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Why do letters 'stick' to the edge of the Movie when I import my SWiSHmax animation into Flash?
You have the 'Do not animate off-stage objects' option checked on the Movie Export Panel. Uncheck this option and re-export your SWiSHmax Movie.

Why do I see a message telling me that some fonts have been changed when I open a SWiSHmax file created on another computer?
You do not have all the fonts installed on your machine. SWiSHmax will try to find the closest match to the original font and use it as a substitute.
Note: Fonts do not need to be installed to play SWiSHmax animations over the internet

Why does my movie get slower and slower as it plays?
If you fade simple objects out they are removed. However, objects that are targets and objects with events will remain on the stage completely transparent (with zero alpha). Even though you cannot see them, Flash Player still has to do expensive transparency calculations on them, and that will slow things down. You can add a remove effect after the fade out to remove these objects if you do not want them to remain active.

Why do Effects start one Frame into the animation?
This is so Effects can be joined together seamlessly without the object 'sticking' for one Frame between the Effects. If you need the initial Frame of the Effect, simply shift the Effect one Frame to the right, and select Place Effect to insert an Effect in the first Frame.

Why is there a gap at the end of each audio loop when I use an .MP3 file?
.MP3 decoders add extra information at the end of the audio file which creates a very short pause when looped. To avoid this problem, import your audio as a .WAV file and let the SWiSHmax handle the compression. The resulting .SWF file size will be virtually the same as it would be when using an .MP3 file. The only difference, is that there is no gap at the end of each loop when using .WAV files.

Why do objects turns into Sprites when I group them?
Objects in a Group cannot have their own Effects, unless they are (inside) a Sprite. If any of the objects you are trying to Group already have Effects, then that object is first converted to a Sprite so that your Effects are not lost.

Why is the Sprite off center in the 'Layout' Panel, or not visible at all?
When you expand a Sprite to edit it, the system of coordinates in the Layout Panel changes from Scene coordinates to Sprite coordinates. This will make the objects in the Sprite go off center. Use the View | View at 100% or View | Fit Objects in Window to re-center the Layout Panel.

Why does the cursor still move in jumps when I turned of the Grid?
Even if you have hidden the Grid, you may still have Snap to Grid turned on. These are separate options under the View Menu. You can have the Grid visible, but no snapping; or the Grid hidden and snapping turned on. Use View | Snap to Grid to turn Grid snapping on or off. You can also turn this on or off, and set the Grid size, from the Movie Panel.

I made a button, and when I test it the mouse cursor changes to a text indicator instead of a hand, and the button doesn't work, why ?
Chances are that you have accidentally used either Dynamic or Input text instead of Static text. Select the text inside the button, open the Text panel, and make sure that the text is a Static text field.

Why don't I see masking happening?
Masking only happens when the Movie or Scene is playing. When you are editing, masking is turned off automatically, so that you can see both the mask shape and the objects being masked.

Why can't I see one of my panels?
You may have hidden or removed the panel. You can show or hide panels from the Panels menu.

Why can't I see all the Menu commands on Toolbars?
Use the View | Toolbars Menu to turn on additional Toolbars. Use Tool | Customise to add, move or remove buttons from Toolbars.

My Panels and Toolbars are all mixed up. How do I reset SWiSH to the default layout?
You can restore the Panels to the default layout by selecting Panels | Reset to Defaults. You can restore the Toolbars to the default layout by selecting Tools | Customize and pressing Reset All on the Toolbars tab. If your SWiSHmax layout is still mixed up, follow this procedure:

1.	close SWiSHmax if it is running

2.	press the Windows 'Start' button and select Run...

3.	type "regedit" (without quotes) into the Open edit box and press OK to open the Registry Editor

4.	in the Registry Editor open the folder: My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\

5.	select the SWiSHzone.com folder, right-click and select Delete

6.	close the Registry Editor

7.	restart SWiSHmax.

SWiSHmax will now start with the default layout.

Flash crashed when I imported my SWF file. Why?
There is a bug in Flash where it will not import some valid SWF files. In particular, it will crash if a SWF file does not have a particular record that is not actually required in a SWF file. There are two situations in which SWiSHmax leaves out this optional record. The first is when you select the [x] Solid shape with overlap filled checkbox on the Shape Panel. This option tells SWiSHmax to export a shape as a font, which has different behavior for self-overlapping shapes. The information Flash requires is not applicable and so is not exported. The second is when you explicitly turn off the font info record with the [x] Allow import of text as text object checkbox on the Export Movie Panel. This tells SWiSHmax to omit the optional record for all text, which reduces the size of the resulting SWF file. See Importing a SWiSH Movie into Flash.

I imported my SWF file into Flash ok, but when I play the Flash movie thee is nothing there. Why?
There is a bug in Flash when importing a SWF that has masking. Even though it looks ok inside Flash itself, when Flash generates a SWF file, nothing is visible. To avoid this, ensure that the [x] Mask off-stage objects option is turned off in the Export Movie Panel.

A warning message telling me that my Device Fonts are scaled and rotated keeps showing up. Why?
Due to a Flash Player limitation, Device Fonts cannot be scaled, rotated, masked, or have an alpha value of less than 100% (opaque). When receiving this error message, make sure you choose Vector Fonts instead of Device Fonts (change the "D" icon to "V" or "P"), and do not use the fonts: _sans; _serif; or, _typewriter. Check to make sure the fonts are at 100% scale on the Transform panel (both vertical and horizontal scale). Do not apply any complex effects to Device Fonts (eg, explode, snake, vortex, etc).

A warning message was displayed when I tried to select an Adobe PostScript font. Why?
Due to a bug in Adobe Type Manager 4.0 (and earlier) for Windows NT, use of PostScript fonts may cause SWiSHmax to close.
To fix this either:

·	Update to ATM 4.1 or later (ATM Lite is a free download)

·	Turn off ATM 4.0, and convert your PostScript fonts to TrueType using Windows NT TrueType Converter.

To do this:

1.	turn off ATM 4.0

2.	restart Windows NT

3.	go to Start | Settings | Control Panel | Fonts | File | Install New Font

4.	in the 'Install Type 1 Font' dialog box turn on Convert Type 1 Font to TrueType and Install Type1 Font Files for use on a PostScript printer. Turn off Copy Type 1 Font Files to Fonts Folder

5.	click Yes.

For more information refer to:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/freehand/ts/documents/freehand_7_and_atm_4_for_nt.htm
http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/flash_crash_fonts.htm
http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/tn4105.html