Flash on a Budget - Learn About SWiSH Max

The idea of spending hundreds of dollars on a complicated program keeps a lot of people from trying Flash on their own. But there is an alternative that is much easier on the wallet with all the features needed to design impressive animations and full Flash sites. SWiSH Max offers a wide range of features combined with an easy to understand interface at a fraction of the cost of Adobe Flash. In this introduction we'll look at the Standard toolbar which contains shortcuts to commonly used options, from left to right.

New Movie - This will create a new Swish movie from scratch

Open Movie - Open a Swish movie file (.swi). Note that Swish cannot open Flash files (.fla) as those are proprietary to Adobe Flash.

Save Movie - Save the currently open Swish movie file. If it is a newly created movie you will be prompted to give it a name. If it is a movie that was opened and modified this option will save over the original.

Find - Basic Find tool. This can be useful when working on a particularly complicated movie to find something quickly.

Cut - Cuts the current selection for pasting somewhere else.

Copy - Copy the current selection for pasting somewhere else without removing it from its current location.

Paste - Adds the cut or copied selection to the desired location.

Delete - This will delete a scene or object. Select an object in the scene first to delete the object from the scene. If no object is selected in the scene, then the entire scene will be deleted.

Bring Forward - This will move the object that is currently selected up one layer in the stacking order.

Send Backward - Moves the currently selected object down one layer in the stacking order.

Bring to front - This will move the object that is currently selected to the front in the stacking order.

Send to Back - Moves the object currently selected to the back in the stacking order.

Undo - Undo the last command

Redo - Redo the last command

Help - Changes the cursor into a question mark, click on the item you wish to know more about.

Help Topics - Opens the Help window to look up a specific topic.

SWiSH Max allows both new users and experienced designers alike to create menus, forms, banners, and more. Compared to the $600 - $700 price of Flash, this program fits budgets better at $99. You can download a 15 day trial from http://www.swishzone.com to experience it firsthand before buying.