If you feel your Flash movie must include bitmaps, use the following tips to optimize your movie.

	Use bitmap images sparingly.
	Bitmap images can significantly increase the file size of your movie.
	Avoid animating bitmap images.
	When you create an animation with bitmap images, Flash must store one bitmap image in each frame of the animation. In addition, bitmap images, unlike vector images, do not scale or rotate well on the screen; and bitmap images must be rendered each time they change positions on the screen. This often entails changing large areas of the movie and slowing down playback as these areas are continually re-drawn.
	Convert the bitmap image into a symbol if it appears in more than one keyframe.
	Try tracing and simplifying the bitmap when appropriate.
	This works best with simple images made up of mostly large blocks of color. If the bitmap contains complex shapes and many colors, the converted vector graphic can have a larger file size than the original bitmap. Try a variety of settings in the Trace Bitmap dialog box to find a balance between file size and image quality.

 
Compression options
Compression helps reduce the total file space occupied by bitmap images. JPEG compression is the default compression for all bitmap images exported to Flash Player format. In the Export Flash Player dialog box, you can adjust the value in the JPEG Quality field from 1 (most compression, lowest quality) to 100 (least compression, highest quality). Because JPEG compression can result in a loss of image data, test images with different JPEG quality values to achieve the best balance between compression and image quality for your particular movie.

Bitmap images may also be exported with lossless compression to retain image quality. Lossless compression, however, cannot achieve as great a reduction in data size as JPEG compression. Generally, lossless compression is appropriate for non-photographic bitmaps with simple shapes and relatively few colors.

To specify lossless compression:

1	Choose Window > Library to open the Library.
2	Select the desired bitmap.
3	From the Library's Options menu, choose Properties.
4	In the Bitmap Properties dialog box, choose Lossless from the Compression pop-up menu.
5	Click OK.

To disable smoothing on an image-by-image basis:

1	Choose Window > Library to open the Library.
2	Select the desired bitmap.
3	From the Library's Options menu, choose Properties.
4	In the Bitmap Properties dialog box, deselect the Allow smoothing option.
5	Repeat for each image desired.