# Linking Templates to Media Elements

You must use media elements to link templates to your animations. Media elements identify the contents they contain as references to a centrally stored file. If the template you link contains multiple elements, all of those elements are composited into one element, the media element.

Linking templates has two advantages:

- It helps you keep the file size of your Macromedia® Flash animations small. For more information on reducing the file size of your final animation, see Optimizing your Animation for the Web.
- It helps you update and manage frequently used material in a central location.

If the contents of the template are updated, Toon Boom Studio will update all animations that use the template.

To link a template to a media element:

1. Select Element > Add > Media. A new element appears in the Exposure Sheet and Timeline window.

2. In the Library window, select the template you want to link and drag it to the media element you created.

You can also create a media element as you link a template, by pressing [Option]+[Command] as you drag the template to the Exposure Sheet or Timeline window.

Toon Boom Studio links to the original file and displays the contents of the file in the View windows.

See Also
Cutting, Copying and Pasting Linked Media Content
Creating Templates