TechNote (Archived)

Flash Player prints more frames than expected

Issue

Macromedia Flash Player'sprintfunction prints more frames than expected.

Note: The print function was introduced in Flash 5. In Flash 4, a special "print:" URL is used in thegetURLaction to print frames rather than an actual print function. Otherwise, the principles discussed below apply to Flash 4, too.

Reason

Flash'sprintaction first checks the timeline of the print target;the movie level or movie clip instance specified for theprintaction's Location parameter;for any and all frames labeled "#p". Those frames are then sent to the printer. If no frame in the target's timeline is labeled "#p", then all frames in that timeline are printed.

Furthermore, if the target specified in the Location field does not exist or has been misspelled, then the print target defaults to the main timeline. Flash then follows the same steps just described above. Of course, this would only be an issue if the target timeline was something other than the main timeline.

Solution

First, be sure to label those frames in the target timeline you wish to have printed with a "#p". Secondly, if the target timeline is something other than the main timeline, be sure to label at least one frame on the main timeline in the same manner. This will"catch" any print action that attempts to print a target or level that doesn't exist or has been misspelled and print just that frame. To label a frame follow these steps:

1	Select a keyframe to be printed..
2	Open the Frame panel if it's not already open (Window > Panels > Frame).
3	Enter #p in the label field.
4	Repeat steps 1 - 3 above for each keyframe to print.