Hi Laurie,
You didn't mention the Word version, but this method should work in Word 2003, assuming that the school admins haven't locked things
down to prevent the flash files from being inserted or playing.
Please keep in mind that this is a sort of work around, not something Word was 'intended' to support, but is a way to overcome the
inability to have GIFs animate within a .doc file. (i.e. you can't do the usual straightforward approach or looking for a '.SWF' or
'Flash' item from Insert=>Object=>From File. <g>
So, yes, you can insert it, and have it play but you may have problems with it and it may only work for you in its original
location. (Word
doesn't have a flash player of its own built in)
With your Word document opened and a safety copy of your document saved (in case things go wrong), the following should work for
Word 2000 through 2003.
1. From View=>Toolbars turn on the Control Toolbox choice
2. On the Control Toolbox select the 'More Tools' choice
3. Scroll down to the Shockwave Object choice.
4. You'll likely see only a box at this point with a large black 'X'
through it. Check to see that the 'Design mode' icon on the
Control box is highlighted.
5. Right click on the Shockwave object and choose properties.
6. In the 'movie' field paste or type the drive/path and name of the .SWF
file. For example
c:\Flash\goldfish.swf
7. While still in the properties change the 'embed movie' choice to 'true'
8. Close the properties toolbox. You'll still be looking at the 'X'd box
where the SWF file is.
9. Resize the item to the size you want, right click it and choose Format
Control
to set text wrapping, etc then exit back to the document.
10. Use File=>Save As and save to a new file name.
11. On the Control Toolbox toolbar click on the 'Exit Design Mode' icon
to turn it off and see if the flash file plays.
You may find that Word will crash when playing or saving the file after the
flash starts playing. You will also be limited in the
'wrap styles' you can use to format the object.
If you move or send the document on to someone else it may depend on what the macro/addin security settings are in Tools=>Options
for that person and the method you're using to open the document that contains the flash object.
An 'object' that is embedded is actually embedding a chunk to the external app to 'run' the item, rather than a graphic that is
'static' data in the file so it has a dependency on that 'other' program to make it run/animate, although Flash support is pretty
wide spread on computers, in businesses and in schools it's not uncommon for the version to be an older one that can result in a
'you need a newer version' method if you insert with a new version.
=========
I am looking to find a way to insert a flash file into my word document. So
that when my students open my word file, they will be able to view the flash.
I am trying to get them interested in flash...to push another class we
offer. Any thoughts????>>
--
Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP
*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
