Placing artwork

Flash recognizes a variety of vector and bitmap formats. You can place artwork into Flash by importing it onto the Stage in the current Flash document or into the library for the current document. You can also import bitmaps by pasting them on the Stage in the current document. All bitmaps that you import directly into a Flash document are automatically added to the document's library.

Graphic files that you import into Flash must be at least 2 pixels x 2 pixels in size.

You can load JPEG files into a Flash movie during runtime using the loadMovie action or method. For detailed information, see loadMovie().

Flash imports vector graphics, bitmaps, and sequences of images as follows:

• When you import vector images into Flash from FreeHand, you can select options for preserving FreeHand layers, pages, and text blocks. See Importing FreeHand MX files.
• When you import PNG images from Fireworks, you can import files as editable objects that you can modify in Flash, or as flattened files that you can edit and update in Fireworks.
• You can select options for preserving images, text, and guides. See Importing Fireworks PNG files.

  Note: If you import a PNG file from Fireworks by cutting and pasting, the file is converted to a bitmap.

• When you import Adobe Illustrator, EPS, or PDF files into Flash, you can select options for converting pages and layers. You can choose to rasterize all content, including text. See Importing Adobe Illustrator, EPS, or PDF files.
• Vector images from SWF and Windows Metafile Format (WMF) files that you import directly into a Flash document (instead of into a library) are imported as a group in the current layer. See Importing file formats for vector or bitmap files and Importing Adobe Illustrator, EPS, or PDF files.
• Bitmaps (scanned photographs, BMP files) that you import directly into a Flash document are imported as single objects in the current layer. Flash preserves the transparency settings of imported bitmaps. Because importing a bitmap can increase the file size of a SWF file, you may want to compress imported bitmaps. See Setting bitmap properties.

  Note: Bitmap transparency may not be preserved when bitmaps are imported by dragging and dropping from an application or desktop to Flash. To preserve transparency, use the File > Import to Stage or Import to Library command for importing.

• Any sequence of images (for example, a PICT and BMP sequence) that you import directly into a Flash document is imported as successive keyframes of the current layer.

For information on specific file formats, see Importing file formats for vector or bitmap files.

To import a file into Flash:

To paste a bitmap from another application directly into the current Flash document: