Macromedia Flash 8 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual Quickstart Guide

7. Working with Symbols

Library Terminology

The general term for an item stored in a Flash library is an asset. More specifically, graphics created with Flash’s drawing tools and stored in a library are called symbols; fonts stored in a library are called font symbols; and imported sounds, video clips, and bitmaps (which are always stored in a library) are just called sounds, video clips, and bitmaps. Flash refers to each copy of a library asset that you use in a movie as an instance of that asset.

In previous chapters, you learned to create and edit static graphics. Ultimately, you’ll want to animate those graphics, and you’re likely to want to use the same graphic over and over again. You may want an element to appear several times in one ...