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Editing symbols

When you edit a symbol, Flash updates all the instances of that symbol in your document. Flash provides three ways for you to edit symbols. You can edit the symbol in context with the other objects on the Stage using the Edit in Place command. Other objects are dimmed to distinguish them from the symbol you are editing. The name of the symbol you are editing is displayed in an Edit bar at the top of the Stage, to the right of the current scene name.

You can also edit a symbol in a separate window, using the Edit in New Window command. Editing a symbol in a separate window lets you see the symbol and the main Timeline at the same time. The name of the symbol you are editing is displayed in the Edit bar at the top of the Stage.

You edit the symbol by changing the window from the Stage view to a view of only the symbol, using symbol-editing mode. The name of the symbol you are editing is displayed in the Edit bar at the top of the Stage, to the right of the current scene name.

When you edit a symbol, Flash updates all instances of the symbol throughout the document to reflect your edits. While editing a symbol, you can use any of the drawing tools, import media, or create instances of other symbols.

You can change the registration point of a symbol (the point identified by the coordinates 0, 0) using any symbol-editing method.

To edit a symbol in place:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Double-click an instance of the symbol on the Stage.
    • Select an instance of the symbol on the Stage and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and select Edit in Place from the context menu.
    • Select an instance of the symbol on the Stage and select Edit > Edit in Place.
  2. Edit the symbol as needed.
  3. To change the registration point, drag the symbol on the Stage. A cross hair indicates the location of the registration point.
  4. To exit edit-in-place mode and return to document-editing mode, do one of the following:
    • Click the Back button at the left of the Edit bar at the top of the Stage.
    • Select the current scene name from the Scene pop-up menu in the Edit bar at the top of the Stage.
    • Select Edit > Edit Document.

To edit a symbol in a new window:

  1. Select an instance of the symbol on the Stage and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh), and select Edit in New Window from the context menu.
  2. Edit the symbol as needed.
  3. To change the registration point, drag the symbol on the Stage. A cross hair indicates the location of the registration point.
  4. Click the Close box in the upper right corner (Windows) or upper left corner (Macintosh) to close the new window, and click in the main document window to return to editing the main document.

To edit a symbol in symbol-editing mode:

  1. Do one of the following to select the symbol:
    • Double-click the symbol's icon in the Library panel.
    • Select an instance of the symbol on the Stage and right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) and select Edit from the context menu.
    • Select an instance of the symbol on the Stage and select Edit > Edit Symbols.
    • Select the symbol in the Library panel and select Edit from the Library options menu, or right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the symbol in the Library panel and select Edit from the context menu.
  2. Edit the symbol as needed on the Stage.
  3. To change the registration point, drag the symbol on the Stage. A cross hair indicates the location of the registration point.
  4. To exit symbol-editing mode and return to editing the document, do one of the following:
    • Click the Back button at the left of the Edit bar at the top of the Stage.
    • Select Edit > Edit Document.
    • Click the scene name in the Edit bar at the top of the Stage.
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