The Tools Panel is very similar the Tools panel in Adobe Photoshop. This allows for easier control and modification of your objects. In the Timeline, you are able to layer objects as you would in Adobe Photoshop. You will learn more about Keyframes in the animation tutorial. The Timeline Panel is where you will control every object’s animation using frames and Keyframes. The panels you will be working with the most are Timeline, Tools, Library, Canvas and Properties. When you first load Flash 8, you will encounter a workspace almost identical to the one you see in the screenshot. While this tutorial was created specifically for Flash 8, you may use it as a reference for Flash MX or MX 2004.

For more advanced control you can use Actionscript, Flash's programming language that is very similar to Javascript. You can control an object’s actions and behaviors using the Behavior panel and the Timeline. Macromedia Flash is a program that creates interactive, and animated media such as motion graphics, videos, presentations and websites. If you have seen animated online advertisements, played interactive online games or been prompted by your web browser to install Flash Player, you have encountered objects created in Flash. Please read this tutorial first if you have not previously worked in any version of Flash. This part of the tutorial will help you become familiar with the elements and tools in Flash.

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