Generally, a computer graphic is either a vector drawing or a bitmap image. Applications such as Macromedia FreeHand create vector drawings. Applications such as Photoshop create bitmap images.
Paths and points are the basic elements of vector graphics. As you draw, the vector path and its points are generated automatically. When magnified, a vector graphic looks the same, only bigger.
In contrast, a bitmap image is a matrix of pixels that forms an image, like the tiles of a mosaic. A bitmap image becomes more granulated, and ultimately unrecognizable, as magnification reveals the individual pixels.
Fireworks blurs the distinction between vector graphics and bitmap image graphics. Objects drawn in Fireworks have editable vector paths, yet magnifying a Fireworks object reveals pixels, which redraw in response to vector editing. With the Fireworks Pen tool, you can draw editable bitmap images as if you were drawing vector paths in FreeHand or Illustrator.
When you draw in Fireworks, you can use vector or bitmap drawing tools to create bitmap graphics. No matter which drawing tool you use, Fireworks objects give you a level of drawing and editing control previously available only in vector graphic applications, and Fireworks object attributes give you a level of artistic control previously available only in bitmap graphic applications.
This chapter focuses on drawing path objects in the default mode, known as object mode. You can also draw, paint, and edit pixels using traditional bitmap techniques in Fireworks, in what is known as image edit mode. For more information, see Editing pixels.