Flash Pro lets you import Adobe® Illustrator® AI files and preserves the majority of the editability and visual fidelity of your artwork. The AI Importer also provides you with a great degree of control in determining how your Illustrator artwork is imported into Flash Pro, letting you specify how to import specific objects into an AI file.
The Flash Pro AI Importer provides the following key features:
Preserves editability of the most commonly used Illustrator effects as Flash Pro filters.
Preserves editability of blend modes that Flash Pro and Illustrator have in common.
Preserves the fidelity and editability of gradient fills.
Maintains the appearance of RGB (red, green, blue) colors.
Imports Illustrator Symbols as Flash Pro Symbols.
Preserves the number and position of Bezier control points.
Preserves the fidelity of clip masks.
Preserves the fidelity of pattern strokes and fills.
Preserves object transparency.
Converts the AI file layers to individual Flash Pro layers, keyframes, or a single Flash Pro layer. You can also import the AI file as a single bitmap image, in which case Flash Pro flattens (rasterizes) the file.
Provides an improved copy-and-paste workflow between Illustrator and Flash Pro. A copy-and-paste dialog box provides settings to apply to AI files being pasted onto the Flash Pro stage.
The following video tutorials demonstrate working with Illustrator and Flash Pro. Some videos show the Flash Pro CS3 or CS4 workspace, but are still applicable to Flash Pro CS5.
Certain visual attributes can either not be accurately imported, or, after they are imported, lose their ability to be further edited in the Flash Pro authoring environment. The AI Importer provides you with several options to import and place artwork to best maintain its visual appearance and editability. However, certain visual attributes cannot be preserved. Use the following guidelines to improve the appearance of AI files imported into Flash Pro:
Flash Pro supports only the RGB color space, and not the CMYK color space, which is common in printing. Flash Pro can convert CMYK images to RGB, however, colors are better preserved if you convert the colors to RGB in Illustrator.
To preserve the drop shadow, inner glow, outer glow, and Gaussian blur AI effects as editable Flash Pro filters, Flash Pro imports the objects to which they are applied as a Flash Pro movie clip. If you attempt to import an object with these attributes as something other than a movie clip, Flash Pro displays an incompatibility alert, and recommends importing the object as a movie clip.
You can move Illustrator artwork into the Flash editing environment or directly into Flash Player. You can copy and paste artwork, save files in SWF format, or export artwork directly to Flash. In addition, Illustrator provides support for Flash dynamic text and movie clip symbols. For a video on using Flash and Illustrator together, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4099_xp.
You can create graphically rich artwork in Illustrator and copy and paste it into Flash simply, quickly, and seamlessly.
When you paste Illustrator artwork into Flash, the following attributes are preserved:
Paths and shapes
Scalability
Stroke weights
Gradient definitions
Text (including OpenType fonts)
Linked images
Symbols
Blending modes
When you select entire top-level layers in Illustrator artwork and paste them into Flash, the layers are preserved along with their properties (visibility and locking).
Non-RGB Illustrator colors (CMYK, grayscale, and custom) convert to RGB in Flash. RGB colors paste as expected.
When you import or paste Illustrator artwork, you can use various options to preserve effects (such as drop shadow on text) as Flash filters.
Flash preserves Illustrator masks.
From Illustrator, you can export SWF files that match the quality and compression of SWF files exported from Flash.
When you export, you can choose from a variety of presets to ensure optimal output, and you can specify how to handle multiple artboards, symbols, layers, text, and masks. For example, you can specify whether Illustrator symbols are exported as movie clips or graphics, or you can choose to create SWF symbols from Illustrator layers.
When you want to create complete layouts in Illustrator and then import them into Flash in one step, you can save your artwork in the native Illustrator format (AI) and import it, with high fidelity, into Flash using the File > Import To Stage or File > Import To Library commands in Flash.
If your Illustrator file contains multiple artboards, you select the artboard you want to import from the Import dialog box in Flash, and specify settings for each layer in that artboard. All objects on the selected artboard import as a single layer in Flash. If you import another artboard from that same AI file, the objects from that artboard import as a new layer in Flash.
When you import Illustrator artwork as an AI, EPS, or PDF file, Flash preserves the same attributes as for pasted Illustrator artwork. In addition, when an imported Illustrator file contains layers, you can import them in any of the following ways:
Convert Illustrator layers to Flash layers
Convert Illustrator layers to Flash frames
Convert all Illustrator layers to a single Flash layer
Symbol creation
When you create a symbol in Illustrator, the Symbol Options dialog box lets you name the symbol and set options specific to Flash: movie clip symbol type (which is the default for Flash symbols), Flash registration grid location, and 9-slice scaling guides. In addition, you can use many of the same symbol keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator and Flash (such as F8 to create a symbol).
Isolation mode for symbol editing
In Illustrator, double-click a symbol to open it in isolation mode for easier editing. In isolation mode, only the symbol instance is editable—all other objects on the artboard are dimmed and unavailable. After you exit isolation mode, the symbol in the Symbols panel, and all instances of that symbol are updated accordingly. In Flash, symbol-editing mode and the Library panel work in a similar fashion.
Symbol properties and links
Using the Symbols panel or the Control panel, you can easily assign names to symbol instances, break links between instances and symbols, swap a symbol instance with another symbol, or create a copy of the symbol. In Flash, the editing features in the Library panel work in a similar way.
When you bring static text from Illustrator into Flash, Flash converts the text to outlines. In addition, you can set up your text in Illustrator as dynamic text. Dynamic text enables you to edit text content programmatically in Flash, and easily manage projects that require localization in multiple languages.
In Illustrator, you can specify individual text objects as static, dynamic, or input text. Dynamic text objects in Illustrator and Flash have similar properties. For example, both use kerning that affects all characters in a text block rather than individual characters, both anti-alias text the same way, and both can be linked to an external XML file containing text.
Importing an AI file into the library is similar to importing to the Stage, the difference being that the entire AI file is encapsulated as a Flash Pro symbol. The content is imported into the library and organized by the layering and grouping structure of the AI file.
When you import an AI file into the library, the root folder uses the name of the AI file. After the AI file is imported into the library, you can change the name of the root folder, or move the layers out of the folder.
note: The Library panel orders the contents of the imported AI file alphabetically. The hierarchical grouping and folder structure remains the same, but the library reorders them alphabetically.
When converting AI layers to keyframes, the AI file is imported as a movie clip; converting the AI layers to Flash layers, or as a single Flash layer, imports the AI file as a graphic symbol. The resulting movie clip or graphic symbol contains all of the content of the AI file imported to its timeline, as if the content were imported to the Stage. Almost all movie clips have a bitmap or other asset associated with them. To minimize confusion and naming conflicts, these assets are stored in an Assets folder in the same folder as the movie clip.
note: When you import to the library, the AI file's contents are imported to the movie clip's timeline, not the main Flash Pro timeline.
The Flash Preferences dialog box lets you set import preferences for AI files and the AI File Import dialog box. The preferences you specifiy for importing AI files affect the options the AI Import dialog box is initially populated with for the Illustrator object types.
Note:
To override the preferences specified for different layer types on an object by object basis, use the AI Import dialog box. Select the layer, object, or group to change its import options, and specify the necessary options.
Vector Outlines
Converts text to vector paths. Use this option to preserve the visual appearance of the text. Some visual effects might be sacrificed—such as unsupported blend modes and filters—but visual attributes such as text on a path are maintained if the text is imported as a movie clip. The text itself is no longer editable, but opacity and compatible blend modes maintain their editability.
note: To preserve the drop shadow, inner glow, outer glow, and Gaussian blur that AI effects applied to text as editable Flash Pro filters, select Create Movie Clip Import to import the text as a movie clip.
Movie Clip Registration
Specifies a global registration point for movies that are created. This setting applies to the registration point for all object types. This option can be changed on an object by object basis in the AI File Import dialog box; this is the initial setting for all object types. For more information on movie clip registration, see Edit symbols.
Flash Pro can import Illustrator AI files in version 10 or earlier. If the raster file in Illustrator is linked, only JPEG, GIF, and PNG are imported with native format preserved. All other files are converted to PNG format in Flash Pro. Additionally, conversion to PNG depends on the version of QuickTime installed.
note: The AI Importer was developed to import AI files created with Illustrator CS3 and later. While there are no known issues importing AI files created in earlier versions of Illustrator, we recommend importing AI files created using Illustrator CS3 and later. If you encounter issues importing AI files created in an earlier version of Illustrator, open the file in Illustrator CS3 or later, save the AI file as a CS3 or later compatible file, and re-import it into Flash Pro. To import an Illustrator EPS or Adobe® Acrobat® PDF file, open the file in Illustrator CS3 or later, save it as a CS3 or later compatible AI file, and import the resulting AI file into Flash Pro.
For video tutorials about working with Illustrator and Flash Pro, see:
Importing Illustrator files: www.adobe.com/go/vid0197
Using symbols between Illustrator and Flash Pro: www.adobe.com/go/vid0198
Using text between Illustrator and Flash Pro: www.adobe.com/go/vid0199
In certain instances, you may need to ungroup all the Illustrator objects on all layers when Flash Pro cannot group items on import. After all the objects are ungrouped, they can be manipulated like any other Flash Pro object.
Choose from the following options when importing Adobe Illustrator files:
Convert layers to Flash Pro layers or keyframes, or single Flash Pro layers.
Import text as editable text, vector outlines, or bitmaps.
Import as a single bitmap image. Choosing this option imports the AI file as a single bitmap image and disables the layers list and import options within the AI Import dialog box.
The incompatibilty report analyzes possible incompatibilities between Illustrator and Flash Pro. The Import Options area (next to the Alert button) of the AI Import dialog box displays recommendations to obtain the maximum compatibility for any incompatible item.
The incompatibilty report includes an Apply Recommended Import Settings checkbox. If checked, Flash Pro automatically applies the recommended import options to any incompatible objects within the AI file. The exceptions to this are when the AI document is larger in size than that supported by Flash Pro, and when the AI document uses the CMYK color mode. To correct either of these incompatibilities, reopen the document in Illustrator CS3, and adjust the size of the document, or change the color mode to RGB.
Place Objects At Original Position
The contents of the AI file retain the exact position that they had in Illustrator. For example, if an object was positioned at X = 100 Y = 50 in Illustrator, it assumes the same coordinates on the Flash Pro Stage.
If this option is not selected, the imported Illustrator layers are centered within the current view. The items in the AI file remain relative to each other when imported; however, all objects are centered as one block in the current view. This feature can be useful if you are zoomed in to an area of the Stage and are importing a specific object for that area of the Stage. If you imported the object using the original coordinates, you might not see it imported, because it might be placed outside of the current stage view.
note: When importing the AI file into the Flash Pro library, this option is not available.
Set Stage Size To Same Size As Illustrator Artboard
The Flash Pro stage size resizes to the same size as the Illustrator artboard (or active crop area) used to create the AI file. This option is not selected by default.
note: When importing the AI file into the Flash Pro library, this option is not available.
Layers manage all the items that make up Illustrator artwork. By default, all items are organized in a single, parent layer. You can import all items in a given parent layer as a single, flattened bitmap, or, individually select each object and specify import options specific to the type of object it is (text, path, group, and so on). The AI Importer provides options to select layers in the artwork you are importing and specify individual import options based on preserving the visual appearance of an object, or its editability in Flash Pro.
The Layers panel lists the objects in a document. By default, every Illustrator document contains at least one layer, and each object in a given file is listed under that layer.
When an item in the Layers panel contains other items, a triangle appears to the left of the item’s name. To show or hide the content, click the triangle. If no triangle appears, the layer contains no additional items.
note: You can expand or collapse all groups and layers using the AI Importer context menu. Right-click to display the context menu and select Expand All or Collapse All.
Selection column
Controls whether items are selected for import or not. If an item is checked, you can select that layer and specify import options; if Edit is not checked, the layer is dimmed and you cannot specify any import setting for the item in that layer.
Object Type column
An icon indicates what the Flash Pro object type located on that layer will be when imported and, if visible, that the item is selected. The object types are:
Text 
Path 
Group 
Movie clip 
Graphic symbol 
Image 
Flash Pro lets you import text as editable text, vector outlines, or a flattened bitmap. To maintain supported blend modes, AI effects, and transparency of less than 100% between Illustrator and Flash Pro, import text as a movie clip. Importing text as a movie clip preserves the editability of compatible visual effects.
Editable Text
By default, Illustrator text imports as editable Flash Pro text. The appearance of the text can be compromised to maintain the editability of the text.
Vector Outlines
Converts text to vector paths. Use this option to preserve the visual appearance of the text. Some visual effects might be sacrificed—such as unsupported blend modes and filters—but visual attributes such as text on a path are maintained if the text is imported as a movie clip. The text itself is no longer editable, but opacity and compatible blend modes maintain their editability.
note: To preserve the drop shadow, inner glow, outer glow, and Gaussian blur that AI effects applied to text as editable Flash Pro filters, select Create Movie Clip Import to import the text as a movie clip.
Bitmap
Rasterizes the text into a bitmap to preserve the exact appearance of the text as it was in Illustrator. If filters or other effects are applied that are not compatible with Flash Pro, importing the text as a bitmap preserves the visual appearance. Rasterized text is no longer editable.
A path is the line that results from drawing in Illustrator. A path is either open, like an arc, or closed, like a circle. For an open path, the starting and ending anchor points for the path are called endpoints. Editable paths can be imported into Flash Pro, however, if certain blend modes, filters, or other effects are applied to the path, those effects might not be compatible with Flash Pro.
Bitmap
Rasterizes the path into a bitmap to preserve the exact appearance of the path in Illustrator. A rasterized image is no longer editable.
Editable Path
Creates an editable vector path. Supported blend modes, effects, and object transparency are preserved, but attributes not supported in Flash Pro are discarded.
Bitmap images are the most common electronic medium for continuous-tone images, such as photographs or digital paintings. Illustrator creates bitmap effects by using filters, effects, and graphic styles. While many of these effects are compatible with Flash Pro, some might need to be flattened—or rasterized—to preserve their visual appearance.
note: If a raster file in Illustrator is linked, only JPEG, GIF, and PNG are imported with their native format preserved. All other file types are converted to the PNG format in Flash Pro. Additionally, the conversion (to PNG) depends on the version of QuickTime® installed on your computer.
Flatten Bitmap To Maintain Appearance
Rasterizes the image into a bitmap to preserve the appearance of blending modes and effects that are not supported in Flash Pro. A rasterized image is no longer editable.
Groups are collections of graphic objects that are treated as a single unit. Grouping lets you move or transform a number of objects without affecting their attributes or relative positions. For example, you might group the objects in a logo design so that you can move and scale the logo as one unit. Groups can also be nested. That is, they can be grouped in other objects or groups to form larger groups.
Groups appear as <Group> items in the Import panel. When an item such as a group contains other items, a triangle appears to the left of the item’s name. Click the triangle to show or hide the contents of the group. If no triangle appears, the item contains no additional items.
Import As Bitmap
Rasterizes the group into a bitmap to preserve the appearance of the objects as they appeared in Illustrator. After a group is converted to a bitmap, the objects in it cannot be selected or renamed.
If you copy and paste (or drag-and-drop) artwork between Illustrator and Flash Pro, the Paste dialog box appears, which provides import settings for the AI file being copied (or pasted).
Paste Using AI File Importer Preferences
Imports the file using the AI file import setting specified in Flash Pro Preferences (Edit > Preferences).
Apply Recommended Import Settings To Resolve Incompatibilities
Enabled by default when Paste Using AI File Importer Preferences is selected. Automatically fixes any incompatibilities detected in the AI file.
Maintain Layers
Enabled by default when Paste Using AI File Importer Preferences is selected. Specifies that layers in the AI file be converted to Flash Pro layers (the same as if you selected Convert To Flash Layers from the AI Import dialog box). If deselected, all layers are flattened into a single layer.
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