How to Make a Button in Flash 8

Generate a button in Flash 8 using the program's "Symbol" and "Actions" features.

Originally created by Macromedia, and now maintained by Adobe Systems, Flash is one of the world's most widely used multimedia development platforms. It lets programmers and designers create multimedia presentations with many types of content, from text and images--to animations, sounds, videos and interactive elements. Flash also supports the creation of websites and other web-based applications. Once you understand the proper steps, adding a button to your website or presentation using Macromedia Flash 8 becomes a quick task.

Instructions

1. Open your Flash project in Adobe Flash 8.

2. Click "Insert" in the top menu bar and select "New Symbol."

3. Select "Button" and click "OK."

4. Select one of the the shape options from the "Tools" palette (e.g. rectangle, oval) and draw your preferred button shape in the work area.

5. Click the "Stroke color" and "Fill color" options to set the shape's border and fill colors, respectively.

6. Click the "T" icon on the Tools palette, and then click and drag within the work area to create a text box. Enter text for your button (e.g. "click here") within the newly created box.

7. Click outside the text box, select the arrow icon from the Tools palette, and then drag the text into your desired position on top of the button shape.

8. Single-click the layer containing the newly created button and text within the "Layers" palette.

9. Right-click in the "Over" box and select "Insert Keyframe."

10. Single-click the "Fill color" option. Select the color you want to appear when a user hovers their mouse over the button.

11. Click "Edit" in the top menu bar and select "Edit Movie."

12. Click "Window" in the top menu bar and select "Library."

13. Locate the button within the Library palette, single-click it, and then drag the button into the work area.

14. Right-click on the button and select "Actions."

15. Click the "+" sign.

16. Select "Basic Actions," followed by "Get URL."

17. Enter the full URL to which the button will point, including the "http://" prefix.

18. Leave the "Window" field blank to open the link in the current browser window. Enter "_blank" (without quotation marks) to open the link in a new window.

19. Close the Actions menu to confirm your settings and complete the process.

References

• W3 Schools: Flash Button 2
• Tizag: Flash 8 Button URL Screen Image
• Adobe Developer Connection: Learn Flash Professional