The Menu Bar is the primary interface with Flash. All of the functions in Flash are available through the Menu Bar. It is worthwhile to explore each Menu Bar option to familiarize yourself with Flash's capabilities.

The tools in the Toolbar are used to manipulate the items on the Stage.

Flash uses a Timeline to describe when events occur over time. Flash expresses actions in frames per second.

Flash uses panels to provide detailed information on a specific part of the application. For example, the Color panel below allows you to manipulate Colors, while the Library panel displays reusable elements in Flash; other panels include the Actions panel and Align panel.

The Stage is where the action occurs in Flash. The Stage holds all of the visual elements that your users will see, but only one frame at a time.

The Property Inspector gives you a method for manipulating the characteristics of all of the tools in the Tool Panel. Whenever you select a tool, the Property Inspector will change to reflect the change.