Can I use Flash CS3 to open Flash CS4 files?

Published by Ronny on December 11th, 2008 in Flash. 24 Comments Tagged with , , ,

NO.

It’s a question that people have been asking me for a few weeks now.
I don’t see how this is not normal. I mean you couldn’t open Flash MX 2004 files with Flash MX either… It was normal back then, and it hasn’t changed now.

You can however save Flash CS4 files as Flash CS3 files (you lose everything in the file which is CS4-only) and then open it in Flash CS3.

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thomas @ 1:10 - December 11th, 2008

thanks for clearing that up! :d haha

jeff @ 8:01 - January 20th, 2009

can i open flash cs4 to flash cs3?

Avi @ 18:18 - February 6th, 2009

lolz, i guess that answered my question.

Hugh @ 7:35 - February 7th, 2009

Actually, I have Flash CS4 and need to share a file with someone with Flash CS3. I used the Save As option to save the file as a CS3 file. He still can’t open it. I had this same problem when I would work with Flash CS3 at school and save the files as Flash 8 files. When I tried to open them at home with Flash 8 they wouldn’t open. What gives? Am I missing a step? Do you have to do something beyond Save As > Flash CS3?

Ronny @ 14:34 - February 7th, 2009

Hmz, that’s kinda weird… Windows or Mac? I’ll give it a try to see what happens. (On a Mac it works just fine actually)

Hugh @ 21:11 - February 7th, 2009

On a Mac. The file was originally a CS3 file. I made some minor changes to it, saved it as a CS4 file without thinking. Changed it back to a CS3 file. Now my client can’t open it.

ujk @ 12:54 - February 12th, 2009

nice answer

Hugh @ 21:32 - February 18th, 2009

Any ideas?

JohnnyW @ 12:18 - February 20th, 2009

Having similar problems myself… Very frustrating!

Somenzi @ 22:20 - February 21st, 2009

hohohohohohoho

BIG NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
very cool!

My files of the tuto lynda as3, also don’t open in cs3!!!

Como pode a grande Adobe, querida Adobe fazer uma incompatibilidade tão idiota de versão para versão. Isso é muito estranho.!!!
Flwwwww

flash designer @ 20:26 - February 27th, 2009

The only way to avoid all this, is not to upgrade your Flash version. In many cases Flash 8, or Flash CS3 does a great job so why bother with Flash CS4, soon we will see another upgrade.

Jason @ 1:06 - March 17th, 2009

@ Flash designer

You bought a computer but why? They’ll only get loads better in a couple years time.

Jayna @ 10:40 - March 24th, 2009

Oh Brother! That’s a BIG NO. it breaks my heart real bad.. im expecting YES! uwwaaaa….

Graham @ 14:27 - March 27th, 2009

Having the same issue with Flash CS4 > Save as CS3, and when trying to open it in CS3 (on a different machine at work) I get “Unexpected file format.” Anybody find any solutions yet?

Lisa @ 16:25 - March 29th, 2009

I was hoping for some kind of work-around too. My professor keeps sending me files in CS4, and I can’t open them! I had to borrow money to buy CS3 less than a year ago when it was required for classes!

Francisco Venda @ 1:59 - May 5th, 2009

Boas. Gostava de saber se é possível abrir ficheiro criados em Flash Mx no Flash CS3. Obrigado

Dam That Shit @ 7:21 - July 30th, 2009

DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMm, SHITTTTTTTTTTTTtT, Buttttt hhole, MUTHAFUKA, Im screwed there goes my client and $400,000 because of that crap, bloody adobe, SHIT

JaneSchmane @ 2:59 - August 3rd, 2009

If you’re saving down from CS4, and it still won’t open in CS3, double check the flash player settings. Sometimes this gets toggled back up to Flash player 10 when saving back and forth (atleast on a mac.. I haven’t noticed this problem on my pc yet)

Austin Maguire @ 16:51 - September 24th, 2009

I’m trying to open a CS3 Flash file on my PC that was made and saved on a Mac but it won’t open. I get warnings such as ‘Invalid file format’ etc, have you any ideas what I can do to open it on my PC?

Rob Riggs @ 20:02 - December 16th, 2009

Adobe released a fix to CS3 files crashing/performing sluggishly in May 2009…

http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html

I downloaded this update, and now my CS3 files open a-ok.

Parvez @ 14:49 - December 17th, 2009

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

KEVALONE @ 12:48 - December 22nd, 2009

WHEN I CREATE SIMPLE MOVING FLASH CS4 FILES HOW DO I SAVE THEM TO USE ON MYSPACE OR ON THE WEB? THEY ALWAYS SIT STILL LIKE JPEG FILES WHEN THEY OPEN! I SAVED AS SWF,FLA,ETC. I’M LOST HELP!! I WANNA GET SOME CLIENTS AND THIS STEP WOULD SET ME OFF ARTISTICALLY & FINANCIALLY. I WOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE A DONATION LATER YOU HAVE MY WORD.

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