1. When you import a PSD file into Flash, using File > Import > Import to Stage or Import to Library, you see the following dialog box.

Notice how all of the layers and layer names are retained. After you import the Photoshop file, you can still edit the content that's contained within that file using Flash. If you have any layer groups in your .psd, they will also retain that same structure here. If you do not need to modify the content, you can flatten the PSD content to a bitmap image.

The importer lets you convert all of those layers to either Flash layers (individual layers on the timeline), or keyframes. You also have the option to import a layer as a movie clip. The importer contains an option to place layers at their original position, which means that the PSD content imports retaining its Photoshop positioning. Otherwise, the content centers on the Stage after you import it.

If you import your content to the Stage, you also have the option to resize the Stage to match the PSD canvas size.

2.You can also import Illustrator files into Flash, which is a lot like importing PSD files. When you import an AI file into Flash, using File > Import > Import to Stage or Import to Library, you see the following dialog box.

Not only can you tightly control how your AI and PSD files import, but you can also change preferences for the import dialog box. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Flash > Preferences (Mac OS) to open the Preferences dialog box. There are two new options at the bottom of the Category list: PSD File Importer, and AI File Importer. Here, you can change the default preferences for how Flash imports Photoshop or Illustrator files.

There is a lot of flexibility when you import AI and PSD documents into Flash, much more than can be covered in this article. For video tutorials about integration between Flash and Illustrator, see Importing Illustrator files into Flash, Using symbols effectively between Illustrator and Flash, and Using text effectively between Illustrator and Flash. For a video tutorial about integration between Flash and Photoshop, see Designing websites with Photoshop and Flash. Of course, also consult product documentation for more details.

Integrating Flash with Illustrator and Fireworks
Not only can you import Illustrator files and retain layers, there are new features within Illustrator to help integrate with Flash. For example, you can create symbols, manipulate their registration points, and assign names to instances of those symbols right in Illustrator. Then you can import symbols and instances into Flash, while retaining all of that information. You can also create static, dynamic, and input text fields in Illustrator. For a video tutorial on creating Flash text fields in Illustrator, see Using text effectively between Illustrator and Flash. For a video tutorial on creating symbols in Illustrator for use in Flash, see Using symbols effectively between Illustrator and Flash.

Illustrator, Flash, and Adobe Fireworks® all support for 9-slice scaling. You can create symbols in any of these three products, and enable 9-slice scaling to avoid distortion when you scale your symbols. For example, you might create some interface elements with 9-slice scaling, such as buttons, in Illustrator. Then you can create a website prototype in Fireworks that uses the buttons, and finally animate those buttons in Flash.

You can continue to roundtrip edit between Fireworks and Flash. In Flash CS3, you will notice a tidier import dialog box when you take PNG files from Fireworks to Flash (see Figure 26). In this new dialog box, you can import content onto specified pages, which is a great new feature found in Fireworks CS3.

llustrator, Flash, and Adobe Fireworks® all support for 9-slice scaling. You can create symbols in any of these three products, and enable 9-slice scaling to avoid distortion when you scale your symbols. For example, you might create some interface elements with 9-slice scaling, such as buttons, in Illustrator. Then you can create a website prototype in Fireworks that uses the buttons, and finally animate those buttons in Flash.

You can continue to roundtrip edit between Fireworks and Flash. In Flash CS3, you will notice a tidier import dialog box when you take PNG files from Fireworks to Flash (see Figure 26). In this new dialog box, you can import content onto specified pages, which is a great new feature found in Fireworks CS3.

For a video tutorial that includes several different ways you can integrate Flash and Fireworks, see Understanding the Fireworks and Flash workflow, by the smart and dapper Adobe expert Alan Musselman.