flash (macromedia): I'm having trouble with printing from an online swf with alpha transparency
assigned to a movie clip instance in a layer. The browser recognizes the apha,
but my print action doesn't.

I have a map on one layer. Above it is a layer with a simple box movieclip
"ghost_mc", covering the map area. The named instance of ghost_mc has an alpha
transparency property of 50%. This serves to dim the map.

To highlight an area of the map, I cut out a rectangle from the ghost_mc.
That area then appears in full color, through the "spotlight" effect. The
client loves it. I have 80 of these maps, each with a different area highlit.
Each map is a separate swf, called into the main timeline by a button action.

Here's the problem. Late in production, the client decided that all the maps
need to be printable. I've attached a "print" button to each map swf, and they
print fine using Mac IE, Firefox and Safari and Flash Player 7. Then I use XP
or ME IE6 and Mozilla 1.0, and the map prints solid black, except for the
little cutout. I'm exporting the swfs from their respective .fla's with
"Export", Flash Player 7.

Is it possible that PC browsers running FlashPlayer7 don't support alpha
values on movie clip instances? I think I'm doing something wrong. This isn't a
background transparency... just a layer with a transparent instance of a movie
clip. If I use the browser "print" function, the appearance is fine, but
squished badly to fit the page. My print action is:

printAll_btn.onRelease = function() {
myPrintJob_pj = new PrintJob();
myPrintJob_pj.start();
myPrintJob_pj.addPage(0, {xMin:216, xMax:706, yMin:40, yMax:410});
myPrintJob_pj.send();
delete myPrintJob_pj;
};

which is from PeachPit Press. So then. Why would a browser print function
support alpha, but the Flash print action not? What have I done? Any hints,
ideas, suggestions, much appreciated!

Ouch. Fixed it, thank you PeachPit.

My action needed this:

printAll_btn.onRelease = function() {
myPrintJob_pj = new PrintJob();
myPrintJob_pj.start();
myPrintJob_pj.addPage(0, {xMin:216, xMax:706, yMin:40, yMax:410},
{printAsBitmap:true});
myPrintJob_pj.send();
delete myPrintJob_pj;
};

Note the {printAsBitmap:true}) parameter on the addPage. Alpha values need to
be bitmaps to print correctly.