Getting Started with Flash

Flash and Animation
In these articles, you will learn the basics of the Flash software. You will then have the background to move on to more advanced Flash.

A Tour of the Flash Workspace and Tools star
Take a tour of the Flash Professional workspace and the Flash tools.

Add a Tooltip to a Button in Flash CS3 Pro star
In this tutorial, we will add a tooltip to an invisible button. Tooltips tell your site visitors the purpose of a button. Your button does not need to be an invisible button for you to add a tooltip.

Adobe Certification star
Where to start and what is involved in becoming certified for Adobe Flash.

Adobe Certified Training Resources star
Training resources for the Adobe Certification Expert ACE exam.

Bitmap Graphics in Flash star
Flash animators are moving toward the use of more bitmap graphics in their projects. So how does the Flash designer decide what type of images to use in a project?

Drawing a Wall and Floor in Flash CS5 star
How to draw a wall and floor with Flash drawing tools.

Exploring the Flash Workspace and Panels star
In the last tutorial, we took a look at the Flash tools you will find in the Flash workspace. Now we will take a look at some of the panels that will help you build your Flash movie.

Facebook Marketing Your Flash star
We see the Like and Share buttons for Facebook just about everywhere we go on the web. Why not use them to market your Flash skills? There are three options.

Flash CS3 Button Component Parameters star
A Button component is something very different from a Button symbol. A Button component is a simple pre-built movie clip. But, this component is only useful if you can customize its look and behavior to your own needs. Let´s take a look at just what you can do to customize the Button component.

Flash CS3 Publish Settings star
When it comes to publishing your Flash movie, all the guesswork has been taken out of the process for you by the Publish Settings dialog box. Let´s take a tour of this wizard.

Flash CS4 and Geometric Drawing Tools star
Here are a few things that you might need to know when working with the drawing tools in Flash CS4.

Flash CS4 Bone Tool Introduction star
The Bone tool in Flash CS4 can be used to connect several movie clips together in movement.

Flash CS4 Brush Tool star
Let’s draw a simple flower using just brush strokes of varying lengths.

Flash CS6 Drawing and Painting Tools star
In this tutorial, we will continue our tour of the Flash Tools panel. You will notice that as you select a tool, the controls in the Properties panel change to reflect that tool.

Flash CS6 Motion Paths star
In the last Flash CS6 tutorial, we created a simple Motion Tween animation that moved an object along a straight line. Now, we will modify the animation to move the object along a curved line.

Flash CS6 Save and Reopen Projects star
At this point, we have a blank Flash project open in the workspace. According to the tab, our project is named Untitled-1. Let's give that project a real name and save it to our hard drive.

Flash CS6 Tools star
The Flash Tools panel is a vertical strip of tools on the right side of the Flash workspace. The tools in the panel are divided into several sections, making the panel more intuitive.

Flash Keyframes and Animation star
We will create a simple animation that will move the circle from the left side of the stage to the right. This is called a linear animation because the object moves along a straight line. We will demonstrate what a Keyframe is and how it works.

Flash Layer Hierarchy star
In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how the layer hierarchy in the Flash Timeline will create an illusion of depth.

Flash Timeline and Layers star
How to use layers in the Flash Timeline to organize your project assets.

Flash Tools and Panels star
We will continue to take our tour of the Flash Workspace. This tutorial is to familiarize you with the names and purposes of the parts of the workspace.

Flash User Interface and Video Components star
One of the most useful features in Flash is the Flash component which is a pre-built movie clip that has controls, called parameters, that can be used to customize the generic component for your project´s needs.

Flash Welcome Screen star
When you first open Flash, you will see a Welcome screen which contains many options for taking your first steps with Flash Professional. Let's see what kind of help we can find when starting a new project.

Import Options Adobe Flash CS3 star
Adobe Creative Suite CS3 has greatly improved the integration between its software, especially the import features for Flash Professional CS3 which gives you more control over importing bitmap and vector layers into Flash.

Import Options Adobe Flash CS3 - 2 star
Adobe Creative Suite CS3 has greatly improved the integration between its software, especially the import features for Flash Professional CS3 which gives you more control over importing bitmap and vector layers into Flash.

Import Photoshop Files Into Flash CS3 star
In the last tutorial, we took a look at the various options you have when importing vector, shape, text and layer styled Photoshop images in to Flash Professional CS3. Now we will look at the rest of the options for the Flash import feature.

Import Photoshop Files Into Flash CS3 - 2 star
In the last tutorial, we took a look at the various options you have when importing vector, shape, text and layer styled Photoshop images in to Flash Professional CS3. Now we will look at the rest of the options for the Flash import feature.

Individual Instances and Color Styles in Flash CS3 star
To give our snowflake scene more realism, we will need each snowflake to be slightly different. In this tutorial, we will change some of the Color Styles properties for each of our snowflakes. The Color Styles properties that we will be changing are Brightness, Tint, Alpha and Advanced.

Intro to the Flash CS3 Drawing Tools star
This tutorial will introduce you to the drawing tools in Flash CS3. First we need to discuss a few basics. Flash has its own way of doing things and its drawing tools behave a little differently from other graphics programs.

Intro to the Flash CS3 Drawing Tools - 2 star
This tutorial will introduce you to the drawing tools in Flash CS3. First we need to discuss a few basics. Flash has its own way of doing things and its drawing tools behave a little differently from other graphics programs.

Invisible Button in Flash Prof CS3 star
In this tutorial, we will add an invisible button to our Flash website. Invisible buttons are easy to make in Flash because there are no visible characteristics to add to the button states. You need only to designate the clickable area for the button in the Hit frame of the button´s Timeline.

Invisible Button in Flash Prof CS3 - 2 star
In this tutorial, we will add an invisible button to our Flash website. Invisible buttons are easy to make in Flash because there are no visible characteristics to add to the button states. You need only to designate the clickable area for the button in the Hit frame of the button´s Timeline.

Motion Tweens in Flash CS6 star
We will take a look at a new type of tween animation. The Motion Tween is the favorite tween animation option in Flash. It's very flexible and can be used to create quite complex animations.

Moving Adobe Illustrator Files into Flash star
One of the most long-awaited upgrades to Adobe Creative Suite is the improvements to the integration between Illustrator and Flash. Now, with the new release of CS3, you have more options when moving your Illustrator files into Flash.

Moving Adobe Illustrator Files into Flash - 2 star
One of the most long-awaited upgrades to Adobe Creative Suite is the improvements to the integration between Illustrator and Flash. Now, with the new release of CS3, you have more options when moving your Illustrator files into Flash.

My Journal – Digital Notebook star
My Journal is an easy to use software for keeping project notes and information organized.

Publishing Your Flash Movie star
You are finally ready to publish your Flash movie to the web. Some people find this a confusing process the first time through. There are a few points that we should cover to make your life easier.

Start New Document in Flash CS6 star
When you open the Flash CS6 program, you are greeted with the Welcome screen where you have several options including starting a new project. Now that we are ready to start our first Flash project, let's take a look at how to set up your first Flash document.

Symbols and Instances Flash Pro CS3 star
In this tutorial, we will create and edit a symbol and its instances working within the Flash Library and Properties Inspector.

Symbols and Instances Flash Pro CS3 - 2 star
In this tutorial, we will create and edit a symbol and its instances working within the Flash Library and Properties Inspector.

Symbols, Instances and Library in Flash CS3 star
Three of the most important features of Flash are Symbols, Instances and the Library. By using these three together, you can keep the size of your Flash file smaller and your movie will download more quickly.

The Flash Timeline star
When creating animations, slideshows or other Flash based projects, you will find that most of the work is done on the Flash Timeline. So what is the Timeline and how do we use it?

The Two Types of Flash Movie Files star
There are two types of Flash movie files. Learn the difference between them and how to use both.

Tour of the Flash Workspace star
The next step in our Flash Beginner's Guide series is to take a tour of the Flash user interface and all the authoring tools Flash has for web, mobile, desktop and media-rich projects. Let's get started.

What Is Adobe Flash Software star
What can you create with Flash? Anyone from the beginner to professional can get great results with Flash.

What is Flash Today star
What is Flash CS6 and how has it changed over the last decade. An introduction to the Beginner's Guide to Flash series of articles.

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