property inspector Select an object or objects on the Stage (for symbols, first double-click to enter symbol-editing mode). Select Window > Properties > Properties. 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.
Page 194 Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional provide additional control over linear and radial gradients for use with Flash Player. These controls, called overflow modes, let you specify how colors are applied beyond the gradient.
Page 195 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 196 FLASH CS3 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. Select the Ink Bottle tool from the Tools panel. Select a stroke color. Select a stroke style and stroke width from the Property inspector.
Page 197 FLASH CS3 User Guide Adjusts the width of the gradient. The rollover icon for the width handle (the square handle) is a double- Width ended arrow. 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˚.
Page 198 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 199 FLASH CS3 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 >...
Page 200 FLASH CS3 User Guide Use a locked gradient fill Select the Brush or Paint Bucket tool and select a gradient or bitmap as a fill. Select Linear or Radial from the Type menu in the Color panel. Click the Lock Fill modifier First paint the areas where you want to place the center of the fill, and then move to other areas.
Page 201: Chapter 8: Working With Graphic Objects
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.
Page 202: Selecting Objects
FLASH CS3 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 Select the Object Drawing option in the Tools panel. Select a drawing tool from the Tools panel and draw on the Stage.
Page 203 FLASH CS3 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).
Page 204: Moving, Copying, And Deleting Objects
FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 205 FLASH CS3 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 Select an object or multiple objects. If the Property inspector is not visible, select Window >...
Page 206: Arranging Objects
FLASH CS3 User Guide Enter scale, rotation, or skew values. 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.
Page 207 For a tutorial about the layout tools in Flash, see Use Layout Tools on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. Select the objects to align. Select Window > Align.
Page 208: Transforming Objects
FLASH CS3 User Guide Break apart groups and objects To separate groups, instances, and bitmaps into ungrouped, editable elements, you break them apart, which signifi- cantly 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.
Page 209 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 210 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. •...
Page 211 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select Modify > Transform > Envelope. Drag the points and tangent handles to modify the envelope. Scale objects Scaling an object enlarges or reduces the object horizontally, vertically, or both. Select a graphic object or objects on the Stage. Select Modify >...
Page 212 FLASH CS3 User Guide Do one of the following: • Drag a corner handle to rotate the object. • Drag a center handle to skew the object. To end the transformation, click outside the selected object or objects. Rotate objects by 90˚ Select the object or objects.
Page 213: Chapter 9: Using Symbols, Instances, And Library Assets
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.
Page 214 You define the graphics associated with various button states, and then assign actions to a button instance. For more information, see Handling events in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or Handling events in Programming ActionScript 3.0.
Page 215 FLASH CS3 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 Select an element or several elements on the Stage. Do one of the following: •...
Page 216 FLASH CS3 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. 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”...
Page 217 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 218: Working With Symbol Instances
You can give names to instances from the Property inspector. Use the instance name to refer to an instance in Action- Script. To control instances with ActionScript, give each instance within a single timeline a unique name. For more information, see Handling events in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or Handling events in Programming ActionScript 3.0.
Page 219 In addition, you can name a movie clip or button instance so that you can use ActionScript to change its properties. For more information, see Classes in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or Objects and classes in Programming ActionScript 3.0. To edit instance properties, you use the Property inspector (Windows > Properties > Properties).
Page 220 FLASH CS3 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. See also “Add a motion tween to instances, groups, or type”...
Page 221 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 222: Library Assets
FLASH CS3 User Guide 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 Click the Show Buttons, Movie Clips, and Graphics button at the top of the Movie Explorer.
Page 223 FLASH CS3 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 With the destination document active, select File >...
Page 224: Using Shared Library Assets
Note: Flash also uses the linkage identifier to identify a movie clip or button that is used as an object in ActionScript. See Working with movie clips in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or Working with movie clips in Programming ActionScript 3.0.
Page 225 FLASH CS3 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 In the destination document, select Window >...
Page 226: Working With Button Symbols
Language Reference or Using the Button in Using ActionScript 3.0 Components. For a text tutorial about buttons, see Add Button Navigation and Animation on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. Select Edit > Deselect All to ensure that nothing is selected on the Stage.
Page 227 SWF file were playing. You can still select enabled buttons. Disable buttons as you work, and enable buttons to quickly test their behavior. For a text tutorial about buttons, see Add Button Navigation and Animation on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. Enable and disable buttons ❖...
Page 228: Scaling And Caching Symbols
A 9-slice-enabled symbol in the Library and scaled on the Stage. For video tutorials about 9-slice scaling, see: • www.adobe.com/go/vid0204 • www.adobe.com/go/vid0205...
Page 229 Note: Instances made from a 9-slice-enabled movie clip symbol can be transformed, but should not be edited. Editing these instances can have unpredictable results. For video tutorials about 9-slice scaling, see: • www.adobe.com/go/vid0204 • www.adobe.com/go/vid0205 Enable 9-slice scaling for an existing movie clip symbol With the source document open, select Window >...
Page 230: Symbols And Actionscript
To control movie clip and button instances, use ActionScript. The movie clip or button instance must have a unique instance name to be used with ActionScript. To control movie clip or button symbols, use ActionScript. For more information, see Handling events in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or Handling events in Programming ActionScript 3.0.
Page 231 FLASH CS3 User Guide Behavior Purpose Select or input Load Graphic Loads an external JPEG file into a Path and filename of JPEG file. movie clip or screen. Instance name of movie clip or screen receiving the graphic. Load External Movieclip Loads an external SWF file into a URL of external SWF file.
Page 232 Extending Flash. To learn about ActionScript, see Programming ActionScript 3.0 or Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. You can also download behaviors that other Flash users have created from the Adobe Flash Exchange website. You can visit the Adobe Exchange at: www.adobe.com/go/flash_exchange.
Page 233 FLASH CS3 User Guide For example (from the Movieclip_loadMovie.xml behavior file) (ActionScript 2.0): <actionscript> <![CDATA[ //load Movie Behavior if($target$ == Number($target$)){ loadMovieNum($clip$,$target$); } else { $target$.loadMovie($clip$); //End Behavior ]]> </actionscript> Save the file and test the behavior. See also “Break apart an instance symbol” on page 215...
Page 234: Chapter 10: Creating Animation
Animation basics Creating motion Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional offers several ways to include animation and special effects in a document, such as Timeline effects, tweened animation, changing the contents of successive frames in the Timeline, and frame-by- frame animation.
Page 235 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 236 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 237 FLASH CS3 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 >...
Page 238 FLASH CS3 User Guide Displays all frames on either side of the current frame. Onion All Move an entire animation Move the graphics in all frames and layers at once to avoid realigning everything. 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.
Page 239 FLASH CS3 User Guide The rotation and skew of the object. These properties must be jointly applied to an object. Skew Rotation And Skew is a measurement of rotation in degrees, and when you rotate and skew, each property affects the other. All color values such as Tint, Brightness, and Alpha are applied to the object.
Page 240 FLASH CS3 User Guide For a video tutorial about copying and pasting motion as ActionScript, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0126. 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.
Page 241 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.
Page 242: Using Timeline Effects
FLASH CS3 User Guide • Select Modify > Timeline > Layer Properties, and select Normal. Animate a filled shape, type object, or graphic symbol instance on a mask layer Select the mask layer in the Timeline. To unlock the mask layer, click in the Lock column. Do one of the following: •...
Page 243 FLASH CS3 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. 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.
Page 244 FLASH CS3 User Guide Motion effect name and description Settings • Creates a motion blur effect by changing the alpha Effect duration, in frames value, position, or scale of an object over time. • Allow horizontal blur • Allow vertical blur •...
Page 245: Tweened Animation
FLASH CS3 User Guide Motion effect name and description Settings • Adjusts the position, scale, rotation, alpha, and tint Effect duration, in frames of the selected elements. Use Transform to apply a • Move to position, x, y offset, in pixels single effect or a combination of effects to create Fade In/Out, Fly In/Out, Grow/Shrink, and Spin •...
Page 246 For a text tutorial about timeline animation, see Create a Timeline Animation on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. For samples of animation, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. The following samples are available: • Animated Drop Shadow: Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Graphics\Animat- edDropShadow folder to access the sample.
Page 247 For a text tutorial about motion tweens, see Create a Timeline Animation on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. For samples of animation, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. The following samples are available: • Animated Drop Shadow: Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Graphics\Animat- edDropShadow folder to access the sample.
Page 248 FLASH CS3 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 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.
Page 249 FLASH CS3 User Guide If you’re using a motion path, select Orient To Path to orient the baseline of the tweened element to the motion path. To synchronize the animation of graphic symbol instances with the main Timeline, select the Sync option in the Property inspector.
Page 250 For a tutorial about motion tweens, see Create a Timeline Animation on the Flash Tutorials web page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. For samples of animation, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. The following samples are available: • Animated Drop Shadow: Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Graphics\Animat- edDropShadow folder to access the sample.
Page 251 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 252 FLASH CS3 User Guide Enabled only when the Use One Setting for All Properties check box is not selected. When Property pop-up menu 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.
Page 253 • Shape hints work best if you place them in counterclockwise order beginning at the top-left corner of the shape. For a video tutorial about shape tweens, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0124. Use shape hints Select the first keyframe in a shape-tweened sequence.
Page 254 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. Move the shape hint to the point in the ending shape that should correspond to the first point you marked. To view how the shape hints change the shape tweening, play the animation again.
Page 255: Chapter 11: Special Effects
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.
Page 256 The type, number, and quality of filters you apply to objects can affect the performance of SWF files as you play them. The more filters you apply to an object, the greater the number of calculations Adobe® Flash® Player must process to correctly display the visual effects you’ve created.
Page 257 The filter configuration file is an XML file that is saved in the Flash Configuration folder in the following location: • Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS3\language\Configuration\Effects\filtername.xml • Macintosh: Macintosh HD/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS3/language/Configu- ration/Effects/filtername.xml...
Page 258 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.
Page 259 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 260 FLASH CS3 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. Select an object to apply a bevel to, and select Filters. Click the Add Filter (+) button, and select Bevel. Edit the filter settings in the Filter tab: •...
Page 261 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 262: About Blend Modes
The result of the blend’s effect on the base color. Result color Blend modes depend on both the color of the object you’re applying the blend to and the underlying color. Adobe® recommends that you experiment with the different blend modes to achieve the desired effect.
Page 263 FLASH CS3 User Guide Removes all base color pixels, including those in the background image. Erase 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.
Page 264 About importing filters and blends from Fireworks PNG files When you import Adobe® Fireworks® PNG files, you can retain many of the filters and blending modes applied to objects in Fireworks, and continue to modify those filters and blends using Flash.
Page 265 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.
Page 266: Chapter 12: Working With Text
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. You can also create dynamic text fields, which display updating text, such as stock quotes or news headlines, and input text fields, which allow users to enter text for forms or surveys.
Page 267 High quality anti-aliasing may also increase Flash Player’s memory usage. Using four or five fonts, for example, can increase memory usage by approximately 4 MB. When the publish setting of your file is Adobe® Flash® Player 8 or later, and Anti-Alias For Readability or Custom Anti-Alias is your chosen anti-aliasing option, high-quality anti-aliasing applies to the following: •...
Page 268 For more information on using a movie clip as a mask, see Using movie clips as masks in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. For a sample about device font masking, see the Flash Samples web page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Masking\DeviceFontMasking folder to access the sample.
Page 269 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 270: Creating Text
FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 271 For a video tutorial about working with text, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0121. For a sample file about working with text, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Text\TextEnhancements folder to access the sample.
Page 272 FLASH CS3 User Guide See also “Setting text attributes” on page 271 Add text to the Stage Select the Text tool In the Property inspector (Window > Properties > Properties), select a text type from the pop-up menu to specify the type of text field: Creates a field that displays dynamically updating text.
Page 273 Although you can use the variable name method with dynamic text fields for backwards compatibility to Macromedia Flash 5 and earlier versions, Adobe doesn't recommend this, because you can't control other text field properties, or apply style sheet settings.
Page 274 FLASH CS3 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). Do one of the following: •...
Page 275 See Example: Creating scrolling hscroll maxhscroll text in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Make dynamic text scrollable • Shift-double-click the handle on the dynamic text field. • Using the Selection tool , select the dynamic text field and then select Text > Scrollable.
Page 276 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 277: Setting Text Attributes
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 278 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 279 FLASH CS3 User Guide Work with vertical text Using the Text tool , select one or more text fields on the Stage. To apply settings to existing text, select text fields on the Stage. In the Property inspector (Window > Properties > Properties), set the following options: •...
Page 280 FLASH CS3 User Guide Lets you modify the font’s properties. Use Sharpness to specify the smoothness of the transition Custom Anti-Alias 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.
Page 281: Chapter 13: Creating Multilanguage Text
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: •...
Page 282 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 283 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 284 FLASH CS3 User Guide Range Description Basic Hangul Most commonly used Korean characters, Roman characters, punctuations, and special charac- ters/symbols Hangul (All) 11,720 Korean characters (sorted by Hangul sylla- bles), Roman characters, punctuations, and special characters/symbols) Traditional Chinese – Level 1 5000 most commonly used Traditional Chinese char- acters used in Taiwan Traditional Chinese (All)
Page 285: Encoding Text Formats
FLASH CS3 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.useCodepage = true;...
Page 286 FLASH CS3 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 multi- language text, regardless of the language that the operating system running the player uses, if they have the correct fonts installed.
Page 287: Authoring Multilanguage Text
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 288 FLASH CS3 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. Repeat step 3 until you have added all the necessary languages.
Page 289 FLASH CS3 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”...
Page 290 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 291: Xml File Format
For information on writing ActionScript code to create custom language detection, see About the Strings panel in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Select Window > Other Panels > Strings, and click Settings. In the Default Language menu, select the default language.
Page 292 FLASH CS3 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 <?xml version="1.0"...
Page 293 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 294: Multilanguage Text And Actionscript
FLASH CS3 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 action, the loadVariables getURL action, the object, or the...
Page 295 FLASH CS3 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 (-).
Page 296 FLASH CS3 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 operations, operations, or both.
Page 297: Chapter 14: Working With Sound
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.
Page 298 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 299 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select an effect option from the Effects pop-up menu: Applies no effects to the sound file. Select this option to remove previously applied effects. None Plays sound in the left or right channel only. Left Channel/Right Channel Shifts the sound from one channel to the other.
Page 300 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select Window > Properties > Properties, and click the arrow in the lower right-corner to expand the Property inspector. In the Property inspector, select the same sound from the Sound pop-up menu. Select Stop from the Sync pop-up menu. When you play the SWF file, the sound stops playing when it reaches the ending keyframe.
Page 301: Exporting Sounds
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.
Page 302 FLASH CS3 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 Do one of the following: •...
Page 303 FLASH CS3 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. Default setting. Deselect to select other mp3 compression settings. Select to export an Use Imported mp3 Quality imported mp3 file with the same settings the file had when it was imported.
Page 304: Sound And Actionscript
Use the Sound object in ActionScript 2.0 to add sounds to a document and to control sound objects in a document, including adjusting the volume or the right and left balance while a sound plays. For more information, see Creating sound controls in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Select the sound in the Library panel.
Page 305 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 method, the ID3 tag properties are...
Page 306: Chapter 15: Working With Video
FLVPlayback component or ActionScript™. Host your own Flash Media Server, or use a hosted Flash Video Streaming Service (FVSS). Adobe has partnered with several content delivery network (CDN) providers to offer hosted services for delivering on-demand Flash Video across high- performance, reliable networks.
Page 307: Importing And Modifying Flash Video Files
• Using video in Flash: www.adobe.com/go/vid0136 • Using Flash Video Encoder: www.adobe.com/go/vid0138 • Creating content for Adobe After Effects: www.adobe.com/go/vid0139 For a text tutorial about using video in Flash, see Building a Video Player on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials.
Page 308 FLASH CS3 User Guide You can apply the following actions to imported video objects in movie clips: goTo play stop toggle- , and HighQuality stopAllSounds getURL,FScommand loadMovie unloadMovie ifFrameLoaded onMou- . To apply actions to a Video object, first convert the Video object to a movie clip. seEvent To show a live video stream from a camera, use ActionScript.
Page 309 • By using server-side scripting to control video and audio streams, you can create server-side play lists, synchro- nized streams, and more intelligent delivery options based on the client’s connection speed. To learn more about Flash Media Server, see: www.adobe.com/go/flash_media_server. To learn more about FVSS, see: www.adobe.com/go/fvss.
Page 310 • Import an FLV video to replace the selected clip • Export a video clip as an FLV file For lessons on working with video, see the Adobe Flash Support Center at www.adobe.com/go/flash_video. Change video instance properties in the Property inspector Select an instance of an embedded or linked video clip on the Stage.
Page 311 FLASH CS3 User Guide View video clip properties in the Video Properties dialog box Select a video clip in the Library panel. Select Properties from the Library Panel menu, or click the Properties button located at the bottom of the the Library panel.
Page 312 FLASH CS3 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”...
Page 313 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 314 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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: •...
Page 315: About Digital Video And Flash
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 316 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 317 Because video looks much better at native frame rates, Adobe® recommends leaving the frame rate high if your delivery channels and playback platforms allow it. However, if you need to reduce the frame rate, the best results come from dividing the frame rate by whole numbers.
Page 318: Encoding Video
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 319 Select a frame rate. By default, Flash Video Encoder uses the same frame rate as the source video. Adobe® recommends using the default frame rate unless you are experienced with video encoding, and have a specific application that requires modifying the source video’s frame rate.
Page 320 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 321 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 322: Working With Premier Pro And After Effects
Adobe Flash offers technological and creative benefits that let you fuse video with data, graphics, sound, and interactive control. The Adobe Flash Video format lets you put video on a web page in a format that almost anyone can view.
Page 323 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. Then, you can export the movie directly into the Adobe Flash Video format (FLV).
Page 324 To eliminate download time, provide deep interactivity and navigation capabilities, or monitor quality of service, stream Adobe Flash Video files with the Flash Media Server or use the hosted service from one of Adobe’s Flash Video Streaming Service partners available through the Adobe website. For more details on the difference between Progressive Download and Streaming with Flash Media Server, see “Delivering Flash Video: Understanding the...
Page 325 Working with Flash and After Effects If you use Adobe® Flash® to create video or animation, you can use After Effects® to edit and refine the video. For example, you can export Flash animations and applications as QuickTime movies or Flash® Video (FLV) files. You can then use After Effects to edit and refine the video.
Page 326: Using Actionscript To Play External Flash Video
Flash has a unique set of vector art tools that make it useful for a variety of drawing not possible in After Effects or Adobe® Illustrator®. You can import SWF files into After Effects to composite them with other video or render them as video with additional creative effects.
Page 327 For more information on playing back FLV files, see “Playing back external FLV files dynamically” in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or “Basics of video” in Programming ActionScript 3.0. See also “Export a Flash video file” on page 451 “About Flash Video encoding methods”...
Page 328 FLASH CS3 User Guide Behavior Purpose Parameters Fast Forward Video Fast-forwards the video by the Instance name of target video specified number of frames. Number of frames Hide Video Hides the video. Instance name of target video Show Video Shows the video. Instance name of target video Control video playback using behaviors Select the movie clip to trigger the behavior.
Page 329 FLASH CS3 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. Boolean value that determines how to play the FLV.
Page 330 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 331: Chapter 16: Creating E-Learning Content
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 3.0...
Page 332: Including A Flash Learning Interaction In A Document
FLASH CS3 User Guide The user responds to a question by dragging one or more onscreen objects to a target. Drag And Drop The user responds by clicking a region (or regions) on the screen. Hot Spot The user responds by clicking an object (or objects) on the screen. Hot Object Each learning interaction has unique parameters that determine how the interaction appears to the user.
Page 333 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 334 FLASH CS3 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. Select Randomize to present the quiz questions in a random order.
Page 335 FLASH CS3 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 sequen- tially 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.
Page 336 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select the Learning Interaction component. Note: Do not delete these instructions; they contain necessary ActionScript code and do not appear in the SWF file. In the Property inspector, click Launch Component Inspector. If the Flash application sends tracking information to a server-side LMS, specify a name for the interaction in the Interaction ID box.
Page 337 FLASH CS3 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”...
Page 338 FLASH CS3 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. Add learning interactions to a document (no quiz template) To add learning interactions to a Flash document that does not use a quiz template, place stand-alone learning inter- actions in the Timeline in a single frame, sequential frames (for example, 10 questions in 10 sequential frames), or...
Page 339 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 340: Adding, Naming, And Registering Assets
FLASH CS3 User Guide Test a quiz Test a quiz frequently as you add and remove interactions. Select Control > Test Movie. Answer the questions as they appear. When you complete the quiz, close it in the Flash Player window to return to the workspace. Adding, naming, and registering assets Adding, naming, and registering assets and Learning Interaction component instances...
Page 341 FLASH CS3 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 inter- action.
Page 342 FLASH CS3 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. Drag and Drop learning interaction asset names Asset Description Object type Instance name Question text field Holds question text Dynamic text field...
Page 343: Configuring Learning Interactions
FLASH CS3 User Guide Asset Description Object type Instance name Control button Submits user response Flash UI Button compo- Template_ControlButton and controls navigation nent Reset button Resets hot spot distrac- Flash UI Button compo- Template_ResetButton tors nent 1-8 hot spots Hot spot distractors Movie clip symbol HotSpot1 - 8...
Page 344 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 345 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 346 FLASH CS3 User Guide Configure a Hot Object interaction The Hot Object interaction accepts up to eight hot objects. The default sample uses six hot objects. 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).
Page 347 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select the Hot Object component on the Stage, and then drag the symbol from the Library panel to the Stage. In the Property inspector, name the instance. Add the instance name to the Component inspector for the hot object. The component does the rest of the work automatically at runtime.
Page 348 FLASH CS3 User Guide In the Property inspector, name the instance. Add the instance name to the Component inspector for the hot spot. Remove a hot spot distractor Select the hot spot instance to remove and delete it from the Stage. Select the Hot Spot component (to the left of the Stage in the quiz template) and display the Component inspector (Window >...
Page 349 FLASH CS3 User Guide Remove a multiple-choice distractor Select the CheckBox instance to remove, and delete it from the Stage. Select the Multiple Choice component (to the left of the Stage in the quiz template) and display the Component inspector (Window > Component Inspector). Remove the deleted object’s instance name from the list in the Component inspector.
Page 350 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 351: Changing The Appearance Of A Learning Interaction
FLASH CS3 User Guide If the Component inspector is not already visible, open it from the Property inspector, and then click Options at the bottom of the panel. Under Navigation, specify how the interaction proceeds after the user submits a response for this interaction: •...
Page 352 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. In the Component inspector for the interaction, enter the same instance name (such as DragA) of the movie clip in the appropriate Name box.
Page 353: Tracking To Aicc- Or Scorm-Compliant Learning Management Systems
FLASH CS3 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 SCORM- compliant LMSs.
Page 354 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 355: Extending Learning Interaction Scripts
FLASH CS3 User Guide 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 Open the document in Flash. Select File > Publish Settings. In the Publish Settings dialog box, check that (at least) both Flash (SWF) and HTML are selected in the Formats panel.
Page 356 FLASH CS3 User Guide SessionArray[0].interaction_id To reference the result value for interaction #2, use the following command: SessionArray[1].result Predefined property names Property name Description interaction_id Unique interaction name interaction_type Type of interaction objective_id Objective identification number weighting Weighting value for this interaction instance; some interactions can have more weight than others correct_response Formatted correct response returned from the user...
Page 357 FLASH CS3 User Guide Review or edit the LToolboxClass script script creates a built-in object that each interaction can use for data storage and basic function- LToolboxClass ality. The data pattern and functionality shared by all interactions is defined in this script. Access the LToolbox- script from the library.
Page 358: 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.
Page 359 You can only create Flash content designed for use with screen readers with Windows platforms. Viewers of Flash content must have Macromedia Flash® Player 6 from Adobe or later and Internet Explorer on Windows 98 or later. Flash and Microsoft Active Accessibility (Windows only) Flash Player is optimized for Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA), which provides a descriptive and standardized way for applications and screen readers to communicate.
Page 360 • Use Hi-Caption Viewer, a component available from Hi Software that works with Hi-Caption SE for use with Flash (see www.adobe.com/go/accessible_captions). Captioning Macromedia Flash Movies with Hi-Caption SE, a white paper, explains how to use Hi-Caption SE and Flash together to create a captioned document (see www.adobe.com/go/accessibility_papers).
Page 361: Using Flash To Enter Accessibility Information For Screen Readers
FLASH CS3 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 appli- cation.
Page 362 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 363 For a tutorial about accessible content, see Create Accessible Flash Content on the Flash Tutorials page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_tutorials. For a sample of accessible Flash content, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Accessibility\AccessibleApplications folder to access the sample.
Page 364 (This information generally applies to all objects.) For information on how ActionScript handles instance names and variable names in text fields, see About text field instance and variable names in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Specify a name and description for a button, text field, or entire Flash application Do one of the following: •...
Page 365 The order in which objects receive input focus when users press the Tab key. Use ActionScript to create Tab order the tab order, or if you have Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional, use the Accessibility panel. The tab index that you assign in the Accessibility panel does not necessarily control the reading order.
Page 366: Specifying Advanced Accessibility Options For Screen Readers
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 367 See Key in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference. See Capturing keypresses in Learning Action- Script 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Select the object and add the name of the keyboard shortcut to the Accessibility panel so the screen reader can read it.
Page 368: Creating Accessibility With Actionscript
FLASH CS3 User Guide 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.
Page 369 FLASH CS3 User Guide Property Type Equivalent selection in Applies to the Accessibility panel Boolean Make Movie Acces- Entire documents silent sible/Make Object Acces- Buttons sible (inverse logic) Movie clips Dynamic text Input text Boolean Make Child Objects Entire documents .forceSimple Accessible (inverse logic) Movie clips...
Page 370 FLASH CS3 User Guide For example, you could use the method to decide whether to include unsolicited Accessibility.isActive() animation. Unsolicited animation happens without the screen reader doing anything, which can be confusing for screen readers. method provides asynchronous communication between the Flash content and Accessibility.isActive() Flash Player;...
Page 371 Accessible Flash components must contain ActionScript that defines their accessible behavior. For information on which accessible components work with screen readers, see the Flash Accessibility web page at www.adobe.com/go/flash_accessibility/. For general information about components, see “About Components” in Using ActionScript 2.0 Components.
Page 372: Screen-Based Documents And The Screen Authoring Environment
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.
Page 373 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 374: Working With Screens
FLASH CS3 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”...
Page 375 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 376 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 377 FLASH CS3 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 •...
Page 378 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 379: Adding Content To Screens
FLASH CS3 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. Select Edit >...
Page 380 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 381 In the Property inspector, click the Properties tab. 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 Select a screen in the Screen Outline pane.
Page 382 FLASH CS3 User Guide The following parameters are available for slide and form screens: • The autoload parameter indicates whether the content should load automatically ( ), or wait to load until the true method is called ( ). The default value is .
Page 383 FLASH CS3 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. 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.
Page 384 For more infor- mation on ActionScript classes, see Classes in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. • The Property inspector indicates the registration point in the x and y coordinate fields and in the registration grid.
Page 385 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 386: Chapter 19: Actionscript
Other ActionScript documentation from Adobe will help you learn about the individual versions of ActionScript; see Programming ActionScript 3.0, Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash, Developing Flash Lite 1.x Applications or Developing Flash Lite 2.x Applications. For information about the ActionScript vocabulary, see the ActionScript Language Reference for the version you are working with.
Page 387 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 388 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 389 FLASH CS3 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 ❖...
Page 390 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 391 FLASH CS3 User Guide Adds comment markers to the beginning and end of the selected code block. Apply Block Comment Adds a single-line comment marker at the insertion point, or at the beginning of each line Apply Line Comment of code in a multiline selection. Removes comment markers from the current line or all lines of the current selection.
Page 392: Script Assist Mode And Behaviors
ActionScript, and know what methods, functions, and variables to use when creating your scripts. To learn about ActionScript, see Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash or Programming ActionScript 3.0. For a video tutorial about Script Assist mode, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0131.
Page 393 FLASH CS3 User Guide Start Script Assist mode Select Window > Actions. 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.
Page 394 The behavior is added to the object and is displayed in the Actions panel. The ActionScript of a behavior For a sample about behaviors, see the Flash Samples page at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. Download and decompress the Samples zip file and navigate to the Behaviors\BehaviorsScrapbook folder to access the sample.
Page 395: Writing And Managing Scripts
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 396 FLASH CS3 User Guide For multiple parameters, separate the values with commas. For functions or statements, such as the loop, separate the parameters with semicolons. Overloaded commands (functions or methods that can be invoked with different sets of parameters) such as display an indicator that lets you select the parameter you want to set.
Page 397 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 398 Array methods and theArray properties appear, and so on. Instead of this technique, however, Adobe recommends that you use strict data typing or suffixes, because these techniques enable code hints automatically and make your code more understandable. Format code Your code can be formatted and indented automatically or manually.
Page 399 FLASH CS3 User Guide In the Preferences dialog box, select Auto Format. 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 •...
Page 400 FLASH CS3 User Guide Remove a comment Place the insertion point in the line that contains the comment, or select the block of code that is commented. 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.
Page 401 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 402 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 403 For more information about ActionScript 3.0 classes, see Classes in Programming ActionScript 3.0. For more information on compiling ActionScript 2.0 classes, see Compiling and exporting classes in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Check for punctuation balance Click between braces {}, brackets [], or parentheses () in your script.
Page 404 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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).
Page 405 FLASH CS3 User Guide See also “Debugging ActionScript 3.0” on page 410 “Debugging ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0” on page 400 Pin a script Click the Timeline so the script appears in a tab at the lower left of the Script pane in the Actions panel. Do one of the following: •...
Page 406: Debugging Actionscript 1.0 And 2.0
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 407 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 408 FLASH CS3 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. 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.
Page 409 FLASH CS3 User Guide Display a variable and its value In the Debugger’s display list, select the movie clip containing the variable. (To display global variables, select the clip in the display list.) _global 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.
Page 410 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 411 The breakpoints XML file When you work with breakpoints in the Script window, the AsBreakpoints.xml file lets you store breakpoint infor- mation. This file is written to the Local Settings directory, in the following locations: Hard Disk\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash Windows CS3\language\Configuration\Debugger\...
Page 412 FLASH CS3 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 wherever it is defined in the document. You can also continue through or exit out of the myFunction() function.
Page 413 FLASH CS3 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 statements to your code or use the List Objects and List Variables commands.
Page 414 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 415 FLASH CS3 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. If an instance name is specified for a text field, the Output panel shows the full target path including the instance name in the following form: Target = "target path"...
Page 416: Debugging Actionscript 3.0
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 417 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 418 FLASH CS3 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. Expand the tree view of the object structure of the FLA until you see the variable to view.
Page 419: Actionscript Publish Settings
FLASH CS3 User Guide Select File > Publish Settings. On the Flash tab of the Publish Settings dialog box, select Permit Debugging. Close the Publish Settings dialog box, and select one of the following commands: • File > Export > Export Movie •...
Page 420 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 421 Contains all of the built-in ActionScript 2.0 classes (AS files). Typical paths to this folder ActionScript classes folder are as follows: • Windows: Hard Disk\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS3\language\Configuration\Classes...
Page 422 Because it is in the application level, nonadministrative users do not have write access to this directory. Typical paths to this folder are as follows: • In Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Vista, browse to boot drive\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\language\Configuration\.
Page 423 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.
Page 424: Chapter 20: Publishing Flash Content
The Publish command also creates and copies detection files for Macromedia Flash 4 from Adobe and later. If you change publish settings, Flash saves the changes with the document. After you create a publish profile, export it to use in other documents, or for others working on the same project to use.
Page 425: Using Flash Player
To control Flash content in Flash Player, use menu commands and the function. For more infor- fscommand() mation, see Sending messages to and from Flash Player in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Use the Flash Player context menu to print Flash content frames. Playing Flash SWF files The Flash SWF file format is for deploying Flash content.
Page 426 Select File > Publish Settings, click Flash, and select a Player version from the Version pop-up menu. Not all Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional features work in published SWF files that target Flash Player versions earlier than Flash Player 9. To specify Flash Player detection, click HTML and select Flash Player 4 or later.
Page 427 The list of folders in which Flash searches for class definitions is called the classpath. Classpaths exist at the global, application, or document level. For more information about classpaths, see Classes in Learning Action- Script 2.0 in Adobe Flash. Select File > Publish Settings, and click Flash.
Page 428 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 429 FLASH CS3 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 Select File >...
Page 430 FLASH CS3 User Guide Emphasizes playback speed and appearance equally at first but sacrifices appearance for playback speed Auto High 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. Applies some anti-aliasing but does not smooth bitmaps.
Page 431 FLASH CS3 User Guide Browsers that support windowless modes Operating system Internet Explorer Netscape Other • Macintosh OS X 10.1.5 5.1 and 5.2 7.0 and later Opera 6 or later and 10.2 • Mozilla 1.0 or later • AOL/Compuserve • Windows 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 7.0 and later...
Page 432 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 433 FLASH CS3 User Guide Sets partial transparency. Enter a Threshold value between 0 and 255. A lower value results in greater trans- Alpha parency. A value of 128 corresponds to 50% transparency. To specify how pixels of available colors are combined to simulate colors not available in the current palette, select a Dither option.
Page 434 PNG is the only cross-platform bitmap format that supports transparency (an alpha channel). It is also the native file format for Adobe® Fireworks®. Flash exports the first frame in the SWF file as a PNG file, unless you mark a different keyframe for export by entering the label.
Page 435 FLASH CS3 User Guide Applies anti-aliasing to an exported bitmap to produce a higher-quality bitmap image and improve text Smooth 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.
Page 436 FLASH CS3 User Guide Computes a simple linear function of the three neighboring pixels (left, above, upper left), and selects the Path neighboring pixel closest to the computed value as a predictor of the color. Analyzes the colors in the image and creates a unique color table for the selected PNG file. Best for systems Adaptive showing thousands or millions of colors;...
Page 437: Developing Applications For Mobile Devices
Developing applications for mobile devices Publishing Flash Lite documents Adobe® Flash® Lite® lets Flash users create engaging content for mobile phones using the ActionScript scripting language, drawing tools, and templates. For detailed information on authoring for mobile devices, see Developing Flash Lite Applications and the Content Development Kits on the Mobile and Devices Development Center at www.adobe.com/go/devnet_devices...
Page 438: Configuring A Web Server For Flash
Device Central enables Flash users to preview how Flash files will look and function on a variety of mobile devices. In the past, it was difficult for Adobe Flash Lite developers to test the files they created on mobile devices. Testing content could take a significant amount of time, especially manually exporting and testing on target devices and returning to Flash to make necessary changes.
Page 439: Flash Security Features
(HTTPS) protocol, even when both protocols are in exactly the same domain. For more information about ensuring that content performs as expected with the new security model, see Under- standing security in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash.
Page 440: Using Publish Profiles
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 441: Html Publishing Templates
FLASH CS3 User Guide See also “Publishing overview” on page 418 Export a publish profile From the Current Profile pop-up menu (File > Publish Settings), select the publish profile to export. Click the Import/Export Profile button, and select Export. Export a publish profile as an XML file for import into other documents.
Page 442 Windows Explorer settings to see this folder. • Mac OS X 10.3 and later: Macintosh HD/Applications/Adobe Flash CS3/First Run/HTML. The boot drive is the drive from which Windows 2000 or Windows XP boots (usually C:). The user is the name of the person logged in to the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system.
Page 443 FLASH CS3 User Guide Attribute/parameter Template variable Height Movie HTML alignment Looping Parameters for object Parameters for embed Play Quality Scale Salign Wmode Devicefont Bgcolor Movie text (area to write movie text) Movie URL (location of SWF file URL) Image width (unspecified image type) Image height (unspecified image type)
Page 444 For example, insert the following code in a template: <img src=$IS usemap=$IU width=$IW height=$IH BORDER=0> This might produce the following code in the HTML document that the Publish command creates: <map name="mymovie"> <area coords="130,116,214,182" href="http://www.adobe.com"> </map> <img src="mymovie.gif" usemap="#mymovie" width=550 height=400 border=0> Creating text and URL reports template variable causes Flash to insert all the text from the current SWF file as a comment in the HTML code.
Page 445: Editing Flash Html Settings
XML string. Sample HTML template The following Default.HTML template file in Flash includes many of the commonly used template variables: $TTFlash Only Display Adobe Flash Movie in HTML. <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">...
Page 446 <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="100" height="100" codebase="http://fpdownload.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0 "> <param name="movie" value="moviename.swf"> <param name="play" value="true"> <param name="loop" value="true"> <param name="quality" value="high"> </object> For the...
Page 447 FLASH CS3 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 tags.
Page 448 (For example, the following sizes all have a 4:3 aspect ratio: 640 x 480 pixels, 320 x 240 pixels, and 240 x 180 pixels.) codebase attribute Value http://fpdownload.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0 Description Identifies the location of the Flash Player ActiveX control so that the browser can automatically download it if it is not already installed.
Page 449 FLASH CS3 User Guide (Optional) Specifies whether the browser should start Java when loading Flash Player for the first time. The default value is if this attribute is omitted. If you use JavaScript and Flash on the same page, Java must be running for false function to work.
Page 450 FLASH CS3 User Guide aliasing is turned off to improve playback speed. Use this setting to emulate the Antialias command (View > Preview Mode > Antialias). Applies some anti-aliasing and does not smooth bitmaps. It produces a better quality than the Low setting Medium but a lower quality than the High setting.
Page 451 (Macintosh) the application area in the browser. shows the full menu, which gives the user several options to enhance or control playback. true shows a menu that contains only the About Adobe Flash Player 6 option and the Settings option. false The default value is...
Page 452 FLASH CS3 User Guide Window | Opaque | Transparent Template variable: 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.
Page 453: 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.
Page 454 You can edit images exported as bitmaps in image editors such as Adobe® Photoshop®, but you can no longer edit them in vector-based drawing programs. • When you export a Flash file in the SWF format, text is encoded as Unicode, providing support for international character sets, including double-byte fonts.
Page 455 Adobe Illustrator Sequence and Illustrator Image When you export a Flash image as a vector-graphic file (in Adobe® Illustrator® format), you preserve its vector infor- mation. You can edit these files in other vector-based drawing programs, but you can’t import these images into most page-layout and word-processing programs.
Page 456 A PostScript printer can print an EPS file. You can include a bitmap preview with the exported EPS file for applications that can import and print the EPS files (such as Microsoft Word and Adobe® PageMaker®) but that can’t display them onscreen.
Page 457 Flash video (FLV) Import or export a static video stream with encoded audio. Use with communications applications, such as video conferencing and files that contain screen-share encoded data exported from Adobe’s Macromedia Flash Media Server. When you export video clips with streaming audio in FLV format, the Streaming Audio settings compress the audio.
Page 458 Color Depth 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.
Page 459 “Specify publish settings for QuickTime videos” on page 430 Exporting QuickTime For a video tutorial about exporting QuickTime, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0142. Select File > Export > Export Movie. Specify settings for the QuickTime movie to export. By default, QuickTime export creates a movie file using the same dimensions as the source Flash document, and exports the Flash document in its entirety.
Page 460 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 461: Chapter 22: Printing With Flash
Printing from the Flash authoring tool Print from Flash documents To preview and edit your documents, print frames from Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional documents, or specify frames to be printable from Flash Player by a viewer. When printing frames from a Flash document, use the Print dialog box to specify the range of scenes or frames to print and the number of copies.
Page 462 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 463 FLASH CS3 User Guide Additionally, with properties populated by the method, your document can access your user’s PrintJob.start() 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()
Page 464 FLASH CS3 User Guide If the user selects an option to begin printing, the ) method returns a value of . (The value PrintJob.start( true if the user cancels the print job, in which case the script should call only ).
Page 465 FLASH CS3 User Guide Note: Any ActionScript code that needs to be called to change a resulting printout must run before the method is called. The ActionScript can, however, run before or after a new PrintJob.addPage() . If a frame has a call to , the call itself does not guarantee that the Action- PrintJob()method PrintJob.addPage()
Page 466 FLASH CS3 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 •...
Page 467 FLASH CS3 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() methods for printing. However, to print targeting Flash Player 6 and earlier versions, back printAsBitmap() to Flash Player 4.0.25 (Windows) and 4.0.20 (Macintosh), use functions and frame...
Page 468 FLASH CS3 User Guide Select the frame in the Timeline that contains the shape to use for the bounding box. In the Property inspector (Window > Properties > Properties), enter 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.
Page 469 FLASH CS3 User Guide Disable printing in the Flash Player context menu Open or make active the Flash document (FLA file) to publish. Select the first keyframe in the main Timeline. Select Window > Properties > Properties to view the Property inspector. In the Property inspector, for Frame Label enter to specify the frame as nonprinting.
Page 470: Chapter 23: Best Practices
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 accom- plishing many common tasks.
Page 471 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 472: Organizing Actionscript In An Application
(such as overwriting files or working on old versions of a document). As with other documents, you can use these programs to organize the Flash documents outside Flash. See also “Adobe Version Cue” on page 82 “Projects and version control guidelines” on page 472 Organizing ActionScript in an application Keeping actions together Whenever possible, put your ActionScript in a single location.
Page 473: Behaviors Conventions
FLASH CS3 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;...
Page 474 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 475: Video Conventions
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 476 To keep your SWF file as small as possible, display video in a video object and create your own assets and code to control the video. Also consider using the FLVPlayback component in Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional, which has a smaller file size than Media components (Flash MX Professional 2004 and later).
Page 477 Flash content. Note: For Flash Player and FLV compatibility, see About using FLV video in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. • Check that your server supports the FLV mime type. For more information on FLV files on a server, see Config-...
Page 478: Projects And Version Control Guidelines
SourceSafe capabilities into your applications, which helps you keep backups of modified files. Note: Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional (and earlier) does not support Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for version control on the Macintosh.
Page 479: Flash Application Authoring Guidelines
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 480 FLASH CS3 User Guide The data is processed and sent back to the web server. The web server sends the results to the SWF file. The SWF file receives the formatted data. Your ActionScript processes the data so the application can use it. When you build an application, you must select a protocol for transferring data.
Page 481 Flash and ColdFusion, ASP.NET, Java, and more. You can also use Flash Remoting to consume web services. Web services Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional includes the WebSer- viceConnector component that lets you connect to remote web services, send and receive data, and bind results to components.
Page 482 FLASH CS3 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 blocks that let try-catch-finally...
Page 483 FLASH CS3 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. Handles the requirements of the model and view to process and display data, and typically contains The controller a lot of code.
Page 484: Accessibility Guidelines
FLASH CS3 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.
Page 485 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 486 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 487 For information on using Hi-Caption SE and the Hi-Caption Viewer component, see www.adobe.com/go/flash_extensions. This third-party extension lets you create captions that you save in an XML file and load into the SWF file at runtime, among other advanced controls. Alternatively, you can use cue points and a text field to display caption information.
Page 488: Advertising With Flash
No official tool is available for validating SWF files, unlike HTML validation. However, some third-party tools exist to help you validate the file. For more information on these extensions, see www.adobe.com/go/flash_extensions. Advertising with Flash Using recommended dimensions Use the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) guidelines to set dimensions for your Flash advertisements.
Page 489 In the tags in your HTML, you would add code similar to the following example (where object embed www.helpexamples.com is the ad network, and adobe.com is the company with an advertisement): <EMBED src="your_ad.swf?clickTAG= http://helpexamples.com/tracking?http://www.adobe.com">...
Page 490: Optimizing Fla Files For Swf Output
You can also compress a SWF file as you publish it. As you make changes, test your document by running it on a variety of computers, operating systems, and Internet connections. For a video tutorial about optimizing Flash content, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0140. See also “Creating and publishing Flash Video”...
Page 491 FLASH CS3 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. •...
Page 492 Note: The best bitmap format to import into Flash is PNG, which is the native file format of Macromedia Fireworks from Adobe. PNG files have RGB and alpha information for each pixel. If you import a Fireworks PNG file into Flash, you retain some ability to edit the graphic objects in the FLA file.
Page 493 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 494 For detailed information on caching button or movie clip instances see the following topics: • About caching and scrolling movie clips with ActionScript in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash • Caching a movie clip in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash...
Page 495 FLASH CS3 User Guide An application with a complex system of overlapping windows. Each window can be open or Windowing system 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.
Page 496 (recommended). For information on subclasses, see About writing a subclass in Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash. If you must restyle your components, you can improve efficiency in your application by using the Loader component. To implement several styles in different components, place each component in its own SWF file. If you change styles on the Loader component and reload the SWF file, the components in the SWF file are recreated.
Page 497 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 498 FLASH CS3 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;...
Page 499: Tips For Creating Content For Mobile Devices
FLASH CS3 User Guide • Select File > Open, and select a SWF file. 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. When viewing the SWF file, select View >...
Page 500 FLASH CS3 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 denom- inator. Optimizing mobile content requires making trade-offs. For example, one technique may make the content look better, while another results in better performance.
Page 501 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 502 FLASH CS3 User Guide 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. In the Compression pop-up menu, select one of the following options: •...
Page 503 FLASH CS3 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 ) before calling it.
Page 504 FLASH CS3 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.
Page 505 FLASH CS3 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;...
Page 506 FLASH CS3 User Guide The values specified for the name attributes in the tags are the names of classes that should be excluded <asset> from the SWF file. Add as many as required for the file. For example, the following XML file excludes the classes from the SWF file: mx.core.UIObject mx.screens.Slide...
Page 507: Index
394 descriptions for accessible Adobe Design Center 10 objects 358 ActionScript Adobe dialog box, in Version Cue 86 detecting screen reader with accessibility properties 362 ActionScript 363 Adobe Director, playing a Flash SWF class for screens 374...
Page 508 Advanced effect, for symbol features, availability of 85 instances 213 download simulation 493 icon visibility 91 After Effects. See Adobe After Effects file format 419 migrating to version CS3 93 AI files. See Adobe Illustrator files importing files into 134...
Page 509 Timeline 230 importing 155, 199 motion paths for 244 background color 53 in mobile devices 495 moving an entire 232 backing up Adobe Version Cue modifying filled areas 158 onion skinning 231 projects 120 preserving transparency when Play Once option 215...
Page 510 INDEX 504 brightness classes finding and replacing 77 adjusting in Illustrator 17 excluding from compilation 499 importing and exporting palettes 186 Brightness effect 213 classid attribute 441 in Actions toolbox 394 Bring Forward classpaths 414 optimizing 485 behavior 225 Clear command 200 saving current palette as command 200 Clear Keyframe command 70, 231...
Page 511 27 variables 402 direction lines and points, about 170 customizing in Flash Player 415 Watch list 403 Director. See Adobe Director for screens 369 debugger for ActionScript 410 Disconnect command, in Version context sensitive Help 4 debugging 410, 411...
Page 512 336 tools, about 165 Enable Simple Buttons configuring in Component Union command 163 command 221 inspector 338 Dreamweaver. See Adobe encoding text 397 Drag objects, adding and Dreamweaver removing 338 Enhanced Metafile files (Windows) Drop Shadow filter 252...
Page 513 61 Flash MX format, saving as 54 importing 138 opening, with version control 64 Flash Player. See Adobe Flash Player Erase blending mode 257 saving, in projects 62 Flash Project panel 60 Eraser tool 179...
Page 514 Frames button, in Edit Envelope 294 grayscale images removing 341 Free Transform tool 203 in imported FreeHand files 138 Hot Spot interaction FreeHand. See Adobe FreeHand grids 26 asset names 336 FTP Proxy server, specifying in grids, about 25 configuring in the Component...
Page 515 21 and accessible objects 356 Shortcut option, on Accessibility identifiers, assigning to sounds 156 for screens 378 panel 356 Illustrator. See Adobe Illustrator Instance Properties dialog box 213 Keyframe command 69, 228, 230 images instances, symbol keyframes exporting 447...
Page 516 INDEX 510 organizing 39 libraries linked files renaming 38 assets, resolving conflicts in Version Cue 105 between 217 layers linking text blocks 270 common 68 about 36 Links palette components in 64 Add Layer button 36 replacing placed files with previous creating permanent 68 versions 106 adding layer folder 37...
Page 517 42 New Symbol command 209 MENU parameter publish Find text box 42 settings 423 instance information 215 migrating to Adobe Version Cue instances in 215 CS3 93 objects MIME types options menu 43 accessibility options, defining 358...
Page 518 467 groups 116 Library 40 Orient to Path option, for motion Photo Slideshow template 80 Mixer 188 tweening 243 Photoshop. See Adobe Photoshop moving 19 outlines PICT files Scene 75 changing color on layers 37 exporting 451...
Page 519 Bitmaps on clipboard 30 modifying 413 stand-alone movie 420 clipboard 30 publishing projects Drawing Settings options 163 about 53 See also Adobe Version Cue editing 31 projects 62 projects Font Mapping Default 29 punctuation balance, checking adding a file 61 for 397...
Page 520 INDEX 514 revealing Scene panel 75 Radial Gradient option 189 previous versions 110 scenes Raw compression, for sound 296 Version Cue files, in Bridge 102 best practices 74, 465 reading order Reverse command, for animation 231 changing order of 75 in Accessibility panel 359 Revert command 54 pasting into 199...
Page 521 INDEX 515 default screen and instance moving statements in 387 Smooth modifier 179 names 372 resizing 383 Straighten modifier 179 deleting 372 Script window Send Backward document structure and about 382, 383 behavior 225 hierarchy 367, 369 about breakpoints XML file 405 command 200 document types 366 coding in 384...
Page 522 INDEX 516 Silicon Graphics files, importing 134 in library 292 still images Simulate Download command 493 looping 293 about 234 Single Frame option 215 looping to reduce file size 297 exporting 447 Single Line option, for dynamic options menu 292 Stop Dragging Movieclip text 267 behavior 225...
Page 523 INDEX 517 Swatches panel synchronizing projects 62 Add Colors option 186 files, in Version Cue 112 sounds 296 loading default 185 sounds 293 text Replace Colors option 186 syntax aliasing 262 Save Colors option 186 checking 397 alignment 272 sorting 185 color options, setting in the anti-aliasing 485 Actions panel 394...
Page 524 34 for 46 Eyedropper 193 dragging 34, 230 troubleshooting Free Transform 203 editing 230, 231 Adobe Version Cue 128 Hand 24 frame display, changing 35 troubleshooting. See debugging Ink Bottle 189 frames, deleting 230 True or False interaction keyboard shortcuts for 130...
Page 525 206 exporting 454 troubleshooting remote folder Ungroup command 201 setup 64 importing 291 Unicode Version Cue. See Adobe Version Cue Web 216 color palette 427 about 279 versions Web hosting, preparing learning Flash Player support 280 interactions for 348...
Page 526 INDEX 520 XMLConnector component multilanguage text 290 Zoom tool 24 zooming 24...

This manual is also suitable for:

Flash cs3 professional

Adobe FLASH CS3 PRO User Manual

Chapter 1: Getting Started

Chapter 2: Workspace

Chapter 3: Creating and Managing Documents

Chapter 4: Adobe Version Cue

Chapter 5: Using Imported Artwork

Chapter 6: Drawing

Chapter 7: Working with Color, Strokes, and Fills

Chapter 8: Working with Graphic Objects

Chapter 9: Using Symbols, Instances, and Library Assets

Chapter 10: Creating Animation

Chapter 11: Special Effects

Chapter 12: Working with Text

Chapter 13: Creating Multilanguage Text

Chapter 14: Working with Sound

Chapter 15: Working with Video

Chapter 16: Creating E-Learning Content

Chapter 17: Creating Accessible Content

Chapter 18 : Working with Screens

Chapter 19: Actionscript

Chapter 20: Publishing Flash Content

Chapter 21: Exporting from Flash

Chapter 22: Printing with Flash

Chapter 23: Best Practices

Index

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Summary of Contents for Adobe FLASH CS3 PRO

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Table of Contents