• SWF stands for Small Web Format; these are flash movie files created for the Adobe Flash Player and can also be used in Adobe Illustrator. They can be played in web browsers that have the Flash plug-ins installed. SWF files contain text as well as graphics. These files are stored on your computer's hard drive.
  
  

FLA Files

• FLA files contain source material for the Flash application. Flash software can edit and compile FLA files into SWF files to play them in the Flash player.
  
  

FLV Files

• FLV files are Flash Video files, created by Adobe Flash, containing audio and video data. They are encoded the same way as SWF files.
  
  

SWD Files

• SWD files are flash debug files used during Flash development. These are temporary files; once the Flash project is completed, the SWD files are not needed and can be removed.