In December 1996 Macromedia acquired FutureWave and FutureSplash Animator became Macromedia Flash 1.0. FutureWave released FutureSplash Animator in May 1996. The idea involved a format which player software could run on any system and which would work with slower network connections.

The small company FutureWave Software originally defined the file format with one primary objective: to create small files for displaying entertaining animations. There is no official resolution to the initialism 'SWF' by Adobe. This usage was changed to the backronym Small Web Format to eliminate confusion with a different technology, Shockwave, from which SWF derived.

The term 'SWF' has originated as an abbreviation for ShockWave Flash. Various other third-party programs can also produce files in this format, such as Multimedia Fusion 2, Captivate and SWiSH Max. Other than using Adobe products, one can build SWFs with open-source Motion-Twin ActionScript 2 Compiler (MTASC), the open-source Ming library and the free-software suite SWFTools. Although Adobe Illustrator can generate SWF format files through its 'export' function, it cannot open or edit them. 2016), and After Effects, as well as through MXMLC, a command-line application compiler which forms part of the freely-available Flex SDK. Programmers can generate SWF files from within several Adobe products, including Flash, Flash Builder (an IDE), Adobe Animate (the replacement for Adobe Flash as of Feb. They may also occur in programs, commonly browser games, using ActionScript. Originating with FutureWave Software, then transferred to Macromedia, and then coming under the control of Adobe, SWF files can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivity and function. SWF ( / ˈ s w ɪ f/ SWIF / ˈ s w ʊ f/ SWOOF) is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript. Shockwave Flash, later called Macromedia Shockwave Flash then Adobe Flash.

Open fla files without flash