flash (macromedia): hi,

i've never really had a need to do this kind of effect in f4, so thats why i'm
asking this. hope u can help.

i made a text file in photoshop. the text has a nice drop shadow around it,
it has gradient colors inside of it, and so on. i don't know exactly what kind
of file i need to save it as in photoshop so i can then import it to f4 to make
do what i want it to do.

but what i want to do with this image in f4 is to put it onto a layer, have
another graphic on a layer below it, and then "key" or cut out the surrounding
portion of the image so only the text appears on top of the bottom layer. i
tried saving the file as a BMP and then making it an instance and then going in
and modifying its tint or alpha, but that doesnt work.

i also tried to save it as a .gif file and doing the same but that doesn't
work either.

can anyone help me? thanks.

You could try making two images from photoshop -- compose your image with the
gradient fill and drop shadow on separate layers, but then optimize them so
that one image is the text and the other is the shadow. Save the text as a GIF
or PNG file (they support transparency) and then save the shadow as a BMP. Then
in Flash, put the text image in the top layer, the other content in the middle
layer and the shadow in the bottom layer (obviously, line them up so they are
in register).

Hope this helps...

ok ill give this is a try. but when i save it as gif do i select the
background of the file as the color to mak transparent, and then when imported
into flash, i'll be able to see only the text right?