Home >> Software Help >> Flash >> Importing a bitmap

Importing a Bitmap Image

A bitmap image, as opposed to a vector graphic, is a file that you have probably created in Photoshop. Bitmap images can be a GIF or a JPEG or a PNG file. Do not import Photoshop files (.psd files) into Flash, optimize them first.

In Flash, bitmap images take up a lot of memory and will make your movies large and may slow them down, so use bitmaps sparingly.

NOTE: Before you start importing files, make sure that your disk is organized. YOU SHOULD NOT keep bitmaps and sounds inside your Web folder (your last name) because these files do not go on the server. Keep all of your Raw and Imported files inside the Raw_Flash folder (you might want to add subfolders like I did here.) Raw files in Flash include Jpeg images, GIF images, .wav sounds, .mp3 sounds, or anything else you import into your movie.

Only the optimized SWF file that you export should go inside your Web site.

How to Import:

It's easy to import a file, just go to File-->Import, select your file and then click Open

Once you import a file, it will automatically be included in the Library. An instance of the file will be placed on the stage. If you import several files at the same time, they will be stacked on top of each other on the stage. If you delete an "instance" from the stage, the "master" will still be in the library.

Look at this example: I imported some images, decided I didn't like them, so I deleted them from the stage and imported other images. Even though I deleted the images I decided not to use from the stage, they are still in the Library, taking up A LOT of space. Make sure you delete all unused files from the library.

A convenient way to deal with this: Automatically select all Unused Items and Delete them

1. Open the Library window, and at the top where it says "Options" pull down the menu and choose "Select Unused Items"

2. All of the files that are not being used (i.e., on the stage) at some point during your movie will be highlited.

3. Right-click on the highlited library items and choose Delete.

Warning: deleting files from the library is permanent, you cannot undo. If you mistakenly delete a file from the library that you ARE using, then you will have to reimport and probably reinsert it on the stage. So BE CAREFUL here. Save a version of your FLA before you delete a whole bunch of files from your library, just in case.

Types of Bitmaps:

PNG (great compression, can have alpha transparencies)

JPEG (photographs, always in a "box")

GIF (graphical art that you cannot create with the Flash drawing tools)

A PNG file can be created in Photoshop or Fireworks. Because Fireworks is a software product also created by Macromedia, images created in Fireworks are the most "user-friendly" when it comes to editing or updating an image that you have already imported.

To save a PNG from Photoshop: File-->Save As--> choose PNG as type

To save a PNG from Fireworks: File-->Save As (PNG is the native file format of Fireworks, you don't have to specify)

PNG files can also have transparent areas (JPEGs will always be in a box.)

	These 2 images were imported into Flash, where the background color of the movie is black. Notice that because the PNG allows "alpha transparency" we can place it on whatever color background we want. The JPEG, on the other hand, was created on a white background, and the image includes the box around it.
	Look what happens when we go to add other graphics. This blue circle was created in Flash and added to the stage. Because the PNG is partially transparent, the circle sits right under the gecko's nose. The JPEG on the other hand, handles the circle by displaying it under the whole image including the box surrounding it.