Exporting

You can export a series of image files from an individual movie clip, button, or graphic symbol in the Library or on the Stage. During export, Flash Pro creates a separate image file for each frame in the symbol. If you export from the Stage, any transforms (scaling, skewing, etc.) you have applied to the symbol instance are preserved in the image output.

To export a PNG sequence:

1. Select a single movie clip, button or graphic symbol in the Library or the Stage.
2. Right click it and choose Export PNG Sequence.
   
3. In the Save As dialog, choose a location for the output and click OK.
4. In the Export PNG Sequence dialog, set your desired options. See below.
   
5. Click Export to export the PNG sequence.

The export options include:

Width - The width of the image output. You can scale the output by changing this value. The default is the width of the symbol content.

Height - The height of the image output. You can scale the output by changing this value. The default is the height of the symbol content.

Resolution - The resolution of the image output. The default is 72dpi.

Colors - The bit depth of the image output. You can select 8, 24, or 32 bit. The default is 32 bit, which supports transparency. If you select 24 bit or 8 bit, which do not support transparency, the Background setting changes to Stage. See below.

Background - The color to use as the background color for the image output. This setting is only available when the Colors option is set to 8 or 24 bit. When Colors is set to 32 bit, the image background is always transparent. When the Colors option is set to 8 or 24 bit, the Background option defaults to the Stage color. With 8 or 24 bit images, you can also change the setting to Opaque and then select a background color from the color picker, or choose an alpha value for the background to create transparency.

Smooth - Toggles whether to apply smoothing to the edges of the image output. Turn this option off if you are not using a transparent background and the images may be placed on a background color that is different from the current color of the Stage.

The FXG format is a graphic interchange file format for the Flash Platform. FXG is based on a subset of MXML, the XML-based programming language used by the Flex framework. The FXG format helps designers and developers collaborate more efficiently by enabling them to exchange graphic content with high fidelity. Designers can create graphics using Adobe design tools and export them into the FXG format. You can then use the FXG file in tools such as Adobe Flash Builder and Adobe Flash Catalyst to develop rich Internet experiences and applications.

You can work with the FXG file format in the following Adobe applications:

• Fireworks CS5 (export)

• Photoshop CS5 (export)

• Illustrator (export)

• Flash Professional CS5 (import and export)

• Flash Catalyst (import and export)

• Flash Builder 4 (import and export)

When creating an FXG file, vector graphics are stored directly within the file. Elements for which there is no corresponding tag in FXG are exported as bitmap graphics which are then referenced in the FXG file. These include bitmaps, some filters, some blend modes, gradients, masks, and 3D. Some of these effects may be able to be exported as FXG, but may not be able to imported by the application that opens the FXG file.

When you export a file containing vector and bitmap images using FXG export, a separate folder is created along with the FXG file. This folder has the name <filename.assets> and contains the bitmap images associated with the FXG file.

For more information about the FXG file format, see the FXG 2.0 Specification.

Flash allows single or multiple selection of any objects on the stage for export to FXG. Object and layer names are preserved when exporting to FXG format.

The following items are constrained when saving to an FXG file:

• Scale-9 grids: exported, but readable only by Adobe Illustrator.

• Sound and video: not exported.

• Components: not exported.

• Tweens and animation with multiple frames: not exported, but a selected frame will be exported as a static object.

• Embedded fonts: not exported.

• Button symbols: Flash exports only the Up state of buttons.

• 3D properties: not exported.

• Inverse Kinematics (IK) properties: not exported.

• Text attributes: some attributes may not be exported.

In Flash, you can export content in FXG format in two ways:

• To export objects on the Stage as FXG, select the objects and choose Export > Export Selection. Then select FXG format from the File Type menu.

• To save the entire Stage as FXG, choose Export > Export Image and select Adobe FXG from the File Type menu.

These options match the JPEG Publish Settings options with one exception: Match Screen matches the exported image to the size of the Flash Pro content as it appears on your screen. Match Movie matches the JPEG image to the Flash Pro content and maintains the aspect ratio of the original image.

The PNG export settings options are similar to the PNG Publish Settings options (which you can apply as well), with the following exceptions:

The settings are the same as those on the GIF tab in the Publish Settings dialog box, with the following exceptions:

Create bitmap images for use in other applications. The Export Bitmap dialog box has the following options:

To place the Flash Pro content in another application, such as Dreamweaver, export the entire document as a SWF file. Flash Pro exports the SWF file using the current settings from the Flash tab of the Publish Settings for the FLA file.

To place the Flash Pro content in another application, such as Dreamweaver, export the entire document as a SWF file. Flash Pro exports the SWF file using the current settings from the Flash tab of the Publish Settings for the FLA file.

With Flash Pro, you can import or export video with encoded audio. Flash can import FLV video and export FLV or QuickTime (MOV). Use video with communications applications, such as video conferencing or files that contain screen-share encoded data exported from Adobe’s Flash Media Server.

When you export video clips from Flash in FLV format with streaming audio, the Streaming Sound dialog box settings compress the audio.

Files in the FLV format are compressed with the Sorensen codec.

Flash Pro provides two methods of exporting Flash Pro documents as QuickTime:

If you import a video clip (in any format) into a document as an embedded file, you can publish the document as a QuickTime movie. If you import a video clip in QuickTime format into a document as a linked file, you can also publish the document as a QuickTime movie.

Exports all layers in the Flash Pro document as a single Flash Pro track, unless the document contains an imported QuickTime movie. The imported QuickTime movie remains in QuickTime format in the exported application.

The following video tutorials demonstrate exporting QuickTime video from Flash Pro. Some videos may show the Flash Pro CS3 or CS4 interface, but are still applicable to Flash Pro CS5.

• Exporting QuickTime files (4:42)

• Flash plays well with others - Part 1: QuickTime (12:45) Tonyteach.com. This video goes a little slowly, but is worth it.

Exports a document as a Windows video but discards any interactivity. Good for opening a Flash Pro animation in a video-editing application. Because AVI is a bitmap-based format, documents that contain long or high-resolution animations can quickly become very large.

The Export Windows AVI dialog box has the following options:

Exports only the sound file of the current document to a single WAV file. You can specify the sound format of the new file.

To determine the sampling frequency, bit rate, and stereo or mono setting of the exported sound, select Sound Format. To exclude events sounds from the exported file, select Ignore Event Sounds.