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Chapter 1: Introducing

Fireworks CS5

In This Chapter

✓ Understanding when you should use Fireworks

✓ Discovering the workspace

✓ Finding out about the tools

✓ Looking into the views

✓ Using the basic selection tools

dobe Fireworks is an incredible application with specific solutions to

meet online designers’ needs. When you use Fireworks, you have the

freedom to create test Web sites, experiment with advanced scripting fea-

tures, and come up with compelling graphics that look good and work well

on Web pages.

In this chapter, you encounter the software and its workspace. You also dis-

cover how to use selection tools so that you can start to manipulate graph-

ics in Fireworks right away.

Why Use Fireworks?

Considering all the applications included in the Creative Suite, why do you

need one more? The reason is mostly because after CS2 (and the removal

of ImageReady), the Creative Suite provided no easy way to create interest-

ing Web graphics. Sure, you can save images for online use in Photoshop

and Illustrator using the Save for Web & Devices feature, but what about

rollovers, easy image maps, and interactive wireframes? (A wireframe is

essentially a mock-up or rough draft created to demonstrate or test a Web

site before it is in its final form. In Web design, wireframes are basic visual

guides used to suggest the layout and placement of fundamental design

elements.)

In Fireworks, you can work intuitively by taking advantage of its logical

interface, which provides panels and features that relate to the Web and

that offer you the easiest way to optimize (make Web-ready) graphics.

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COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Summary of content (8 pages)

PAGE 1
Chapter 1: Introducing Fireworks CS5 AL In This Chapter ✓ Understanding when you should use Fireworks ✓ Finding out about the tools ✓ Looking into the views MA ✓ Using the basic selection tools TE RI ✓ Discovering the workspace A TE D dobe Fireworks is an incredible application with specific solutions to meet online designers’ needs.
PAGE 2
864 Jumping Right into the Interface Jumping Right into the Interface So what’s the big deal about Fireworks being built specifically for Web graphics? Well, first of all, you’re working strictly with pixels — no messy dpi (dots per inch) or lpi (lines per inch), which are typical printing terms. Figure 1-1 shows the dialog box that appears when you choose File➪Open to open a vector graphic from Illustrator. The dialog box offers conversion choices but emphasizes pixel dimensions.
PAGE 3
Jumping Right into the Interface 865 Using the tools The Tools panel is sorted into six categories: Select, Bitmap, Vector, Web, Colors, and View. Table 1-1 lists the tools by category and the keys you can easily press to access them.
PAGE 4
866 Jumping Right into the Interface Table 1-1 (continued) Icon Tool Name What You Can Do with It Keyboard Shortcut Blur Blur image R Rubber Stamp Clone image data S Line Create vector lines N Pen Create Bézier paths P Rectangle Create vector shapes U Type Create text T Freeform Create freeform paths O Knife Cut paths Y Rectangle Hotspot Create image map hotspots J Slice Create slices for tables or CSS K Hide Slices and Hotspots Hide slices and image map hotspots 2 Sho
PAGE 5
Jumping Right into the Interface Icon Tool Name What You Can Do with It Hand Pan the artboard Zoom Zoom in and out of artboard 867 Keyboard Shortcut View X As you select each tool, notice that the Properties panel displays additional options. (If your Properties panel isn’t visible, choose Window➪Properties.) Understanding the views The tabs at the top of an image give you the opportunity to view it in four ways: ✦ Original displays your image as it appears before being optimized for the Web.
PAGE 6
868 Working with Basic Selection Tools ✦ 4-Up is for people who are never quite sure which is the best way to optimize an image. You don’t necessarily need to compare different formats when you use this view; you can experiment with different options for one format, such as pushing the limit with the amount of colors you want to keep in a GIF file, as shown in Figure 1-3. Figure 1-3: In 4-Up view, you can experiment with ways to optimize an image.
PAGE 7
Working with Basic Selection Tools 869 ✦ Marquee: To make a selection with the Marquee tool, simply select it from the Tools panel, and then click and drag to surround the area you want to select. You can add to the selection by holding down the Shift key and dragging another marquee region, or deselect a portion of the active selection by holding down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) key while dragging with the Marquee tool.
PAGE 8
70 Working with Basic Selection Tools Making a selection in a vector image By using the same tools you use to select bitmap images, you can adjust vector paths. Use the Pointer tool to move an entire vector shape, as shown in Figure 1-5. Use the Subselection tool to move the individual points on the path. Figure 1-5: The Pointer tool lets you move a vector shape.