Introduction to Flash MX Tutorial > Test download performance and publish the movie > Use the Publish command

 

Use the Publish command

You can publish your Flash document for Web playback in one step.

With your document saved, choose File > Publish.

Flash publishes your movie by creating a SWF file, and possibly additional files, based on the attributes in the Publish Settings dialog box. You'll find the published files, by default, in the same folder where you saved your FLA.

 
View publish settings

Using the Publish Settings dialog box, it's easy to reconfigure the way your file publishes.

1

To view your publish settings, choose File > Publish Settings.

Flash is configured, by default, to create a supporting HTML file that displays the Flash movie.

When you select a format that requires additional settings, a new tab appears.

2

On the Formats tab, verify that Flash (.swf) and HTML (.html) are selected. Click the Flash tab.

By default, the movie publishes for the Flash Player. The publishing process also applies movie and JPEG compression.

3

Click the HTML tab.

By default, the publishing process creates an HTML document that inserts your SWF file in a browser window. Settings on the HTML tab of the Publish Settings dialog box determine how the movie appears in the browser.

 
Change publish settings

By default, Flash gives the SWF file the same name as the FLA file. You can tell Flash to change the name.

1

On the Formats tab of the Publish Settings dialog box, deselect Use Default Names.

2

In the HTML (.html) text box, select the existing text and type a new name, such as stilettoElectric.html. Then click Publish. When the Publishing status window closes, click OK in the Publish Settings dialog box.

 
View your published movie in a browser

You can view the HTML file and SWF movie, which you just published, in your browser.

1

Open your browser, then open the HTML file that you created.

By default, the HTML file is in the same folder as your FLA file.

When you open the HTML file, the SWF movie plays within your browser.

2

In your browser, you can use a command such as View > Page Source or View > Source to view the HTML.

OBJECT and EMBED tags ensure that the SWF movie is displayed within the browser.

For additional information about Flash HTML templates, see About HTML publishing templates.