The Flash CS3 application, which is part of Adobe’s CS3 suite of applications, is used by web and design professionals to create interactive content and animations. After building a flash element, you can export it to your website or web server to view it online. Adobe Flash CS3 is compatible with both Mac and PC systems. Previous versions of the program were known as Macromedia Flash before Adobe bought the franchise.
- When you launch the Adobe Flash CS3 application on your Mac or PC computer, you will see several toolbars around the edge of your desktop and a welcome window in the middle of the screen. To begin using the application, go to the “Create New” column on the welcome window and click on the “Flash File (Actionscript 3.0)” button. Your new Flash CS3 file will be created and you will be taken to a blank canvas. Before adding any designs or animations to your file, use the toolbar at the bottom of the screen to set the dimensions of your Flash content. The default size for the file is 550 pixels by 400 pixels. Then point your attention to the toolbar at the top of the screen, which is known as the timeline and displays the movement of your animation frame by frame. If you plan to add large amounts of graphical content to your Flash file, organize the different levels of your design by building more layers on your timeline. Start adding to your blank canvas by using the toolbar on the left side of the screen. If you are a beginner at Flash, you should mainly stick to text and basic shape elements.
- Once you have a basic text or graphic element on your canvas, you can begin implementing some of the effects included with Flash CS3. In order to build interactive content and animations in Flash, you need to set your elements as buttons, which can then be manipulated based on mouse movements. First, with the pointer tool selected, right-click on one of your graphic or text elements and choose the “Convert to Symbol” option. In the pop-up window, choose a name for the element and make sure to select “Button” as the symbol type before hitting “OK.” Now, when you double-click on the element you just converted, your timeline at the top of the screen will change to button mode. Instead of displaying frames, you will see different options for different mouse movements. You can change the design of your element for each of the mouse movements, and those settings will show up in web browsers.
- Experienced web designers who want to add customized features to an element in Flash CS3 can use the “Actions” menu. Before opening the menu, make sure the object or text you want to add features to is selected on your canvas. Then go to “Window” at the top of the screen and choose “Actions.” A pop-up window with a large text box will open on top of your canvas. In the text box, you can enter coding language to customize the element selected in your canvas. Adobe Flash CS3 uses the ActionScript language, which is a special type of coding used primarily in Flash files.
If you have never used ActionScript before, you should consult a tutorial specifically focused on it. The right side of the “Actions” window contains shortcuts to some of the most popular ActionScript commands, including some that control the playback of your Flash movie or build hyperlinks into your Flash elements.
- Once you have finished a basic design in Adobe Flash CS3, you can use the program to export the Flash file to your own active web server. First, customize the web settings for your content by going to the “File” menu and choosing “Publish Settings.” Go to the “Formats” tab at the top of the window and check the boxes next to “Flash” and “HTML.” Click “OK” to save these settings, which will create both an .swf file and an .html file from your Flash content upon publishing. Then go back to the “File” menu and select “Publish.” The .swf and .html files based on your Flash design will now be created and saved to your active web server. When you navigate to either of those files in a web browser, your animated content will display, as long as you have the free Adobe Flash Player program installed on your computer.