Macromedia®
Flash
MX
DeskCard
®
Win Version
©
Flash MX Screen At A Glance
Title Bar
DeskCardHints
Menu Bar
To Create a New Movie and Set its properties,
Click File on the Menu Bar, then New. The Property
Inspector will show the Movie Properties. For Frame
Rate, enter the number of animation frames to be
displayed every second – for most computerdisplayed animations, especially those from a Web
site, 8 fps (frames per second) to 12 fps (default) is
sufficient. For Size, choose from the following: To
specify Stage size in Pixels, enter values for width
and height; To set Stage so that there is equal space
around the content on all sides, click Match
Contents (place all elements in upper left corner first
to minimize movie size); To set the Stage size to the
maximum available print area, click Match Printer,
which is the paper size minus the selected margin
size. To set background color, choose a color from
the Background Color Swatch. Select the unit of
measure from the Ruler Units pop-up menu. Finally,
when publishing, specify version of Flash Player and
other preferences by pressing Publish. Click OK.
Timeline
Tools
Window
Property Inspector
Stage
Floating Panels
To View or Hide Panels: If you feel your workspace is getting too cluttered, you can quickly close all panels. From
the Menu Bar, click Window > Close All Panels and all will be minimized. To restore each individual panel, click the
individual Panel’s title bar. You can also quickly restore individual panels using keyboard shortcuts.
Tools Window At A Glance
TOOLS WINDOW Buttons
Tool Tips:
Arrow
Subselect
Line
Lasso
Pen
Text
Oval
Pencil
Free
Transform
Ink Bottle
Dropper
Hand
Timeline Basics
Timeline is an object that contains the sequence of frames, layouts and scenes composing an animation.
Show All Layers
Show / Hide All
as Outline
Layers
Lock / Unlock
Timeline Header
Frame View
Show/Hide
All Layers
Timeline
Playhead
To Quickly Copy an
Object or Drawing,
Rectangle
choose the Arrow
Tool and click and Layers
Brush
drag the mouse
Fill Transform over the object.
Insert
The object will
Layer
highlight.
Press
Elapsed Time
Paint Bucket
Onion Skin
Delete
Add Motion
the <Alt> key and
Frame Rate
Layer
Buttons
Guide
Eraser
click and drag a
Current Frame
Insert Layer Folder Center Frame
copy to the new
To Insert a Layer: Click the New Layer Button in
To Create Frame-by-Frame Animation: Insert a
location.
Zoom
the timeline.
keyframe in the selected layer, place an object on the
More tips on the
reverse page.
Color:
Line
Fill
Can’t see the Tool
Window? Click
Window on the
Menu Bar and Click
Tools.
Use Save As… To Ensure Compatibility With
earlier versions of Flash. Once file is done, Click File
> Save As… and under the “Save as type” option
save the document in the Flash 5 document format.
This allows you to share files between MX and 5.
Colors:
Default
Swap
No Color
Tool Modifiers:
These tool options change
based upon currently
selected tool.
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To Insert a Frame: Click an empty frame in the
timeline and Click Insert on the Menu Bar. To
Insert Frame then Click Frame (or press <F5>),
or you can choose Keyframe (<F6> or Blank
Keyframe <F7>).
stage. Insert a keyframe in the next frame, change
toe object from the first frame and repeat.
To Remove Frame(s): Select frames to be
removed and Click Insert on the Menu Bar and
choose Remove Frames.
To Insert Motion Tweened Animation: Insert a
keyframe in the selected layer and place a symbol or
grouped object on the stage. Select the symbol and
Click Insert on the Menu Bar, then Create Motion
Tween from the menu. Select the last frame to
include in the motion tween and move the symbol to
the final point of the tween.
To Clear Keyframe: Select keyframe and Click
Insert on the Menu Bar and Clear Keyframe.
To Change Timeline View: Click Frame View
Button and select desired view.
May Not Be Duplicated Without Written Permission.
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Keyboard Shortcuts
File / Edit Shortcuts
Panels
Insert / Control Shortcuts
New
<Ctrl> + <N>
First
<Home>
Open
<Ctrl> + <O>
Previous
<Page Up>
Open as Library
<Ctrl> + <Shift> +
<O>
Next
<Page Down>
Last
<End>
Save
<Ctrl> + <S>
Create Symbol
<Ctrl> + <Shift> +
<S>
<F8>
Save As
Insert Frame
<F5>
Import
<Ctrl> + <R>
Delete Frame
<Shift> + <F5>
Key Frame
<F6>
Blank Key Frame
<F7>
Export Movie
<Ctrl> + <Alt> +
<Shift> + <S>
Print
<Ctrl> + <P>
Clear Key Frame
<Shift> <F6>
Quit
<Ctrl> + <Q>
Play
<Enter>
Redo
<Ctrl> + <Y>
Rewind
Cut
<Ctrl> + <X>
<Ctrl> + <Alt> +
<R>
Paste
<Ctrl> + <V>
Step Forward
<>>
Paste In Place
<Ctrl> + <Shift> +
<V>
Step Backward
<<>
Test Movie
<Ctrl> + <Enter>
Copy Frames
<Ctrl> + <Alt> +
<C>
Test Scene
<Ctrl> + <Alt> +
<Enter>
Paste Frames
<Ctrl> + <Alt> +
<V>
Enable Frame Actions
<Ctrl> + <Alt> +
<A>
Edit Symbols
<Ctrl> + <E>
Enable Buttons
Hide / View Panels
<Tab>
<Ctrl> + <Alt> +
<B>
More Keyboard Shortcuts can be found at www.helpdeskcards.com/macromedia/extras.html
TheHelpDesk
Quickly Access the Hand Tool: Any time you
are drawing with another tool, you can quickly
activate the Hand Tool
by pressing the
<Spacebar> on the keyboard. Releasing the
spacebar returns you to the previous tool.
To Draw a Perfect Circle: Use the Oval Tool and
hold down the <Shift> key while drawing the oval.
To View / Hide Toolbars: Click Window on the
Menu Bar and then Point to “Toolbars”. Check the
Toolbars to view or uncheck to remove from view.
Create Motion Tweens Automatically by
creating the first keyframe for the animation, then
Click Insert from the Menu Bar, then Create Motion
Tween. Move the object to the new location on the
stage. Ending keyframe is automatically created.
Layers Are Used to Organize Your Movie by
separating elements without increasing overall size
(like transparent sheets of acetate stacked on top of
each other.) For better organization, use separate
layers for sound files, actions, frame labels and
frame contents. This will help to find these items
quickly when they require editing.
Screen shots reprinted by permission from Macromedia Corp.
Change a Line to a Fill: To color a line with a
gradient or even a bitmap fill, it must first be
converted into an area which can be filled. Select
the line(s) and shape(s) with the Arrow tool and then
Click Modify on the Menu Bar, then point to Shape
and choose “Convert Lines to Fills” from the menu.
Tween (or Morph) Shapes One at a Time to
achieve the best results. If multiple shapes are
tweened at the same time, they must be on the
same layer. For best results when tweening: In
complex tweening, create intermediate shapes and
tween them instead of just defining a starting and
ending shape; make sure that shape hints are
logical – for example, if three shape hints are used
for a triangle, they must me in the same order on the
original triangle and the triangle to be tweened (not
abc then acb); Shape Hints work best when you
place them in counterclockwise order beginning at
the top left corner of the shape.
Quickly Fix a Shape: If one Click of the
Straighten Button
doesn’t perfect your shape,
keep pressing. It has a cumulative effect until the
lines are straight – or the square or circle is perfect.
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Panels Enable the User to view and change the
properties of an object. To view and change the
properties, you need to first select that object, then
use the appropriate Panel to view and/or change the
properties of the selected object. All Panels can be
shown or hidden – and arranged in Panel Sets.
To View a Panel: Click Window from the Menu
Bar, then Panel and select desired panel. Form
Movie Explorer, Object Actions or Library, Click
Window from the Menu Bar and select desired
window.
To Toggle Panels On or Off: Press Tab.
Rearrange Panels to Suit Preferences:
Position the mouse over the left side of the title bar
and the cursor will change to a 4-way
arrow. Drag panel to new location.
Panel Sets Allow User to Organize Panels in
different sets to match their work style. To access
Panel Sets Click Window on the Menu Bar and then
Click on Panel Sets.
To Save Panel Sets: Click Window from the Menu
Bar, then Save Panel Layout.
Use Preinstalled Panel Sets: The Designer and
Developer Sets preinstalled are excellent layouts.
For Panel Options: Click on the control
in the
upper right corner of the panel to open a menu of
commands specific to the panel.
Get Help on a Specific Panel by Clicking on the
help button at the bottom of the Panel Options menu.
 Property Inspector Panel: Context-sensitive,
this panel consolidates many functions of earlier
versions of Flash. Based upon selection, relevant
object property commands (e.g. text format,
symbol instances) appear in this panel.
 Info Panel: View and change visual properties
of objects: width, height, and position.
 Fill Panel: View and change the fill color of
painted objects.
 Transform Panel: View and change the object
properties: constrain, rotation and skew.
 Align Panel: Change position, distribution, size
and spacing of the objects in relation to each
other and the Stage.
 Color Mixer Panel: View, edit and create colors
and color properties, including bitmap and
gradient fills.
 Color Swatches Panel: Select a color from the
existing range of colors and gradients.
 Components Panel: Add and modify flash
components (radio buttons/check boxes, etc.)
 Scenes Panel: Organize and manage scenes in
your movie. Playback is in order in this panel.
 Debugger Panel: Search for and fix errors in a
movie while it’s running in the player.
 Reference Panel: Lists detailed descriptions of
the actions listed in the Actions toolbox.
 Sound Panel: view and change sound attributes
– sound name, effect, sync and loops.
 Scene Panel: View and change scene attributes
– add, delete, duplicate, rename and change the
order of scenes.
 Answers Panel is the link to the Macromedia
and a great source for information and updates.
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