By Eddy R.
12-27-00
Flash 4

Layers are nothing more than transparent sheets that are placed on top of each other. Layers and their contents, can be placed in different order, moved around, added and deleted. You can draw and edit objects on one layer without affecting objects on other layers. You can also use special guide layers to make drawing and editing easier.

When you create a new Flash movie, it contains one layer, however you can always add more layers to organize the artwork and animation in your movie as your system's memory permits.

Adding, Deleting, Editing and Viewing Layers

There really isn't much to adding or deleting layers. To add a layer, simply click on the "+" sign icon. To delete a layer click on the trash can icon.

You can also hide layers to keep the work area uncluttered, lock layers to protect them from changes, and view objects as outlines in any layer. To hide a layer click in the Eye column to the right of the layer's name. Click in it again to show the layer. To lock a layer click in the Lock column to the right of the layer's name. Click it again to unlock the layer. To view the content of a layer as outlines, click in the Outline column to the right of the layer's name. Click in it again to turn off outline display.

By default, new layers are named by the order in which they are created. One can rename layers to better reflect their contents. To rename a layer simply double-click on the layer number and enter a new name.

There are many other things you can do with layers. For more info check the Layers tutorial included in Flash by going to Help>Lessons> 4 Layers.