Creating Components > Creating a custom icon |  |

Creating a custom icon

You can select one of the default icons available from the Component Definition dialog box, or you can create your own icon. When you add the component to a movie, its icon appears next to the component name in the Library panel, the Movie Explorer, and the Components panel (if you selected the Display in Components Panel option in the Component Definition dialog box).

You begin by creating the custom icon. The icon does not need to be identical to the component, but it should give users an idea of the component's appearance. Icon files should be bitmaps or PNG files.

To create and import a custom icon:

1 | In a graphics application, such as Macromedia Fireworks, create a bitmap image measuring 20 x 20 pixels to represent the component. (You can also create an image in Flash and save it as a PNG file.)
2 | Save the bitmap. Give it the same name as the component.
3 | In Flash, open the component file and open the library for the component.
4 | Choose File > Import to Library.
5 | Select the bitmap icon image in the Import to Library dialog box and click Open.

Next, you need to specify the bitmap as a custom icon. The icon must have the same name as the component movie clip.

To specify the bitmap as a custom icon:

1 | In the Library panel, create a folder named FCustomIcons.
2 | Place the bitmap image inside the FCustomIcons folder.
| The icon bitmap in the FCustomIcons folder must have exactly the same name as the component movie clip in order for the icon to function correctly.
3 | If necessary, rename the image with the same name as the component movie clip. To do this, select the bitmap image inside the FCustomIcons folder, and double-click the bitmap name to edit the name, then rename the bitmap image.
4 | Click the Close box in the upper right (Windows) or upper left (Macintosh) corner of the Library panel to close it. Then reopen the Library panel to see the custom icon displayed next to the component name.
5 | Save the file.
| In order for the component name and icon to appear in the Flash MX user interface, you must save or copy the FLA file for the component in the Components folder in the Macromedia Flash MX application folder. See Making the component available for Flash documents.