Using panels

Panels in Flash help you view, organize, and change elements in a document. The options available in panels control the characteristics of symbols, instances, colors, type, frames, and other elements. You can use panels to customize the Flash interface, by displaying the panels you need for a specific task and hiding other panels.

Panels let you work with objects, colors, text, instances, frames, scenes, and entire documents. For example, you use the Color Mixer to create colors, and the Align panel to align objects to each other or the Stage. To view the complete list of panels available in Flash, see the Window menu.

Most panels include a pop-up menu with additional options. The options menu is indicated by a control in the panel's title bar. (If no options menu control appears, there is no options menu for that panel.)

To open a panel:

Select the desired panel from the Window menu.

To close a panel, do one of the following:

Select the desired panel from the Window menu.
Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the panel's title bar and select Close Panel from the context menu.

To use a panel's options menu:

Click the control at the far right in the panel's title bar to view the options menu.
Click an item in the menu.

To resize a panel:

Drag the panel's border (Windows) or drag the size box at the panel's lower right corner (Macintosh).

To expand or collapse a panel to its title bar:

Click the collapse arrow in the title bar. Click the collapse arrow again to expand the panel to its previous size.

To close all panels:

Select Window > Hide Panels.

Arranging panels

You can rearrange the order in which panels appear within panel groups. You can also create new panel groups and dock panels to existing panel groups.

To move a panel:

Drag the panel by its title bar.

To add a panel to an existing panel group:

Drag the panel by its title bar onto another panel.

To create a new panel group:

Drag the panel by its title bar, away from other panel groups.

Using panel sets

You can create panel sets in custom arrangements, and you can save these custom panel layouts. You can reset panel display to the default layout (displaying the Color Swatches, Actions, and Components panels and the Color Mixer to the right of the application window) or to a custom layout that you have saved previously.

To save a custom panel set:

Select Window > Save Panel Layout.
Enter a name for the layout and click OK.

To select a panel layout:

Select Window > Panel Sets.
From the submenu, select Default Layout to reset panels to the default layout, or select a custom layout that you have saved previously.

To delete custom layouts:

Open the folder for the Panel Sets documents in the location for your operating system (listed below) and delete the text file for the custom panel set.
For Windows operating systems:
- Windows 2000 or XP: <boot drive>\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\<language>\Configuration\Panel Sets
- Windows 98: C:\Windows\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\<language>\Configuration\Panel Sets
For Macintosh operating systems:
- Macintosh OS X: Macintosh HD/Applications/Macromedia Flash MX 2004/First Run/Panel Sets