Using Imported Artwork and Video > Working with imported bitmaps |  |

Working with imported bitmaps

When you import a bitmap into Flash, you can modify that bitmap and use it in your Flash movie in a variety of ways. You can apply compression and anti-aliasing to imported bitmaps to control the size and appearance of bitmaps in movies. See Setting bitmap properties. You can apply an imported bitmap as a fill to an object. See Applying a bitmap fill.

Flash lets you break apart a bitmap into editable pixels. The bitmap retains its original detail but is broken into discrete areas of color. When you break a bitmap apart, you can select and modify areas of the bitmap with the Flash drawing and painting tools. Breaking apart a bitmap also lets you sample the bitmap with the Eyedropper tool to use it as a fill. See Breaking apart a bitmap.

You can edit an imported bitmap in Fireworks or another external image editor by launching the editing application from within Flash. SeeEditing bitmaps in an external editor. To convert a bitmap's image to a vector graphic, you can trace the bitmap. Performing this conversion enables you to modify the graphic as you do other vector artwork in Flash. See Converting bitmaps to vector graphics.

If a Flash movie displays an imported bitmap at a larger size than the original, the image may be distorted. Preview imported bitmaps to be sure that images are displayed properly.