Manage flash panels

Managing panels

Flash 5 gives you several ways to efficiently manage panels as you work. In the following sections, you’ll learn how to do the following:

	Open and close panels
	Resize and collapse panels
	Group panels
	Restore the default panel layout
	Use custom panel layouts

Opening and closing panels
You can open and close panels by using the Window menu, the Launcher bar, and the panel’s Close box and context menu.

To open a panel:

Choose Window > Panels and select the desired panel from the list.

To close a panel, do one of the following:

	Click the Close box in the upper right corner (Windows) or upper left corner (Macintosh).
	Choose Window > Panels and select the desired panel from the list.
	Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the panel’s tab and choose Close Panel from the context menu.

To open or close panels using the Launcher bar:

In the Launcher bar, click the button for the Info, Mixer, Character, Instance, or Actions panel.

Note: You can also open or close the Library window or the Movie Explorer using the Launcher bar.

To close all panels:

Choose Window > Close All Panels.

Note: You can also hide all panels, along with the toolbox, by pressing the Tab key. Press the Tab key again to restore them.

Resizing and collapsing panels
Resizing and collapsing panels is especially useful when you’re working with a small desktop.

To resize a panel:

Drag the panel’s lower right corner (Windows) or drag the size box at the panel’s lower right corner (Macintosh).

To collapse a panel or a panel group to its title bar and tab only:

Double-click the title bar. Double-click the title bar again to return the panel or group to its previous size.

To collapse a panel or panel group to its title bar (Macintosh only):

Click the collapse box at the right end of the title bar. Click the box again to return the panel or group to its previous size.

Grouping panels
You can group and ungroup panels to suit your workflow.

To group panels:

Drag a panel by its tab onto the tab of another panel.

To bring a panel within a group to the front:

Click the panel’s tab.

To ungroup a panel into a separate window:

Drag the panel by its tab to the outside of its window.

To move a panel or a panel group:

Drag the panel or group by its title bar.

Restoring the default panel layout
If you’ve moved your panels around and are having difficulty finding them, simply restore the default panel layout. The default panel layout displays 13 panels in four panel groups. They appear on the right side of your screen.

To restore the default panel layout:

Choose Window > Panel Sets > Default Layout.

Using custom panel layouts
Flash 5 lets you create any number of custom panel layouts. A custom panel layout stores the following information:

	Which panels are open
	How the panels are grouped
	The size of each panel and panel group
	Where the panels are placed on the desktop

To save a custom panel layout:

Choose Window > Save Panel Layout. Enter a name for the layout and click OK.

To delete a custom layout:

Open the Flash 5 application folder on your hard drive and delete the Panel Sets file.

To select a panel layout: