Be "Blend Mode" Aware

So you just finished your awesome design for your Flash project using Photoshop.  You have tons of layers (named I hope) which are a beautiful array of layer groups, adjustment layers, and oh yes, blend modes. Blend modes are powerful settings for your layers to achieve some interesting effects, but can sometimes cause a minor hiccup when porting to Flash.

A lot of Flash projects are first designed in Photoshop. Flash also has blend modes, but they aren't all the same as Photoshop. For an example, a single element in your design is made up of several layers that have different blend modes on them and includes alpha. Now, if your Flash project calls for you to animate that design element, it may be cumbersome, if not impossible, to save out each layer separately and bring it into Flash while preserving the same look.  And if you are working with another designer, he or she would appreciate it if you stayed true to the design that they just spend hours creating.

Now, in most cases you'll be fine. This isn't breakthrough stuff here. I've only run into this issue a few times but it is worth keeping in mind when designing Flash projects. Below is a list of supported blend modes for Photoshop and Flash.