The word flash has always been synonymous with lightning and thundering and the advent of flash movies has brought a similar revolution in the cyber world. Flash movies have gained an immense popularity among web designers and the public equally. Why? Flash software enables you to create animations alongside interactive content and this feature creates a movie like feeling for the viewers.

Flash is an application that works on a multilevel platform. It is consistent across all platforms and browsers and any movie created in Flash will appear the same on all browsers and platforms - all that is required is the correct plug-in, which is really not a Herculean task. If the plug-in is not in built with the browser, it can be downloaded for free.

There are many advantages in using Flash. Flash is a wonderful tool to add games, animations and video to your website. Flash produces relatively smaller files when compared to GiF formats and other video versions. It also offers a plethora of colors, blending options, and opacity levels with smooth animations and accurate typography.

Now let's say you want to create a website and you need a demo or a tutorial to be placed in it. You have three options..... the first is to give it only in text, the second is through visual only I.e. only visuals and videos and the third ...is a tactful handling of visual and text and that is where Flash helps. Flash facilitates you to create a site where you can explore options for effectively combining text and videos. This helps to give various options not only to you but also to your viewers. If used judiciously, Flash you would give the viewers a platform to read, view, observe, hear and understand and that's what we want, right?

A web designer always wants his website to be interactive and unique to gain an edge over competitors. Flash software enables them to do this through features that allow them to add attractive text, draw graphics, and create special effects and much more. In short, Flash helps site owners to speak to their audience and make that best impression on them. They help to catch audience attention in a quick way that cannot be seen in other kinds of media communications. In order to gain the full benefits of using Flash software all that is needed is harnessing its rich graphics and powerful programming features.

However as with everything "Excess of anything is harmful." So avoid getting tempted to use too much of Flash or use Flash where it's not needed. Why?

Flash takes a lot of space, hence it takes time to load a website with lot of Flash elements. So when you use Flash, use it appropriately and meaningfully. Think of using it, like using images in a book - there has to be a balance between the text element and visual elements. They should compliment each other.

At the end the choice is at your discretion. However, it is advisable to use Flash as a part of your website rather than cluttering it up with it. So all the web designers out there- Do flash, but Flash in style!