What does Fireworks do? Fireworks is used by
professional Web developers and graphic artists to design, edit, and
optimize graphics for the Web. Images may be sliced and each slice may be
individually optimized for best quality and fastest download. Additionally
Fireworks has the ability to export JavaScript which controls such
functions as preloading images, swapping images for rollovers, Pop-up
Menus and controlling the interaction of swapped images to allow the user
to create Nav Bars. This makes Fireworks a must have for User Interface
designers, and is used not only by web designers/developers for such
purposes, but also by multimedia and software developers for their UI
design work. Frames in Fireworks are used to implement the export of
animated GIFs as well.
Can I build a Web site in Fireworks? Though it is certainly
possible to generate HTML files that link to each other using Fireworks,
Fireworks is not an HTML editor and does not have any FTP capabilities.
Many users work with the Dreamweaver and Fireworks in Studio MX to develop
their Web sites, because the two products are integrated to provide a
complete Web construction set. Dreamweaver allows users to insert various
kinds of Web content into HTML pages as well as set <head> tag
information. Manipulation of the <head> portion of a document allows
pages to be found by search engines, page properties such as background
color/image and page margins to be set. Dreamweaver MX also supports CSS
and other DHTML layer features not available in Fireworks. Dreamweaver
UltraDev and MX also enable you to link to and access databases, using any
of a number of configurations to drive dynamic web sites. Powerful FTP
capabilities are also included in Dreamweaver, allowing users to upload
files and sync their local files to the server's time stamp.
Does Fireworks MX run on
Windows 95? No. Support for Windows
95 was eliminated in the MX Studio line of products. Continuing support
for Windows 95 would prohibit us from developing many of the powerful
features users enjoy in Studio MX. See the System Requirements for Fireworks
MX and Studio
MX.
Does Fireworks run on Windows 2000 and XP? Yes! Fireworks 4 should
be installed and launched in Administrator mode before launching it in
User mode, see Fireworks
4 requirements for Windows 2000 (TechNote 15569). If you are using
Fireworks MX, it is fully compliant with Windows XP.
How
do Fireworks and Dreamweaver work together? Fireworks and
Dreamweaver were developed to work hand in hand to allow the Web designer
to go from concept to final web site quickly and easily. Fireworks handles
the creation, editing and optimizing of graphic content for the web site,
performing basic JavaScript export functions such as rollovers and Nav
Bars. Dreamweaver is a graphical HTML editing environment that allows
users to insert advanced behaviors as well as various kinds of web
content, much like a desktop publishing program would for print.
Dreamweaver has the ability to publish files via FTP or Local Server to
the Web. Users can launch and edit graphics in Fireworks from Dreamweaver
and HTML tables in Dreamweaver can be updated using round trip editing
operations. See Dreamweaver Articles on working with Fireworks in the Working with Fireworks area of the Dreamweaver Support
section as well as the Working
with Dreamweaver area of the Fireworks Support section of the
Macromedia web site.
How is Fireworks better than
Photoshop/ImageReady? Fireworks' vector
environment allows the user constant control of Web graphics from start to
finish. Photoshop, though an excellent image editing program, does not
include Web capabilities. ImageReady must be used in conjunction with
Photoshop to provide slicing, file optimization and rollover
functionality. Fireworks is specifically designed to create Web graphics
from beginning to end, and does not require additional programs to
construct, optimize or add JavaScript behaviors. Fireworks generates
images, HTML and JavaScript that is smaller than Photoshop/ImageReady and
GoLive, providing a more competitive solution to the needs of Web
developers for small, high quality files that quickly download. For a
side-by-side comparison, please refer to the Competitive Edge information.
How much does Fireworks cost for purchase or
upgrade? The retail price of Fireworks MX is $299 US. Fireworks may be
purchased through any of a number of channels including the Macromedia Online Store, as part of the Dreamweaver
MX/Fireworks MX Suite, by calling Macromedia's sales line at
1(800)457-1774, or from any of a number of our distributors. Upgrade information is also available, outlining prices
for users with earlier versions of Fireworks. International dealers are also listed on the Macromedia
Web site. Also check out Macromedia Promotions, for information about current
offers.
Can
I use Fireworks with FrontPage? Yes! Fireworks HTML and
images should be exported into the FrontPage 2000 Web directory and
subdirectories. Once exported to these locations using the FrontPage HTML
style, the files can be opened in the FrontPage Editor and further edits
may be made from there. Because FrontPage does not actively support
JavaScript, Fireworks HTML exported using the FrontPage style will have
all of the JavaScript in the <body> instead of the <head>
Users can easily move the JavaScript into the head of the HTML file in the
HTML window in FrontPage. For information on working with FrontPage HTML,
see Exporting
and inserting Fireworks HTML into FrontPage (TechNote 16633), along
with several other related TechNotes you will find linked to in the
Additional information section of that TechNote.
What scanners have been tested with Fireworks? Fireworks uses
Photoshop plug-in technology and TWAIN on the Macintosh and Windows
platforms. A list of scanners and digital cameras that have been tested
with Fireworks 2 and 3 is available at: Scanners
and digital cameras verified as working with Fireworks (TechNote
13733). Users are encouraged to maintain the most current drivers for
their scanners to work properly with Fireworks. With support for OS X in
Fireworks MX, plug-ins created for pre-OS X versions of Photoshop will not
run on OS X except in Classic mode. See Using non OS X third-party plug-ins in Fireworks MX
(TechNote 16469) to work around this issue.
Does Fireworks support the EPS or PDF file
format? Fireworks 4 and MX import and open EPS files. Depending on the
source of the EPS file, it my open as a vector file or as a bitmap file.
If desired, Fireworks files can be printed to a PDF file using PDF Writer
or by printing to file using a PostScript printer driver and then Acrobat
Distiller can be used to generate a PDF file from the PostScript file.
How does Fireworks create rollovers? Rollovers in Fireworks
are created by placing artwork into different frames, then drawing a slice
object over the artwork. Many different behaviors are available, and one
or more can be added to the slice to attach a mouse event to the <a
href> tag. Fireworks generates an HTML table, and the slices are
assembled within the table's cells. The mouse event attached to the anchor
tag calls a JavaScript function located in the <head> of the HTML
document. The Button Editor allows users to quickly create a Button Symbol
which can be reused in a document to create multiple rollovers for Nav
Bars. The tutorials that come with Fireworks 4 and MX include exercises
that show you how to create various types of rollovers within Fireworks.
For more information on these topics please refer to the following
TechNotes:
How
is Fireworks used to create animated GIFs? Animated GIFs in
Fireworks are created by generating a sequence of frames that contain
different content in each subsequent frame. Users can set Frame Delay and
Looping properties to control the speed and looping behavior of the
animated GIF. Animation symbols allow for quick creation of simple
animations, from linear movement, opacity fades, scale/resize to rotation
of the animated symbol. An additional feature in Fireworks is the ability
to tween objects that have been converted to symbols. This allows the user
to quickly build animations that contain tweened motion, opacity and
effect settings. Onion skinning may be used to allow the user maximum
control over the animation process.
Do
I need ATM to run Fireworks? ATM (Adobe Type
Manager) is only needed IF you are going to be using Type 1 fonts. On
Macintosh OS 9.x, make sure the ATM version is 4.5.2. If you are running
Macintosh OS 9, an updater for ATM is available on Adobe's download site. Users may freely use TrueType
fonts on the Macintosh without ATM present. Apple has a built in
PostScript font management system in Macintosh OS X.
On Windows,
ATM must be installed to use Type 1 fonts. TrueType fonts may be used on
Windows without the presence of ATM. On Windows 2000 and XP, you can
install and use Type 1 fonts, since the system converts the font data for
use on those systems.
Can Fireworks files be used across Macintosh and Windows
platforms? Yes! You can share your
Fireworks PNG (Portable Network Graphics) files with other Fireworks users
on either Macintosh or Windows platforms. The source PNG file is always
editable. The fonts used for text in the Fireworks file will of course not
be identical to those used on another platform so users are advised to
have the same fonts installed on their platform as those used on the
platform on which the file was created. In Fireworks MX, font caching is
implemented, so even if you do not have the required fonts, the
information is cached and you will be offered an opportunity to either
replace the font(s) with a font on your system or to maintain the
appearance of the fonts in the file, which renders the text as a bitmap
object, uneditable as text, that appears exactly as it was created on the
original computer system.
