From Anipedia

All the tools in Flash CS4 are listed here. Features that need a lot of explaining have their own pages. Hover and click on a keyboard button to learn more about the tool that it is assigned to. Some tools don't have keyboard shortcuts - they are listed below as well.

Contents 1 Timeline Features 1.1 Motion Tween 1.2 Shape Tween 1.3 Classic Motion Tween 2 Keyboard Shortcuts 2.1 F1: Help 2.2 F2: Output 2.3 F3: Find & Replace 2.4 F4: Scene View 2.5 F5: New Frame 2.6 F6: New Keyframe 2.7 F7: New Blank Keyframe 2.8 F8: New Symbol 2.9 F9: Actions 2.10 F10: Menu Select 2.11 F11: Library 2.12 F12: Publish & View 2.13 Q: Free Transform Tool 2.14 W: 3D Rotation Tool 2.15 E: Eraser 2.16 R: Rectangle/Rectangle Primitive Tool 2.17 T: Text Tool 2.18 Y: Pencil Tool 2.19 U: Deco Tool 2.20 I: Eyedropper 2.21 O: Oval/Oval Primitive Tool 2.22 A: Subselection Tool 2.23 S: Ink Bottle Tool 2.24 F: Gradient Transform Tool 2.25 G: 3D Translation Tool 2.26 H/Spacebar: Hand 2.27 J: Object Drawing 2.28 K: Paint Bucket 2.29 L: Lasso 2.30 Enter: Play 2.31 Z: Bone/Bind Tool 2.32 P: Pen Tool 2.33 +/=: Add Anchor Point 2.34 -/_: Delete Anchor Point 2.35 C: Convert Anchor Point Tool 2.36 V: Arrow 2.37 B: Brush 2.38 N: Line Tool 2.39 M: Magnifier 2.40 <: Previous Frame 2.41 >: Next Frame 3 Other Keyboard Shortcuts

[edit] Timeline Features

[edit] Motion Tween

See CS4 Motion Tween Tutorial.

[edit] Shape Tween

See Shape Tweening Tutorial.

[edit] Classic Motion Tween

See Classic Motion Tween Tutorial.

[edit] Keyboard Shortcuts

[edit] F1: Help

Opens the Help documentation, which is located online as of version CS4.

[edit] F2: Output

Opens the Output window, which generates debugging and error information upon publishing and preview.

[edit] F3: Find & Replace

Opens the Find & Replace window, queuing the next entry to be searched for. For Actionscript.

[edit] F4: Scene View

Expands the stage to fit the entire span of the window, allowing for maximum drawing area. Hitting F4 again brings it back to the previous layout.

[edit] F5: New Frame

Creates a new frame on the timeline where specified.

[edit] F6: New Keyframe

Creates a new keyframe on the timeline where specificed.

[edit] F7: New Blank Keyframe

Creates a new blank keyframe on the timeline where specified.

[edit] F8: New Symbol

Takes whatever is selected on the stage and turns it into a symbol of your choice -- movie clip, graphic or button.

[edit] F9: Actions

Opens the Actions window, for displaying Actionscript.

[edit] F10: Menu Select

Brings the focus to the menu items at the top of Flash. Use arrow keys to scroll through them.

[edit] F11: Library

Opens the Library panel.

[edit] F12: Publish & View

Publishes your FLA and opens it.

[edit] Q: Free Transform Tool

Selects the transformation tools to modify shapes and object.

• Resize: click and drag a square. Hold the Shift key to maintain proportions.
• Skew: click and drag between the squares on the line.
• Move: click and drag inside the shape.
• Distort: Right-click the shape and select Distort. Anchor points become distortion points. Click and drag them to distort the original shape. Shapes only - does not work on symbols.
• Envelope: Right-click the shape and select Envelope. Multi-point distortion with curved anchor points. Click and drag to distort. Shapes only - does not work on symbols.

[edit] W: 3D Rotation Tool

Symbols only. Creates an XYZ axis rotation tool for the symbol which gives the illusion of 3D rotation. AS3.0 documents only.

[edit] E: Eraser

Activates the eraser.

[edit] R: Rectangle/Rectangle Primitive Tool

Activates the rectangle or rectangle primitive tool. Click and drag to draw a rectangle or rectangle primitive. Hold down shift while dragging to hold proportions.

[edit] T: Text Tool

Activates the text tool. Click and drag to create an area to type text. Text options are in the Properties window.

[edit] Y: Pencil Tool

Activates the pencil tool.

[edit] U: Deco Tool

Activates the Deco tool. The Deco Tool takes a pattern and links it as you paint to create a decorative, linked pattern.

[edit] I: Eyedropper

Activates the eyedropper. Click to select a color to grab its hex value.

[edit] O: Oval/Oval Primitive Tool

Activates the oval or oval primitive tool. Click and drag to draw an oval or oval primitive. Hold down shift while dragging to hold proportions.

[edit] A: Subselection Tool

[edit] S: Ink Bottle Tool

Activates the Ink Bottle Tool. The Ink Bottle takes uses line properties from the Properties window and allows you to create an ink outline around vector shapes.

[edit] F: Gradient Transform Tool

Activates the Gradient Transform Tool. Select a gradient with this tool on and it will add transform points for gradients. These include rotation, shape, direction and center.

[edit] G: 3D Translation Tool

Symbols only. Creates an XYZ axis translate tool for the symbol which gives the illusion of 3D movement on all 3 planes. AS3.0 documents only.

[edit] H/Spacebar: Hand

Activates the Hand tool. Holding down spacebar and dragging or dragging with the Hand tool on will allow you to move around the stage without having to use the scroll bars.

[edit] J: Object Drawing

Activates Object Drawing. This will make any brush stroke or shape you draw to be instantly created into an object. Many people find this tool intrusive and annoying, you can go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts and remove this keyboard shortcut completely.

[edit] K: Paint Bucket

Activates the Paint Bucket. For filling shapes with color.

[edit] L: Lasso

Activates the Lasso. Create a custom selection using click-and-drag. Also has a magic wand selection option.

[edit] Enter: Play

Plays at the point where the timeline is.

[edit] Z: Bone/Bind Tool

Bone tool: Create bones and connect to create a rig. First bone is the parent, following bones are the children. Follows the rules of Inverse kinematics. For more information, see the Flash Rigs tutorial.

[edit] P: Pen Tool

[edit] +/=: Add Anchor Point

[edit] -/_: Delete Anchor Point

[edit] C: Convert Anchor Point Tool

[edit] V: Arrow

[edit] B: Brush

Selects the vector brush tool for painting.

[edit] N: Line Tool

[edit] M: Magnifier

Zoom tool. Brings up the magnifying glass. Click to zoom, click and hold to zoom into a selection. Previous shortcut was Z.

[edit] <: Previous Frame

[edit] >: Next Frame

[edit] Other Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+S: Save. Always save as often as possible!
• Shift+F12: Publish
• Ctrl+=: Zoom in
• Ctrl+-: Zoom out