Adobe Fireworks
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| Adobe Fireworks | |
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 Fireworks CS3 (Beta) on Mac OS X |
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| Developer: | Adobe (formerly Macromedia) |
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| Latest release: | CS3 / March 27, 2007 |
| OS: | Mac OS X, Windows |
| Use: | Graphics editor |
| License: | Proprietary |
| Website: | adobe.com/products/fireworks/ |
Adobe Fireworks, also known as FW for short, is a bitmap and vector graphics editor. It was originally developed by Macromedia, which Adobe acquired in 2005, and aimed at web designers (with features such as: slices, the ability to add hotspots etc.). It is designed to integrate easily with other former Macromedia products, such as the popular Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Flash. Version 8 of Fireworks was bundled in the Macromedia Studio 8 suite. The next version, Fireworks CS3, is now available for preorder. It is available either as a part of Adobe Creative Suite 3 or as a stand alone product.
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[edit] Features
The primary difference is Fireworks' emphasis on vector editing, similar to Adobe Illustrator, with limited bitmap capabilities. This is opposite to the approach used by Photoshop, which is primarily for bitmap graphics with limited vector editing features. Vector objects in Fireworks can be resized with no loss of quality, just as in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Bitmap objects suffer a similar loss in quality whether resized in Fireworks, Adobe ImageReady or Photoshop.
[edit] Docked menus
As with all Macromedia and Adobe releases as of 2004, menus and even some extensions can be docked in the Fireworks environment. Within the docks, menus can be collapsed and expanded to allow a high level of accessibility as well as convenience. This facilitates a cleaner workspace.
[edit] Toolbar
The toolbar in Fireworks contains 34 buttons. Some buttons can be held down to reveal a submenu of variations on each tool. For example, as the dodge and burn tools are used to lighten or darken an image and are similar, they can be found within the same submenu. This system of organization saves a lot of space and is very useful to graphic editors trying to save as much space on-screen as possible.
[edit] Pointer tool
The Pointer Tool contains a submenu of 2 items. It is represented by a black-filled cursor.
- Selection Tool - The Selection tool allows the selection of an entire entity within the canvas, or a group of entities by shift clicking multiple items in succession.
- Select Behind Tool - The Select Behind tool allows the selection of an entity that is below another in the layer order.
[edit] Subselection tool
The Subselection Tool has two main functions. It is represented by a white arrow with a black outline.
- Objects may be moved by clicking and dragging anywhere in the middle of an object.
- Clicking on a point or selection handle will resize or skew the object.
[edit] Scale tool
The Scale Tool contains a submenu of 3 items. It is represented by a box with a diagonal arrow.
- Scale Tool - The scale tool allows you to resize an entity in the X or Y dimensions, and also allows you to keep the image size in the proper ratio by holding SHIFT while scaling. This tool also allows for rotation of an entity.
- Skew Tool - The skew tool allows the skewing of images.
- Distort Tool - The distort tool allows you to twist the image and add perspective.
[edit] External links
[edit] Official Site
[edit] Tutorials
- [Fireworks Tutorials - Tutorials for Fireworks]
Acrobat • After Effects • Contribute • Dreamweaver • Encore • Flash • Fireworks • Illustrator • InDesign • Photoshop • Premiere Pro • Soundbooth
Shared applications: Acrobat Connect • Bridge • Device Central • Version Cue
