Take A Tour Of The User Interface - MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004-LEARNING FLASH Manual

Take a tour of the user interface

First you'll open the starting FLA file that you'll use to complete this lesson. Each lesson includes
one start file, and a finished file that demonstrates how the FLA file should appear upon
completion of the lessons.
To open your start file, in Flash select File > Open and navigate to the file:
1.
On Windows 2000 or XP, browse to boot drive\ Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\language\Configuration\ HelpPanel\
HowDoI\ QuickTasks\start_files and double-click document_start.fla.
Note: If the Application Data folder is hidden, you'll need to change your Windows Explorer
settings to see the folder.
On Windows 98, browse to boot drive\Windows\ Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX
2004\language\Configuration\HelpPanel\ HowDoI\QuickTasks\start_files and double-click
document_start.fla.
On Macintosh, browse to Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Application Support/Macromedia/
Flash MX 2004/language/Configuration/HelpPanel/HowDoI/QuickTasks/start_files and
double-click document_start.fla.
Note: The QuickTasks\finished_files folder contains completed versions of lesson FLA files, for
your reference.
The document opens in the Flash authoring environment. The document already includes two
layers in the Timeline. To learn more about layers, select Help > How Do I > Basic Flash >
Work with Layers.
One of the layers is a guide layer, which assists you in placing objects on the Stage. The other
layer is a content layer in which to place the objects that will compose your document.
Note: Guide layers do not appear in the Flash content that you test or publish.
Select File > Save As and save the document with a new name, in the same folder, to preserve
2.
the original start file.
As you complete this lesson, remember to save your work frequently.
Select panel sets and arrange panels
The Training Layout panel set arranges your workspace in a way that facilitates taking lessons.
You'll use this layout for all lessons that you take in Flash.
•
Select Window > Panel Sets > Training Layout.
You can move panels around, and resize them, as follows:
You can undock a panel by clicking the upper left corner of the panel, in the Title bar, and
dragging the panel to another location in the work area.
If the panel snaps against a border, it is docked in a new location (or docked in the same
location, if you moved it back). Otherwise, the panel is undocked.
You can resize an undocked panel by dragging the lower right edge out to enlarge the panel.
14 Chapter 1: Create a Document