Adobe FLASH CS3 PRO User manual

USER GUIDE
PROFESSIONAL
ADOBE®FLASH®CS3

Copyright
© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Using Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional for Windows® and Macintosh
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decoder for real time or live broadcasts, you are responsible for obtaining this mp3 technology license. Speech compression and decompression technology licensed from Nelly-
moser, Inc. (www.nellymoser.com) Flash CS3 video is powered by On2 TrueMotion video technology. © 1992-2005 On2 Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Sorenson Spark™ video compression and decompression technology licensed from Sorenson Media, Inc.
Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95110, USA.
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the preceding sentence shall be incorporated by reference.

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Contents
Chapter 1: Getting started
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Using Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
What’s new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2: Workspace
Flash workflow and workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Using the Stage and Tools panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Using Flash authoring panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Accessibility in the Flash workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Undo, redo, and history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Automating tasks with the Commands menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 3: Creating and managing documents
Working with Flash documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Creating and previewing mobile content with Adobe Device Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Working with projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Adding media to the library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Working with timelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Working with scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Find and Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 4: Adobe Version Cue
Working with Adobe Version Cue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Working with the Version Cue Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Working with Version Cue projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Working with files in Version Cue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Version Cue versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Editing and synchronizing offline files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Version Cue Server Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Version Cue PDF reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Chapter 5: Using imported artwork
Placing artwork into Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Working with Illustrator AI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Working with Photoshop PSD files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Imported bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

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Chapter 6: Drawing
Drawing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Using Flash drawing and painting tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Drawing with the Pen tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Reshaping lines and shape outlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Chapter 7: Working with color, strokes, and fills
Working with color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Modifying color palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Strokes, fills, and gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Chapter 8: Working with graphic objects
About graphic objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Selecting objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Moving, copying, and deleting objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Arranging objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Transforming objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Chapter 9: Using symbols, instances, and library assets
Working with symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Working with symbol instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Library assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Using shared library assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Working with button symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Scaling and caching symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Symbols and ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Chapter 10: Creating animation
Animation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Using Timeline effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Tweened animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Chapter 11: Special effects
About filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
About blend modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Chapter 12: Working with text
Text and fonts in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Creating text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Setting text attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Chapter 13: Creating multilanguage text
Creating multilanguage text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Encoding text formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Authoring multilanguage text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
XML file format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Multilanguage text and ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

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Chapter 14: Working with sound
Using sounds in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Exporting Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Sound and ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Chapter 15: Working with video
Creating and publishing Flash Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Importing and modifying Flash Video files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
About digital video and Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Encoding video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Working with Premier Pro and After Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Using ActionScript to play external Flash Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Chapter 16: Creating e-learning content
Getting started with Flash e-learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Including a Flash learning interaction in a document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Adding, naming, and registering assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Configuring learning interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Changing the appearance of a learning interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Tracking to AICC- or SCORM-compliant learning management systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Extending learning interaction scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Chapter 17: Creating accessible content
About accessible content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Using Flash to enter accessibility information for screen readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Specifying advanced accessibility options for screen readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Creating accessibility with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Chapter 18: Working with screens
Screen-based documents and the screen authoring environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Working with screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Adding content to screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Chapter 19: ActionScript
Working with ActionScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Script Assist mode and behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
Writing and managing scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Debugging ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Debugging ActionScript 3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
ActionScript publish settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Chapter 20: Publishing Flash content
Publishing Flash documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Using Flash Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Developing applications for mobile devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Configuring a web server for Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
Flash security features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
Using publish profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

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HTML publishing templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Editing Flash HTML settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Chapter 21: Exporting from Flash
About exporting from Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Exporting Flash content, images, and video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Chapter 22: Printing with Flash
Printing from the Flash authoring tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
Chapter 23: Best practices
Structuring FLA files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
Organizing ActionScript in an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
Behaviors conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Video conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Projects and version control guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
Flash application authoring guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
Accessibility guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
Advertising with Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Optimizing FLA files for SWF output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
Tips for creating content for mobile devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

1
Chapter 1: Getting started
If you haven’t installed your new software, begin by reading some information on installation and other prelimi-
naries. Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to read an overview of Adobe® Help and
of the many resources available to users. You have access to instructional videos, plug-ins, templates, user commu-
nities, seminars, tutorials, RSS feeds, and much more.
Installation
Requirements
❖To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software, see the Read Me file
on the installation DVD.
Install the software
1Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.
2Insert the installation disc into your DVD drive, and follow the on-screen instructions.
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.
For more information on product activation, see the Read Me file on your installation DVD, or visit the Adobe
website at www.adobe.com/go/activation.
1If the Activation dialog box isn’t already open, choose Help > Activate.
2Follow the on-screen instructions.
Note: If you want to install the software on a different computer, you must first deactivate it on your computer. Choose
Help > Deactivate.
Register
Register your product to receive complimentary installation support, notifications of updates, and other services.
❖To register, follow the on-screen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which appears after you install and
activate the software.
If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.
Change or reinstall Flash Player
1Close your browser.
2Remove any currently installed version of the player.

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For instructions, see TechNote 14157 on the Adobe® Flash® Support Center at www.adobe.com/go/tn_14157.
3To begin installation, run one of the following in your Players folder:
•For the ActiveX control for Windows® (Internet Explorer or AOL), run the Install Flash Player 9 AX.exe file.
•For the plug-in for Windows (CompuServe, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, or Opera), run the Install Flash Player
9.exe file.
•For the plug-in for Macintosh® (AOL, CompuServe, Firefox, Internet Explorer for Macintosh, Netscape, Opera, or
Safari), run Install Flash Player 9 (Mac OS 9.x) or Install Flash Player 9 OS X (Mac OS X.x).
Note: To verify installation in Netscape, select Help > About Plug-ins from within the browser.
Using Help
About Flash Help
The Flash Help panel (Help > Flash Help) contains the full set of user-assistance information provided with Flash.
To view a Help topic, click its title in the table of contents. Above the topic, you can see its relative location in the
hierarchy of topics.
You can hide the table of contents. To display it again, click the Table of Contents button . When you search Help,
the returned topics take the place of the table of contents. To redisplay the table of contents, click Clear.
The Help panel also displays context-sensitive reference information that you access from the Actions panel.
Adobe Help resources
Documentation for your Adobe software is available in a variety of formats.
In-product and LiveDocs Help
In-product Help provides access to all documentation and instructional content available at the time the software
ships. It is available through the Help menu in your Adobe software.

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LiveDocs Help includes all the content from in-product Help, plus updates and links to additional instructional
content available on the web. For some products, you can also add comments to the topics in LiveDocs Help. Find
LiveDocs Help for your product in the Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documentation.
Most versions of in-product and LiveDocs Help let you search across the Help systems of multiple products. Topics
may also contain links to relevant content on the web or to topics in the Help of another product.
Think of Help, both in the product and on the web, as a hub for accessing additional content and communities of
users. The most complete and up-to-date version of Help is always on the web.
PDF documentation
The in-product Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for printing. Other documents, such as installation
guides and white papers, may also be provided as PDFs.
All PDF documentation is available through the Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documen-
tation. To see the PDF documentation included with your software, look in the Documents folder on the installation
or content DVD.
Printed documentation
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.
Searching Flash Help
Flash can search all Flash Help systems or a single Help system (such as Using Flash).
You can also search the text of a single topic: Click in the topic to give it focus and press Ctrl+F (Windows) or
Command+F (Macintosh).

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You can search Flash Help for a combination of words and phrases:
Single-word searches Return a list of help pages that contain the specified word. For example, if you type timeline
in the search text field, Flash returns a list of help pages that contain the word timeline or Timeline.
Multiple-word searches Return a list of help pages that each contain all of the search terms you enter. In this case,
the word and is implicit in the search. For example, if you type movie clip in the search text field, Flash returns a
list of pages that contain both movie and clip—that is, clip movie, movie clip,movie...clip, and so on.
Explicit AND/OR searches Use the words and or or to refine the search results. For example, if you type timeline
and keyframe or tween in the search text field, Flash returns a list of help pages that contain timeline and keyframe
and help pages that contain timeline and tween.
Exact phrase searches Use quotation marks to return only pages that contain the specific phrase you enter. For
example, if you type “motion tween” in the search text field, Flash returns a list of help pages that contain the phrase
motion tween, but not pages that contain separate instances of motion and tween.
Exact phrase with explicit AND/OR searches Use a combination of quotation marks and the words and or or to
further refine your searches. For example, if you type “motion tween” and “ActionScript” in the search field,
Flash returns a list of pages that contain both the phrase motion tween and the word ActionScript.
Access context-sensitive Help from the Actions panel
1To select an item for reference, do any of the following:
•Select an item in the Actions panel toolbox pane (on the left side of the Actions panel).
•Select an ActionScript term in the Actions panel in the Script pane.
•Place the insertion point before an ActionScript term in the Actions panel in the Script pane.
2To open the Help panel reference page for the selected item, do one of the following:
•Press F1.
•Right-click the item and select View Help.
•Click Help above the Script pane.
Choosing the right Help documents
Flash Help contains many documents. The following list describes each document’s purpose and contents:
•Using Flash contains an introduction to what Flash is, what you can do with it, and how the Flash user interface
works. It also contains detailed information about using all of the tools and features in the Flash authoring tool.
•Programming ActionScript 3.0 provides a detailed description of the ActionScript 3.0 language, intended for
beginning and experienced scripters. Programming ActionScript 3.0 explains the basic concepts of writing code,
including how to use logic to write code that makes decisions, how to make your Flash projects respond to user
actions, and how to write code to perform the most common tasks in Flash. ActionScript 3.0 is faster and more
appropriate for computationally intensive applications than ActionScript 2.0, and is somewhat more complex than
ActionScript 2.0.
•The ActionScript 3.0 Language and Components Reference includes dictionary-style entries for all of the actions,
methods, and properties in the ActionScript 3.0 application programming interface (API), as well as the APIs for
the ActionScript 3.0 components included with Flash. This reference is a fast way to find specific ActionScript
terms to accomplish specific tasks. Each entry includes details of the term’s syntax and functionality, and code
examples.

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•Using ActionScript 3.0 Components contains information on using and configuring ActionScript 3.0 components
in a Flash document. Components are reusable user interface elements such as buttons, menus, and so on, that you
can use in your own projects without having to create and script them yourself. Some components do not have a
visual presence, but instead help you store and manage data for your application. This document also contains
information about creating your own reusable components with ActionScript 3.0.
•Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash provides a detailed description of the ActionScript 2.0 language, intended
for both new and more experienced scripters. Learning ActionScript 2.0 in Adobe Flash describes the basic
concepts of writing code, including which scripts you can use in Flash, when to use each type, how to use logic to
write code that makes decisions, how to make your Flash projects respond to user actions, and how to write
specific code to perform the most common tasks in Flash.
•The ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference includes dictionary-style entries for all of the actions, methods, and
properties in the ActionScript 2.0 application programming interface (API). This reference is a fast way to find
specific ActionScript terms to accomplish specific tasks. Each entry includes details of the term’s syntax and
functionality, as well as code examples.
•Using ActionScript 2.0 Components contains information on using and configuring components in a Flash
document. Components are reusable user interface elements such as buttons, menus, and so on, that you can use
in your own projects without having to create and script them yourself. Some components do not have a visual
presence, but instead help you store and manage data for your application. These documents also contain infor-
mation about creating your own reusable components with ActionScript.
•ActionScript 2.0 Components Language Reference includes dictionary-style entries for all of the methods and
properties that are available to each component included with Flash. You control the behavior of components with
these APIs. After you understand the basics of how to use components, this reference is a fast way to find specific
APIs that can help you accomplish specific tasks.
•Extending Flash describes how to add functionality and automation to the Flash authoring tool with custom
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.
•Developing Flash Lite 2.x Applications provides techniques and guidelines for creating content and applications for
Flash Lite 2.x, the most current version of Adobe® Flash® Player designed for mobile phones and other devices.
Because Flash Lite 2.x supports different features than the desktop version of Flash Player, techniques for creating
content for Flash Lite are different from techniques for creating Flash desktop content.
•Introduction to Flash Lite 2.x ActionScript describes in detail the ActionScript features available in Flash Lite 2.x
and explains how to accomplish common scripting tasks when using Flash Lite 2.x.
•Flash Lite 2.x ActionScript Language Reference provides dictionary-style entries for all of the actions, methods, and
properties available in Flash Lite 2.x. Each entry includes the details of the term’s syntax and functionality, as well
as sample code.
•Getting Started with Flash Lite 1.x provides an introduction to the process of developing content with Flash Lite
1.x for delivery on mobile phones and devices. Flash Lite 1.x supports a subset of ActionScript 1.0.
•Developing Flash Lite 1.x Applications provides techniques and guidelines for creating content and applications for
Flash Lite 1.x, the first version of Flash Player designed for mobile phones and other devices. Because Flash Lite
1.x supports different features than the desktop version of Flash Player, techniques for creating content for Flash
Lite 1.x are different from techniques for creating Flash desktop content.
•Learning Flash Lite 1.x ActionScript describes in detail the ActionScript features available in Flash Lite 1.0 and 1.1
and explains how to perform common scripting tasks when using Flash Lite 1.x.

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•Flash Lite 1.x ActionScript Language Reference provides dictionary-style entries for all of the actions, methods, and
properties available in Flash Lite 1.0 and 1.1. Each entry includes the details of the term’s syntax and functionality,
as well as sample code.
Resources
Adobe Video Workshop
The Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop offers over 200 training videos covering a wide range of subjects for
print, web, and video professionals.
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.

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When you start the Adobe Video Workshop, you choose the products you want to learn and the subjects you want
to view. You can see details about each video to focus and direct your learning.
Community of presenters
With this release, Adobe Systems invited the community of its users to share their expertise and insights. Adobe and
lynda.com present tutorials, tips, and tricks from leading designers and developers such as Joseph Lowery, Katrin
Eismann, and Chris Georgenes. You can see and hear Adobe experts such as Lynn Grillo, Greg Rewis, and Russell
Brown. In all, over 30 product experts share their knowledge.
Tutorials and source files
The Adobe Video Workshop includes training for novices and experienced users. You’ll also find videos on new
features and key techniques. Each video covers a single subject and typically runs about 3-5 minutes. Most videos
come with an illustrated tutorial and source files, so you can print detailed steps and try the tutorial on your own.
Using Adobe Video Workshop
You can access Adobe Video Workshop using the DVD included with your Creative Suite 3 product. It’s also available
online at www.adobe.com/go/learn_videotutorials. Adobe will regularly add new videos to the online Video
Workshop, so check in to see what’s new.
Flash CS3 Professional videos
Adobe Video Workshop covers a wide range of subjects for Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional, including these:
•Drawing with the Pen tool
•Creating animations using motion tweens
•Creating and animating masks
•Getting started with ActionScript 3.0

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•Using the Flash Video Encoder
Videos also show you how to use Flash CS3 with other Adobe components:
•Using symbols effectively between Illustrator® and Flash
•Understanding the Fireworks® and Flash workflow
•Designing websites with Flash and Photoshop
•Creating mobile content in Flash
To access Adobe Creative Suite 3 video tutorials, visit Adobe Video Workshop at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_videotutorials.
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. Unique extras are also offered online by the Adobe Exchange
community, at www.adobe.com/go/exchange.
Installed resources
During software installation, a number of resources are placed in your application folder. To view those files, navigate
to the application folder on your computer.
•Windows®: [startup drive]/Program files/Adobe/Adobe [application]
•Mac OS®: [startup drive]/Applications/Adobe [application]
The application folder may contain the following resources:
Plug-ins Plug-in modules are small software programs that extend or add features to your software. Once installed,
plug-in modules appear as options in the Import or Export menu; as file formats in the Open, Save As, and Export
Original dialog boxes; or as filters in the Filter submenus. For example, a number of special effects plug-ins are
automatically installed in the Plug-ins folder inside the Photoshop CS3 folder.
Presets Presets include a wide variety of useful tools, preferences, effects, and images. Product presets include
brushes, swatches, color groups, symbols, custom shapes, graphic and layer styles, patterns, textures, actions,
workspaces, and more. Preset content can be found throughout the user interface. Some presets (for example,
Photoshop Brush libraries) become available only when you select the corresponding tool. If you don’t want to create
an effect or image from scratch, go to the preset libraries for inspiration.
Templates Template files can be opened and viewed from Adobe Bridge, opened from the Welcome Screen, or
opened directly from the File menu. Depending on the product, template files range from letterheads, newsletters,

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and websites to DVD menus and video buttons. Each template file is professionally constructed and represents a
best-use example of product features. Templates can be a valuable resource when you need to jump-start a project.
Samples Sample files include more complicated designs and are a great way to see new features in action. These files
demonstrate the range of creative possibilities available to you.
Fonts Several OpenType® fonts and font families are included with your Creative Suite product. Fonts are copied to
your computer during installation:
•Windows: [startup drive]/Program Files/Common Files/Adobe/Fonts
•Mac OS X: [startup drive]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts
For information about installing fonts, see the Read Me file on the installation DVD.
DVD content
The installation or content DVD included with your product contains additional resources for use with your
software. The Goodies folder contains product-specific files such as templates, images, presets, actions, plug-ins, and
effects, along with subfolders for Fonts and Stock Photography. The Documentation folder contains a PDF version
of the Help, technical information, and other documents such as specimen sheets, reference guides, and specialized
feature information.
Adobe Exchange
For more free content, visit www.adobe.com/go/exchange, an online community where users download and share
thousands of free actions, extensions, plug-ins, and other content for use with Adobe products.
Bridge Home
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.
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Adobe Design Center
Adobe Design Center offers articles, inspiration, and instruction from industry experts, top designers and Adobe
publishing partners. New content is added monthly.
You can find hundreds of tutorials for design products and learn tips and techniques through videos, HTML
tutorials, and sample book chapters.

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New ideas are the heart of Think Tank, Dialog Box, and Gallery:
•Think Tank articles consider how today’s designers engage with technology and what their experiences mean for
design, design tools, and society.
•In Dialog Box, experts share new ideas in motion graphics and digital design.
•The Gallery showcases how artists communicate design in motion.
Visit Adobe Design Center at www.adobe.com/designcenter.
Adobe Developer Center
Adobe Developer Center provides samples, tutorials, articles, and community resources for developers who build
rich Internet applications, websites, mobile content, and other projects using Adobe products. The Developer Center
also contains resources for developers who develop plug-ins for Adobe products.
In addition to sample code and tutorials, you'll find RSS feeds, online seminars, SDKs, scripting guides, and other
technical resources.
Visit Adobe Developer Center at www.adobe.com/go/developer.
Customer support
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.
Downloads
Visit www.adobe.com/go/downloads to find free updates, tryouts, and other useful software. In addition, the Adobe
Store (at www.adobe.com/go/store) provides access to thousands of plug-ins from third-party developers, helping
you to automate tasks, customize workflows, create specialized professional effects, and more.

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Adobe Labs
Adobe Labs gives you the opportunity to experience and evaluate new and emerging technologies and products from
Adobe.
At Adobe Labs, you have access to resources such as these:
•Prerelease software and technologies
•Code samples and best practices to accelerate your learning
•Early versions of product and technical documentation
•Forums, wiki-based content, and other collaborative resources to help you interact with like-minded developers
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.
Visit Adobe Labs at www.adobe.com/go/labs.
User communities
User communities feature forums, blogs, and other avenues for users to share technologies, tools, and information.
Users can ask questions and find out how others are getting the most out of their software. User-to-user forums are
available in English, French, German, and Japanese; blogs are posted in a wide range of languages.
To participate in forums or blogs, visit www.adobe.com/communities.
What’s new
New features
The following features are new to Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional.
CS3 Interface
The Flash user interface is updated to share a common interface with other Adobe Creative Suite CS3 components.
A consistent appearance across all Adobe software helps users work more easily with multiple applications. See
“Workspace” on page 15.
Adobe Bridge and Version Cue
Organize and browse Flash and other creative assets using Adobe Bridge, an independent file-management system
that you can launch from within Flash. Through Adobe Bridge, you can automate workflows across Adobe Creative
Suite components, apply consistent color settings across Adobe software, and access version control features and
online stock photo purchase services. A Welcome screen provides centralized control of settings, as well as ongoing
access to tips and tutorials in Adobe Design Center. See “Adobe Version Cue” on page 82.
Bitmap Symbol Library Item dialog box
The Bitmap Symbol Library Item dialog box has been enlarged to provide a larger preview of the bitmap. See “Using
symbols, instances, and library assets” on page 207.

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Multicolored bounding boxes
You can change the selection color of specific types of elements to identify each element easily. See “Get information
about instances on the Stage” on page 215.
Adobe Device Central
A new way to test content created with Adobe products on emulated mobile devices, Device Central lets you select
a target device from the beginning of the development process, and gives you a clear idea of what a device’s limita-
tions are. See “Developing applications for mobile devices” on page 431.
Active content detections
To eliminate the need to first activate Flash Player so that users can interact with Flash content, Flash publishes
HTML templates that you can use to embed Flash SWF files. Using these templates, embedded SWF files are
activated seamlessly without the need for an additional mouse click or other user activation. See “Publishing Flash
documents” on page 418.
9-slice onstage preview
Because 9-slice scaling now provides onstage preview, you can see changes and adjustments to 9-slice scaled movie
clips on stage. See “About 9-slice scaling and movie clip symbols” on page 222.
Filter copy and paste
You can now copy and paste graphic filter settings from one instance to another. See “Apply filters” on page 250.
Copy and paste motion
Copy and paste motion lets you copy a motion tween and paste (or apply) the frames, tween, and symbol information
to another object. When pasting the motion tween to another object, you can choose to paste all properties
associated with the motion tween, or choose specific properties to apply to the other object. See “Copy and paste a
motion tween” on page 232.
Copy motion as ActionScript 3.0
In addition to copying the properties of one motion tween and applying those properties to another object, you can
copy the properties that define a motion tween in the Timeline as ActionScript 3.0 and apply that motion to another
symbol, either in the Actions panel or in the source files (such as class files) for a Flash document that uses Action-
Script 3.0. See “Copy motion as ActionScript” on page 233.
Pen tool enhancements
The Pen tool has been improved.
•The Pen tool now behaves similarly to the Illustrator Pen tool to provide a more consistent user experience across
Adobe software
•The cubic-to-quadratic conversion is now more efficient, resulting in better accuracy and fewer points.
See “Drawing with the Pen tool” on page 172.
Adobe Photoshop import
You can now import Adobe Photoshop PSD files directly into Flash documents. Most Photoshop data types are
supported, and several import options are provided so that you can find the best balance of image fidelity and
editability within Flash. See “Import Photoshop PSD files” on page 149.

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Adobe Illustrator import
You can now import Adobe Illustrator AI files directly into Flash documents. Most Illustrator data types are
supported, and several import options are provided so that you can find the best balance of image fidelity and
editability within Flash. See “Import Adobe Illustrator files” on page 140.
Primitive Rectangle and Oval drawing tools
New Rectangle and Oval drawing tools let you create rectangles and ovals whose properties (such as stroke or corner
radius) you can edit at any time in the Property inspector. See “Draw rectangles and ovals” on page 166.
Enhanced Quicktime video support
QuickTime export is intended for users who want to distribute Flash content, such as animation, in the QuickTime
video format. 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.
Save and load cue points for Flash video
Save and load functionality has been added to the Cue Points tab to allow you to save the cue points added to one
file and apply them to another. You can generate a cue points XML file based on known time codes and import it
into the encoder before encoding, eliminating the need to manually add each cue point through the Flash Video
Encoder user interface. See Flash Video Encoder Help.
Script Assist mode for ActionScript 3.0
Script Assist mode has been updated to include support for ActionScript 3.0. See “Script Assist mode and behaviors”
on page 386.
Improvements in ActionScript
Flash has a new, improved version of ActionScript. ActionScript 3.0 offers a robust programming model familiar to
developers with a basic knowledge of object-oriented programming. ActionScript 3.0 facilitates the creation of
highly complex applications with large data sets and object-oriented, reusable code bases. While ActionScript 3.0 is
not required for content that runs in Adobe Flash Player 9, it allows performance improvements that are available
only with the new ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM2). ActionScript 3.0 code can execute up to ten times faster
than legacy ActionScript code.
The older version of ActionScript Virtual Machine, AVM1, executes ActionScript 1.0 and ActionScript 2.0 code.
Flash Player 9 supports AVM1 for backward compatibility with existing and legacy content.
To learn about ActionScript 3.0, see Programming ActionScript 3.0.