Adobe® Flash® Catalyst™ is a new professional interaction design tool for rapidly creating user interfaces without coding.
- Transform artwork created in Adobe Photoshop® and Adobe Illustrator® into functional user interfaces.
- Create interactive prototypes with the ability to leverage them in the final product
- Publish a finished project as a SWF file ready for distribution
- Work more efficiently with developers who use Adobe Flash Builder™ 4 to create rich Internet applications (RIAs). Designers use Flash Catalyst to create the functional user experience then provide the project file to developers who use Flash Builder to add functionality and integrate with servers and services.
Watch a video demo of Flash Catalyst in action (10 minutes)
Create the user experience through an approachable interaction design tool for designers with no coding required:
- No coding required: Create the user experience and make it functional without coding.
- Sell your ideas: Be able to show a functional design instead of static screenshots to communicate your ideas.
- Ensure your creative vision is accurately expressed: Design with the expressiveness of Flash Player including graphics, typography and 3D effects.
Download and Discuss
Get the Flash Catalyst beta
Discuss Flash Catalyst in the forumsRapidly create and deliver a finished SWF file or collaborate more effectively with developers:
- Fast learning curve: If you can use Photoshop or Illustrator you can quickly learn to use Flash Catalyst.
- Fast Interaction Design: Transform native Photoshop and Illustrator files into functional user experiences. Publish finished projects for distribution as a SWF file.
- Collaborate more effectively with developers: Provide Flash Catalyst projects to developers who use Flash Builder to add additional functionality and integrate with servers and services.
Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder are based on the open source Flex 4 framework.
Getting Started
Follow these steps to get started with Flash Catalyst:
- Review the system requirements and release notes
- Download the Flash Catalyst beta
- Activate the beta using the appropriate serial number (available on the download page).
- Learn to use Flash Catalyst
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Ask questions and share your feedback in the Flash Catalyst forum
Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use.
Community
Below you'll find references and links to help you participate in the Flash Catalyst user community.
Online Forum
Ask questions, discuss, and share feedback with other users in the online forums.
Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use.
Resources
If you want to learn more about releases on Labs as well as other Adobe technologies, visiting a user group or connecting with an Adobe Community Expert is a great place to start.
Product Details
Features
The top 10 Flash Catalyst features include the following:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Integration with Photoshop and Illustrator | Import native Photoshop or Illustrator files with full fidelity. Round-trip editing preserves the structure and interactions added in Flash Catalyst. |
| Transform artwork into a dynamic components | Transform any piece of artwork it into a dynamic component such as a button, scroll bar, text input field and more. |
| Interaction Design without coding | Create sophisticated interactions without writing any code. |
| Design-Time Data | Set the look and behavior of data when real data from servers is not available. |
| Create a list from artwork | Convert artwork into a component that has a variable number of items or rows of data. |
| Timeline panel | Graphically edit and create animated transitions between pages or states of components by specifying the start and duration time in seconds. |
| Pages and States | Organize your project into different pages create states for objects such as buttons. |
| Layout productivity tools | Achieve just the look you want quickly and precisely using layout tools that produce sophisticated page layouts. |
| Extend with Flash Builder | Provide your project files to developers who use Flash Builder to add functionality and integrate with servers and services. |
| Export to Flash Player | Export your project as a ready-to-publish Flash SWF for display in a web browser. |
FAQ
- What are the goals of the beta release?
- Flash Catalyst is a brand new product so we need to get user feedback to make the first release a success. We want to ensure it meets the expectations and needs of designers. We also want to understand how designers using Flash Catalyst work with developers who use Flash Builder.
- When is Flash Catalyst shipping?
- Adobe has not yet announced a formal release date for the final version; however Flash Catalyst is a version 1.0 product so we expect several betas before final release. The final 1.0 release will be shipping in the first half of 2010.
- How much will Flash Catalyst cost?
- We have not yet determined the product pricing.
- Is this beta release early or close to final? Can I use it on real projects?
- This is the first public beta release of Flash Catalyst and should not be used on production systems or for mission-critical projects. It is an early release which means that it does not have all of the final features and is not optimized for performance.
- Is this beta release feature complete or will more features be added?
- Not all features are implemented in the first public beta release. Additional features such as video support will be added in later beta releases.
- How is Flash Catalyst different from Flash Professional?
- Flash Catalyst is an interaction design tool, based on the Flex 4 framework, that is focused on creating the user interface without coding. It is currently an early beta product and does not provide the same performance or functionality as a shipping product. Flash CS4 Professional is the industry-leading tool for creating engaging interactive experiences. It is a mature product that is widely used for production projects. Learn more about Flash CS4 Professional on Adobe.com.
- How is Flash Catalyst different from Flash Builder?
- Flash Catalyst is a design tool and does not require or support any coding. Flash Builder is an Eclipse-based IDE (Integrated development environment) that is targeted at application developers.
- Are Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder integrated? Can I do round-trip editing between them?
- Project files created in Flash Catalyst (FXP files) can be opened in Flash Builder, however once the files are edited in Flash Builder they cannot be re-opened in Flash Catalyst. Developers can selectively merge in changes from the Flash Catalyst file.
System Requirements
The minimum system requirements for the Flash Catalyst beta are as follows:
Mac OS
- Intel® processor
- Mac OS X v10.5.7 or later
- 1GB of RAM (2GB Highly recommended)
- 1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on flash-based storage devices)
- 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 or greater recommended) with 16-bit or greater video card
Windows
- 2GHz or faster processor
- Microsoft® Windows® XP with SP2 or greater, Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (tested with 32-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista)
- 1GB or RAM (2GB Highly recommended)
- 1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices)
- 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 or greater recommended) with 16-bit or greater video card
Release Notes
This release of Flash Catalyst is prerelease software and is designed for evaluation purposes only. We do not recommended that this release be used on production systems or for any mission-critical work.
