Flash glossary: Instance
Each symbol instance in Adobe Flash Professional has its own properties that are separate from the symbol. You can change the tint, transparency, and brightness of an instance; redefine how the instance behaves (for example, changing a graphic to a movie clip); and specify how an animation plays inside a graphic instance.
You can also skew, rotate, or scale an instance without affecting the symbol itself. However, if you update the symbol, all instances of that symbol will be automatically updated. This makes it easy to make significant updates to an entire project.
To edit instance properties, access the Property inspector (Windows > Properties). Select an instance on the Stage and enter its instance name in the Property inspector. The name you assign to a movie clip or button instance can then be used in ActionScript so that you can manipulate the instance and change its properties. For more information, see the section titled Symbols and ActionScript in the Flash documentation.
Note: Because you cannot assign instance names to Graphic symbols, you cannot control them with ActionScript. Use movie clip symbols instead.
The properties of an instance are saved with it. If you edit a symbol or swap an instance to a different symbol, any instance properties you've changed still apply to the instance.
To learn more about working with instances, see the section titled Working with symbol instances in the Flash documentation.
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