Macromedia MAX 2005 - Anaheim, CA What’s New In Flash 8
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FlashType Overview
FlashType is a new text rendering engine that provides clear, high-quality text rendering both in the
Flash authoring environment and in the published SWF files. FlashType greatly improves the
readability of text, particularly when it is rendered at smaller font sizes. While FlashType is available
in both Flash Basic and Flash Professional, the new custom anti-aliasing option is available only in
Flash Professional. Custom anti-aliasing lets you specify the thickness and sharpness of fonts used
in individual text fields.
FlashType is automatically enabled whenever Flash Player 8 is the selected version of the player,
and Anti-Alias for Readability or Custom Anti-Alias is the selected anti-aliasing mode. Using
FlashType may cause a slight delay when loading Flash SWF files. You will notice this delay
especially if you are using several different character sets (four or five) within the first frame of a
Flash document, so be aware of the number of fonts you use. FlashType font rendering may also
cause an increase in the Flash Player's memory usage. Using four or five fonts, for example, can
increase memory usage by approximately 4 MB.
When Flash Player 8 is the selected version of Flash Player, and Anti-Alias for Readability or
Custom Anti-Alias is your chosen anti-aliasing option, FlashType anti-aliasing applies to the
following:
• Untransformed text that is scaled and rotated
NOTE: While the text can be scaled or rotated, it must remain flat (for example,
untransformed). For example, if you skew the fonts or otherwise manipulate the font
shapes, FlashType automatically is disabled.
• All font families (including bold, italic, and so on)
• Display sizes up to a size of 255 points
NOTE: Because magnification affects the display size of the text, when you zoom in,
the text redraws at larger point sizes, thereby disabling the anti-aliasing for readability
font rendering once a size of 255 points is reached.
• Exporting to most non-Flash file formats (GIF or JPEG)
FlashType is disabled under the following conditions:
• Flash Player 7 or earlier is the selected version of Flash Player.
• An anti-aliasing option other than Anti-Alias for Readability or Custom Anti-Alias is selected.
• Text is skewed or flipped.
• The FLA file is exported to a PNG file.
