Working with Flash Assets > Panels and the Property inspector > Using panels |  |

Using panels

Panels in Flash help you view, organize, and change elements in a document. The options available on panels control the characteristics of symbols, instances, colors, type, frames, and other elements. You can use panels to customize the Flash interface, by displaying the panels you need for a specific task and hiding other panels.

Panels let you work with objects, colors, text, instances, frames, scenes, and entire documents. For example, you use the Color Mixer to create colors, and the Align panel to align objects to each other or the Stage. To view the complete list of panels available in Flash, see the Window menu.

Most panels include a pop-up menu with additional options. The options menu is indicated by a control in the panel's title bar. (If no options menu control appears, there is no options menu for that panel.)

To open a panel:

Select the desired panel from the Window menu.

To close a panel, do one of the following:

| Select the desired panel from the Window menu.
| Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the panel's title bar and choose Close Panel from the context menu.

To use a panel's options menu:

1 | Click the control in the panel's title bar to view the options menu.
2 | Click an item in the menu.

To resize a panel:

Drag the panel's border (Windows) or drag the size box at the panel's lower right corner (Macintosh).

To expand or collapse a panel to its title bar:

Click the collapse arrow in the title bar. Click the collapse arrow again to expand the panel to its previous size.

To show or hide all panels:

Press Tab.

To close all panels:

Choose Window > Close All Panels.

Arranging panels

You can rearrange the order in which panels appear within panel groups. You can also create new panel groups and dock panels to existing panel groups.

To move a panel:

Drag the panel by its title bar.

To add a panel to an existing panel group:

Drag the panel by its title bar onto another panel.

To create a new panel group:

Drag the panel by its title bar, away from other panel groups.

Using panel sets

You can create panel sets in custom arrangements, and you can save these custom panel layouts. You can reset panel display to the default layout (displaying the Color Swatches, Actions, and Components panels and the Color Mixer to the right of the application window) or to a custom layout that you have saved previously.

To save a custom panel set:

1 | Choose Window > Save Panel Layout.
2 | Enter a name for the layout and click OK.

To select a panel layout:

1 | Choose Window > Panel Sets.
2 | From the submenu, choose Default Layout to reset panels to the default layout, or choose a custom layout that you have saved previously.

To delete custom layouts:

Open the folder for the Panel Sets documents in the location for your operating system (listed below) and delete the text file for the custom panel set.

For Windows operating systems:

| Windows 2000 or XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Panel Sets
| Windows 98 or ME: C:\Windows\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Panel Sets
| Windows NT: Windows directory\profiles\[user]\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX\Configuration\Panel Sets

For Macintosh operating systems:

| Macintosh OS X: Hard Drive/Users/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/FlashMX/Configuration/Panel Sets
| Macintosh System 9.x, single user: Hard Drive/System folder/Application Support/Macromedia Flash MX/Configuration/Panel Sets
| Macintosh System 9.x, multiple users: Hard Drive/Users/[user]/Documents/Macromedia/FlashMX/Configuration/Panel Sets

Working with the Library panel

The Library panel is where you store and organize symbols created in Flash, as well as imported files, including bitmap graphics, sound files, and video clips. The Library panel lets you organize library items in folders, see how often an item is used in a document, and sort items by type. See Using the library.

To display or hide the Library panel:

Choose Window > Library.

Working with the Actions panel

The Actions panel lets you create and edit actions for an object or frame. Selecting a frame, button, or movie clip instance makes the Actions panel active. The Actions panel title changes to Button Actions, Movie Clip Actions, or Frame Actions, depending on what is selected.

For information on using the Actions panel, including switching between editing modes, see Using the Actions panel.

To display or hide the Actions panel:

Choose Window > Actions.