Flash CS3: The Missing Manual

Appendix A. Installation and Help

It's 2:00 a.m., you're this close to finishing your animation, and you run into a snag. If you can't find the answer to your question in the pages of this book, you have plenty of other possibilities. First of all, Flash has its own built-in help system, which may give you the answer you need on the spot. For more complex problems, you can seek technical support from the developer (Adobe, as mentioned on Finding Flash Gurus) or from fellow Flash fans via the Web. This appendix outlines all these options.

First, in case you need help getting Flash installed on your computer, some basic instructions follow.

Tip

While the Flash box lists minimum requirements, minimum is the operative word. You'll want at least 20 gigabytes free on your hard disk—not just for the program installation, but to give you room to create and store your Flash masterpieces and import additional files (such as previously created images, sound files, and movies) from elsewhere.

Installing and Activating Flash CS3

As with most programs, before you can use Flash, you need to install it on your computer and activate it. Fortunately, this one-time process is fairly painless. To get started, grab your Flash installation CD and the jacket that it comes in. (You need the jacket because it contains the serial number you need to activate Flash.)

Then follow these steps:

1. Close any other programs you have open.

   Flash demands all your computer's attention during the installation and configuration ...