Adobe Flash

Add Text to a Flash Document

Flash Basic 8 and Flash Professional 8 provide a variety of text features and options. This lesson introduces you to the three primary types of text you can add to a document. You can add static text for titles, labels, or other text content you want to appear in a document. You can also use input text options to allow viewers to interact with your Flash application, for example, to enter their name or other information in a form.

The third type of text is dynamic text. You use dynamic text fields to display text that changes based on criteria you specify. For example, you might use a dynamic text field to add values stored in other text fields, such as the sum of two numbers. This tutorial shows you how to add text and text fields to a Flash document.

First, you'll open the start file for the lesson and set up your workspace to use an optimal layout for taking lessons.

  1. To open your start file, in Flash select File > Open and navigate to the file:
    • In Windows, browse to boot drive \Program Files\ Macromedia\Flash 8\Samples and Tutorials\Tutorial Assets\ Text\Add Text to a Document and double-click text_start.fla.
    • On the Macintosh, browse to Macintosh HD /Applications/ Macromedia Flash 8/Samples and Tutorials/Tutorial Assets/Text/ Add Text to a Document and double-click text_start.fla.

    Note: The Add Text to a Document folder contains completed versions of the tutorial FLA files for your reference.

  2. Select File > Save As and save the document with a new name, in the same folder, to preserve the original start file and to preserve the file's link to dependent files.
  3. Select Window > Workspace Layout > Default to modify your workspace for taking lessons.
  4. In the Stage View pop-up menu, in the upper-right side of the Timeline, select Show Frame to view both the Stage and the workspace.
  5. In the Tools panel, click the Selection tool. Then in the Timeline, click the Static Text layer to select the layer you'll work in.