Adobe Certified Professional - Adobe Animate cheat sheet

Document type is chosen at File > New (ActionScript 3.0, HTML5 Canvas, WebGL, AIR) and fixes both the scripting language and the available publish targets: ActionScript for AS3/AIR, JavaScript with CreateJS for HTML5 Canvas.

Frame rate is set once in Document Properties (Modify > Document or the Properties panel) and applies to the entire FLA; changing it after animating re-times every tween and frame-by-frame sequence.

Stage dimensions in pixels define the exported canvas. For HTML5 Canvas the stage is sized to the target viewport, because output is scaled by CSS/JavaScript rather than re-rendered as vectors.

Stage units (px, in, cm, mm, pt) live in Document Properties; pixels are the default and the only unit that maps 1:1 to screen output.

Frame rate conventions: 24 fps for a film look, 25 fps for PAL, 30 fps for NTSC/web video, 12 fps for limited web animation; the value is locked before keyframes are built.

Delivery channel determines the export: browser (HTML5 Canvas or WebGL), legacy player (SWF), video (H.264/MP4 via Export Video), animated GIF, or sprite sheet for game engines.

Document Properties holds stage size, background color, and frame rate; Publish Settings holds output format, file name, and per-format quality. The two dialogs are independent and both are saved inside the FLA.

File and asset names use lowercase ASCII without spaces: published HTML5 output becomes URLs on case-sensitive Linux servers, so naming errors surface only after upload.

Vector art is stored as math paths and scales losslessly; raster art is a fixed pixel grid that softens when scaled past its imported resolution, so bitmap dimensions are chosen at import time.

Screen color uses the RGB model at 8 bits per channel: 256 x 256 x 256, about 16.7 million colors, written as #RRGGBB hex for HTML and CSS.

Alpha runs 0% (fully transparent) to 100% (fully opaque). PNG-24/32 preserves 8-bit alpha; JPEG has no alpha channel at all.

Symbol type rule: Graphic syncs to the parent timeline (use for lip-sync and cycles), Movie Clip runs an independent timeline (use for nested loops and interactivity), Button supplies Up/Over/Down/Hit states.

Image format rule: JPEG for photographs and smooth gradients, PNG or GIF for flat color, text, hard edges, and transparency.

Title-safe is roughly 80% of the frame and keeps text readable; action-safe is roughly 90% and keeps essential action clear of edge cropping on mismatched displays.

Aspect ratio formula: 16:9 = 1.778:1 (1920x1080, 1280x720); 4:3 = 1.333:1 (1024x768). Stage ratio matched to the delivery screen avoids letterboxing.

Planning maps animation principles to keyframe spacing: anticipation and squash-and-stretch occupy frames before and after the contact frame, while ease in/out changes spacing near the ends of a tween.

Timeline shortcuts: F5 inserts a frame, F6 inserts a keyframe, F7 inserts a blank keyframe, Shift+F6 clears a keyframe, F8 converts the selection to a symbol.

The Properties panel is context-sensitive: document properties when nothing is selected, instance or object properties for a selection, and tool options while a drawing tool is active.

Library (Ctrl/Cmd+L) stores every symbol, bitmap, audio clip, and video asset; dragging a library item to the stage creates an instance that references that single asset.

Panels are toggled from the Window menu; the Actions panel uses F9 and edits ActionScript 3.0 in AS3/AIR documents or JavaScript/CreateJS in HTML5 Canvas documents.

Tool shortcuts: V selection, Q free transform, T text, R rectangle, O oval, P pen, Y pencil, N line, B brush, I eyedropper, K paint bucket, E eraser, H hand, Z zoom.

Onion skin ghosts frames before and after the playhead for position comparison, and Edit Multiple Frames extends editing to those ghosted frames.

Expanding a motion tween layer with the disclosure arrow reveals per-property tracks and keyframes, so position, scale, and color can be offset or eased independently.

Create Motion Tween requires one symbol instance per tweened layer; when a raw shape is selected, Animate converts it to a symbol and places it on its own layer.

Classic tween (Insert > Classic Tween) interpolates position, scale, rotation, and color of symbol instances and text between two keyframes, and can follow a classic motion guide.

Shape tween works only on raw vector shapes; groups, symbol instances, text blocks, and bitmaps must be broken apart (Ctrl/Cmd+B) first or the tween option is unavailable.

Easing spans -100 to +100: negative values start slow and accelerate (ease in), positive values start fast and decelerate (ease out); motion tweens allow easing per property keyframe.

Motion guide: right-click a classic tween layer > Add Classic Motion Guide; the object must be snapped to the path at the first and last keyframes for it to follow the curve.

Mask setup: place the reveal shape on an upper layer, right-click > Mask. The layer directly beneath becomes masked, and further layers join by being dragged under the mask layer.

Color Effect options on an instance are Alpha, Brightness, Tint, and Advanced (per-channel multiplier plus offset); they apply to symbol instances, not to raw shapes.

Frame-by-frame animation needs a keyframe at every change; timing is adjusted with F5 frame inserts rather than by altering document frame rate.

File > Publish Settings (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F12) sets target format, output file name, and per-format options; the settings are stored inside the FLA.

File > Publish (Shift+F12) writes final output using the saved settings; File > Publish Preview (Ctrl/Cmd+Enter) builds a temporary version and opens it for a quick check.

HTML5 Canvas publishing writes an HTML file, a JS file, copies of the CreateJS library files, and an images folder; all must be uploaded with the folder structure intact.

JPEG quality (0-100) in Publish Settings trades file size against compression artifacts: high values for photographs, lower values for flat vector-like art.

Animated GIF export supports looping, dithering, and a color count of 2-256; GIF has 1-bit transparency and no audio, so it suits short flat-color loops only.

File > Export > Export Video renders the timeline to H.264/MP4 through Media Encoder at the document frame rate; stage size sets resolution and timeline audio is included.

SWF output depends on Flash Player, which reached end of life on 31 December 2020 and is blocked by browsers; new web work targets HTML5 Canvas or WebGL instead.