Adobe Flash CS4 Professional in Software

As such, the biggest Flash-based development in CS4 comes from outside Flash CS4 Professional, now that Illustrator, Photoshop and Fireworks can to write to FXG, and InDesign and After Effects can write to XFL. Of the two, FXG is currently of limited interest as Flash CS4 Professional doesn't yet support the format. More exciting is that Flash CS4 Professional can open XFL files directly. This means you can take InDesign and After Effects projects with all their typographic and motion graphic strengths, give them some Flash-based sparkle and then output them to SWF for use on the web.

A promising start

It's still early days, but deeper and wider support will no doubt come. The prospect of designing your multi-page prototype in Fireworks and opening it directly into Flash Professional ready for fine-tuning and output is particularly attractive. And the potential for the future is even greater: FXG and XFL should prove ideal for working with Adobe Flex in developer workflows and eventually direct rendering in the player.

Exactly this sort of power is already available in the form of Microsoft's XAML. And compared to the streamlined, modern power of Expression Blend, Flash CS4 Professional looks an awkward and antiquated application.

But with this release Adobe is repositioning Flash, turning it into a universal platform for rich online delivery for all the CS apps - a screen-optimised equivalent of PDF. The fact that, in the process, Flash CS4 Professional's role as central authoring application becomes less important, is a bonus.

Author: Tom Arah