Creating instances

After you create a symbol, you can create instances of that symbol wherever you like throughout your document, including inside other symbols. When you modify the symbol, Flash updates all instances of the symbol.

Flash gives movie clip and button instances default instance names when you create them. From the Property inspector, you can apply custom names to instances. You use the instance name to refer to an instance in ActionScript. You must give each instance a unique name in order to control it with ActionScript. For more information, see Handling Events.

To create a new instance of a symbol:

Select a layer in the Timeline.
Flash can place instances only in keyframes, always on the current layer. If you don't select a keyframe, Flash adds the instance to the first keyframe to the left of the current frame.

Note: A keyframe is a frame in which you define a change in the animation. For more information, see Working with frames in the Timeline.
Select Window > Library to open the library.
Drag the symbol from the library to the Stage.
If you created an instance of a graphic symbol, select Insert > Timeline > Frame to add the number of frames that will contain the graphic symbol.

To apply a custom name to an instance:

Select the instance on the Stage.
Select Window > Properties if the Property inspector is not visible.
Enter a name in the Instance Name text box on the left side of the Property inspector (below the Symbol Behavior pop-up list).

After creating an instance of a symbol, you can use the Property inspector to specify color effects, assign actions, set the graphic display mode, or change the behavior of the instance. The behavior of the instance is the same as the symbol behavior, unless you specify otherwise. Any changes you make affect only the instance and not the symbol. See Changing instance properties.