Probs with flash 8

1

Hi guys im new to the forum and also new to using flash. Im having a problem importing images from windows paint into flash 8. I draw a basic figure in Windows paint and save it as a bmp.file, then i import it into flash to use as a symbol to animate but rather than importing just the figure it shows the white background behind it as well. Is it possible to make this background transparent? I ve made a basic scene (ie.ground,sky trees etc) and now i just want to posistion my figure on this background but the white background of the imported figure file is showing. sorry if this is an obvious question but any help would be great.cheers Horace.