Use Keyboard Shortcuts
Shortcut Keys. A very fundamental, simple concept, yet it cannot be stressed enough how helpful they can be.
Whenever a toolbar is clicked, time is lost moving the mouse. It may not seem like a big deal, but you can save a lot of time and develop a rhythm that helps you design and yes, code in Flash. I have found myself working faster, and the workflow is streamlined.
Take Flash CS4 for example. The shortcut keys have remained fundamentally the same for years throughout the history of the product.
Here are the most commonly used commands (this is not at all an exhaustive list)
Note: These shortcuts are the defaults. Click Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts to change sets or individual shortcuts.
Generic Commands and Panels
F2 – Output Panel
F9 – Actions Panel
F4 – Hide Panels
Tools
CTRL + F2 – Show/Hide Tools
V – Arrow
F – Fill Transform Tool
N – Line Tool
K – Paint Bucket Tool
P – Pen Tool
H – Hand Tool
Q – Free Transform
Actions Panel
These commands apply while you are programming with Actionscript. Most commands use ESC + Key Combination. You have to use the shortcut combination fairly quickly for it to add the code to the actionscript window. You’ll notice most of the key combinations are intuitive…such as on function which uses ‘o’ and ‘n’. Here are some common commands:
stop() - ESC + s + t
on function - ESC + o + n
onClipEvent function - ESC + o + c
if – ESC + i + f
for…in – ESC + f + i
case – ESC + c + e
break – ESC + b + r
else – ESC + e + l
elseif – ESC + e + i
do while – ESC + d + o
switch – ESC + s + w
There are many more, but even using just these to start will help you tremendously. Almost every command has a shortcut key.
Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts
If you’ve used other Adobe software, such as photoshop or fireworks, you’ll notice that many of the shortcuts are the same. By default, Flash uses the Adobe Standard Set. If you’d like to switch to older versions shortcuts, or import or create your own, you can go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.

Keyboard Shortcuts
As you can see, each and every command can have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it. You can also duplicate an existing set of commands and create a custom one. When you assign commands, a message will show if the key has already been assigned to another command.
Complete List
You can view and print all of the shortcuts by clicking on the Export Set as HTML button. (shown below)

Export Set as HTML
Keyboard shortcuts will give you more confidence in developing in Flash, and will help establish a rhythm without interupting the creative process.
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Filed under: Adobe Flash | Tagged: Actionscript, Actionscript 2.0, Actionscript shortcuts, Adobe Flash, Animation, Common Commands, Creating Flash Movies, Flash CS3, Flash CS4, Flash Player, Keyboard Shortcuts | Leave a Comment »