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Publishing AS3 documents

  1. Adobe Animate User Guide
  2. Introduction to Animate
    1. What's New in Animate
    2. Visual Glossary
    3. Animate system requirements
    4. Animate keyboard shortcuts
    5. Work with Multiple File Types in Animate
  3. Animation
    1. Animation basics in Animate
    2. How to use frames and keyframes in Animate
    3. Frame-by-frame animation in Animate
    4. How to work with classic tween animation in Animate
    5. Brush Tool
    6. Motion Guide
    7. Motion tween and ActionScript 3.0
    8. About Motion Tween Animation
    9. Motion tween animations
    10. Creating a Motion tween animation
    11. Using property keyframes
    12. Animate position with a tween
    13. How to edit motion tweens using Motion Editor
    14. Editing the motion path of a tween animation
    15. Manipulating motion tweens
    16. Adding custom eases
    17. Creating and applying Motion presets
    18. Setting up animation tween spans
    19. Working with Motion tweens saved as XML files
    20. Motion tweens vs Classic tweens
    21. Shape tweening
    22. Using Bone tool animation in Animate
    23. Work with character rigging in Animate
    24. How to use mask layers in Adobe Animate
    25. How to work with scenes in Animate
  4. Interactivity
    1. How to create buttons with Animate
    2. Convert Animate projects to other document type formats
    3. Create and publish HTML5 Canvas documents in Animate
    4. Add interactivity with code snippets in Animate
    5. Creating custom HTML5 Components
    6. Using Components in HTML5 Canvas
    7. Creating custom Components: Examples
    8. Code Snippets for custom Components
    9. Best practices - Advertising with Animate
    10. Virtual Reality authoring and publishing
  5. Workspace and workflow
    1. Creating and managing Paint brushes
    2. Using Google fonts in HTML5 Canvas documents
    3. Using Creative Cloud Libraries and Adobe Animate
    4. Use the Stage and Tools panel for Animate
    5. Animate workflow and workspace
    6. Using web fonts in HTML5 Canvas documents
    7. Timelines and ActionScript
    8. Working with multiple timelines
    9. Set preferences
    10. Using Animate authoring panels
    11. Create timeline layers with Animate
    12. Export animations for mobile apps and game engines
    13. Moving and copying objects
    14. Templates
    15. Find and Replace in Animate
    16. Undo, redo, and the History panel
    17. Keyboard shortcuts
    18. How to use the timeline in Animate
    19. Creating HTML extensions
    20. Optimization options for Images and Animated GIFs
    21. Export settings for Images and GIFs
    22. Assets Panel in Animate
  6. Multimedia and Video
    1. Transforming and combining graphic objects in Animate
    2. Creating and working with symbol instances in Animate
    3. Image Trace
    4. How to use sound in Adobe Animate
    5. Exporting SVG files
    6. Create video files for use in Animate
    7. How to add a video in Animate
    8. Draw and create objects with Animate
    9. Reshape lines and shapes
    10. Strokes, fills, and gradients with Animate CC
    11. Working with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects
    12. Color Panels in Animate CC
    13. Opening Flash CS6 files with Animate
    14. Work with classic text in Animate
    15. Placing artwork into Animate
    16. Imported bitmaps in Animate
    17. 3D graphics
    18. Working with symbols in Animate
    19. Draw lines & shapes with Adobe Animate
    20. Work with the libraries in Animate
    21. Exporting Sounds
    22. Selecting objects in Animate CC
    23. Working with Illustrator AI files in Animate
    24. Applying blend modes
    25. Arranging objects
    26. Automating tasks with the Commands menu
    27. Multilanguage text
    28. Using camera in Animate
    29. Graphic filters
    30. Sound and ActionScript
    31. Drawing preferences
    32. Drawing with the Pen tool
  7. Platforms
    1. Convert Animate projects to other document type formats
    2. Custom Platform Support
    3. Create and publish HTML5 Canvas documents in Animate
    4. Creating and publishing a WebGL document
    5. How to package applications for AIR for iOS
    6. Publishing AIR for Android applications
    7. Publishing for Adobe AIR for desktop
    8. ActionScript publish settings
    9. Best practices - Organizing ActionScript in an application
    10. How to use ActionScript with Animate
    11. Accessibility in the Animate workspace
    12. Writing and managing scripts
    13. Enabling Support for Custom Platforms
    14. Custom Platform Support Overview
    15. Working with Custom Platform Support Plug-in
    16. Debugging ActionScript 3.0
    17. Enabling Support for Custom Platforms
  8. Exporting and Publishing
    1. How to export files from Animate CC
    2. OAM publishing
    3. Exporting SVG files
    4. Export graphics and videos with Animate
    5. Publishing AS3 documents
    6. Export animations for mobile apps and game engines
    7. Exporting Sounds
    8. Best practices - Tips for creating content for mobile devices
    9. Best practices - Video conventions
    10. Best practices - SWF application authoring guidelines
    11. Best practices - Structuring FLA files
    12. Best Practices to optimize FLA files for Animate
    13. ActionScript publish settings
    14. Specify publish settings for Animate
    15. Exporting projector files
    16. Export Images and Animated GIFs
    17. HTML publishing templates
    18. Working with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects
    19. Quick share and publish your animations
  9. Troubleshooting
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues

 

Publishing overview

You can play content in the following ways:

  • In Internet browsers that are equipped with Flash Player

  • As a stand-alone application called a projector

  • With the Flash ActiveX control in Microsoft Office and other ActiveX hosts

  • With Flash Xtra in Director® and Authorware® from Adobe®

By default, the Publish command creates an SWF file and an HTML document that inserts your Flash content in a browser window. The Publish command also creates and copies detection files for Macromedia Flash 4 from Adobe and later. If you change publish settings, Flash saves the changes with the document. After you create a publish profile, export it to use in other documents or for others working on the same project to use.

When you use the Publish, Test Movie, or Debug Movie commands, Flash creates a SWF file from your FLA file. You can view the sizes of all the SWF files created from the current FLA file in the Document Property inspector.

Flash® Player 6 and later support Unicode text encoding. With Unicode support, users can view multilanguage text, regardless of the language that the operating system running the player uses.

You can publish the FLA file in alternative file formats—GIF, JPEG, and PNG —with the HTML needed to display them in the browser window. Alternative formats allow a browser to show your SWF file animation and interactivity for users who don’t have the targeted Adobe Flash Player installed. When you publish an FLA file in alternative file formats, the settings for each file format are stored with the FLA file.

You can export the FLA file in several formats, similar to publishing FLA files in alternative file formats, except that the settings for each file format are not stored with the FLA file.

Alternatively, create a custom HTML document with any HTML editor and include the tags required to display a SWF file.

To test how the SWF file works before you publish your SWF file, use Test Movie (Control > Test Movie > Test) and Test Scene (Control > Test Scene).

HTML wrapper for AS3 documents

You need an HTML document to play a SWF file in a web browser and specify browser settings. To display a SWF file in a web browser, an HTML document must use the object and embed tags with the proper parameters.

 You can generate an HTML document using the correct object and embed tags using the Publish Settings dialog box, and selecting the HTML option. For more information, see Specify publish settings for HTML documents.

 

Animate can create the HTML document automatically when you publish a SWF file.

Detecting whether Flash Player is present

In order for your published Animate content to be seen by Web users, Flash Player must be installed in their Web browser.

The following resources and articles provide up-to-date information about how to add code to your web pages to determine if Flash Player is installed and provide alternative content in the page if it is not.

See Flash Player Help to determine if Flash Player is installed or not.

Publishing for mobile devices

Adobe® AIR® for Android® and iOS® lets you create engaging content for mobile devices using the ActionScript® scripting language, drawing tools, and templates. For detailed information on authoring for mobile devices, see the AIR Developer Reference.

 Depending on the mobile device for which you are developing, certain restrictions can apply as to which ActionScript commands and sound formats are supported. For more details, see Mobile Articles on the Mobile and Devices Development Center.

Testing mobile content with the Mobile Content Simulator

Mobile Content Simulator is a way to test content created with Adobe AIR in an  emulated Android or iOS environment. With the Mobile Content Simulator, you can use the Control > Test Movie command to test your file in the AIR Debug Launcher for Mobile, which in turn launches the simulator.

Once the simulator window is opened, you can send input to the document as if it were running on a mobile device. The inputs available include:

  • Accelerometer, X, Y, and Z axes
  • Orientation threshold angle
  • Touch and gestures, including pressure sensitivity
  • Geolocation, direction, and velocity
  • Hardware keys (found on Android devices)

Publishing secure AS3 documents

Flash Player 8 and later contain the following features that help you ensure the security of your documents:

Buffer overrun protection

Enabled automatically, this feature prevents the intentional misuse of external files in a document to overwrite a user’s memory or insert destructive code such as a virus. This prevents a document from reading or writing data outside the document’s designated memory space on a user’s system.

Exact domain matching for sharing data between documents

Flash Player 7 and later enforce a stricter security model than earlier versions. The security model changed in two primary ways between Flash Player 6 and Flash Player 7:

Exact domain matching

Flash Player 6 lets SWF files from similar domains (for example, www.adobe.com and store.adobe.com) communicate freely with each other and with other documents. In Flash Player 7, the domain of the data to be accessed must match the data provider’s domain exactly for the domains to communicate.

HTTPS/HTTP restriction

A SWF file that loads by using nonsecure (non-HTTPS) protocols cannot access content loaded by using a secure (HTTPS) protocol, even when both protocols are in exactly the same domain.

Local and network playback security

Flash Player 8 and later include a security model that lets you determine the local and network playback security for SWF files that you publish. By default, SWF files are granted read access to local files and networks. However, a SWF file with local access cannot communicate with the network, and the SWF file cannot send files or information to any networks.

Allow SWF files to access network resources, letting the SWF file send and receive data. If you grant the SWF file access to network resources, local access is disabled, protecting information on the local computer from potentially being uploaded to the network.

To select the local or network playback security model for your published SWF files, use the Publish Settings dialog box.

Flash Player

Flash Player plays Flash content in the same way as it appears in a web browser or an ActiveX host application. Flash Player is installed with the Flash application. When you double-click Flash content, the operating system starts Flash Player, which then plays the SWF file. Use the player to make content viewable for users who aren’t using a web browser or an ActiveX host application.

To control content in Flash Player, use menu commands and the fscommand() function. 

Use the Flash Player context menu to print Flash Pro content frames.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To open a new or existing file, select File > New, or Open.

    • To change your view of the application, select View > Magnification and make a selection.

    • To control content playback, select Control > Play, Rewind, or Loop Playback.

Update or Reinstall Flash Player

If you are having trouble with your Flash Player installation, you can update or reinstall it. You can go to the Flash Player download page directly from Flash by choosing Help > Get Latest Flash Player.

If you prefer to uninstall Flash Player first, follow these steps:

  1. Close your browser.
  2. Remove any currently installed version of the player.

    For instructions, see TechNote 14157 in the Support Center at www.adobe.com/go/tn_14157.

  3. To begin the installation, visit http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer.

    Follow the on-screen instructions to install the player.

    You can also run one of the following installers in your Players folder. However, the installer on the Adobe website is usually more up to date than those in the Players folder.

    • For the ActiveX control for Windows® (Internet Explorer or AOL), run the Install Flash Player 9 AX.exe file.
    • For the plug‑in for Windows (Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, Safari, or Opera), run the Install Flash Player 9.exe file.
    • For the plug‑in for Macintosh® (AOL, Firefox, Internet Explorer for Macintosh, Netscape, Opera, or Safari), run Install Flash Player 10 (Mac OS 9.x) or Install Flash Player 10 OS X (Mac OS X.x).

     To verify the installation visit http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/ from within your web browser.

Configure a server for Flash Player

For users to view your Flash content on the web, the web server must be properly configured to recognize SWF files.

Configuring a server establishes the appropriate Multipart Internet Mail Extension (MIME) types so that the server can identify files with the .swf extension as Flash files.

A browser that receives the correct MIME type can load the appropriate plug‑in, control, or helper application to process and properly display the incoming data. If the MIME type is missing or not properly delivered by the server, the browser might display an error message or a blank window with a puzzle-piece icon.

  • If your site is established through an Internet service provider (ISP), ask the ISP to add this MIME type to the server: application/x-shockwave-flash with the .swf extension.

  • If you are administering your own server, see your web server documentation for instructions on adding or configuring MIME types.

  • Corporate and enterprise system administrators can configure Flash to restrict Flash Player access to resources in the local file system. Create a security configuration file that limits Flash Player functionality on the local system.

The security configuration file is a text file placed in the same folder as the Flash Player installer. The Flash Player installer reads the configuration file during installation and follows its security directives. Flash Player uses the System object to expose the configuration file to ActionScript.

With the configuration file, disable Flash Player access to the camera or microphone, limit the amount of local storage Flash Player can use, control the auto-update feature, and block Flash Player from reading anything from the user’s local hard disk.

Adding MIME Types

When a web server accesses files, the server must properly identify the files as Flash content to display them. If the MIME type is missing or not properly delivered by the server, the browser can show error messages or a blank window with a puzzle-piece icon.

If your server is not properly configured, you (or your server’s administrator) must add the SWF file MIME types to the server’s configuration files and associate the following MIME types with the SWF file extensions:

  • MIME type application/x-shockwave-flash has the .swf file extension.

  • MIME type application/futuresplash has the .spl file extension.

If you are administering a server, consult your server software documentation for instructions on adding or configuring MIME types. If you are not administering a server, contact your Internet service provider, web master, or server administrator to add the MIME type information.

If your site is on a Mac OS server, you must also set the following parameters: Action: Binary; Type: SWFL; and Creator: SWF2.

Search engine optimization for SWF content

In mid-2008, Adobe announced a significant advance in Flash Player technology that allows the text content inside SWF files to be indexed by search engines such as Google and Yahoo!. There are a variety of strategies you can employ to optimize the visibility of your SWF content to search engines. These practices as a whole are referred to as search engine optimization (SEO).

About Omniture and Flash

Flash content can be integrated with Omniture SiteCatalyst and Omniture Test&Target. SiteCatalyst helps marketers quickly identify the most profitable paths through their website, determine where visitors are navigating away from their site, and identify critical success metrics for online marketing campaigns. Test&Target gives marketers the capability to continually make their online content more relevant to their customers. Test&Target provides an interface for designing and executing tests, creating audience segments and targeting content.

Omniture customers can use SiteCatalyst and Test&Target with Flash by downloading and installing the Omniture Extension pack.

  • To download the Omniture extensions and access instructions for using them, choose Help > Omniture.

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