macromedia fireworks mx bible

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Create traffic- stopping vector or bitmap Web graphics and animations Build eye-catching effects using layers, rollovers, frames, and slices Master the new interface and improved graphics and Web connectivity tools F ireworks MX Joseph W. Lowery, bestselling author of Dreamweaver MX Bible and Derren Whiteman “Joseph Lowery and Derren Whiteman provide details and examples essential for the Web graphics professional.” David Morris, Fireworks Product Manager, Macromedia BONUS CD-ROM! Fireworks tools plus Fireworks MX trial version and more 100% ONE HUNDRED PERCENT COMPREHENSIVE AUTHORITATIVE WHAT YOU NEED ONE HUNDRED PERCENT F ireworks MX Includes 16 pages of full-color examples Foreword by David Morris, Fireworks Product Manager, Macromedia ® ®

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Macromedia Fireworks MX Bible

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  • LOWERY & WHITEMAN

    If Fireworks MX can do it, you can do it too . . .From vector drawing and bitmap editing to animations and JavaScript output, Fireworks MX puts all the Webgraphics tools you need into a single cohesive package. Packed with time-saving tips and real-world examples including 16 pages of color illustrations this comprehensive guide shows you how to make the most ofFireworks, whether youre looking for an in-depth tutorial on program fundamentals or the lowdown on thenew interface or new options for transparent gradients, text editing, and pop-up menus.

    Inside, youll find complete coverage of Fireworks MX Master the basics, from object creation to

    full-blown photo manipulation

    Enhance your images with sophisticated fills, filters, xtras, layers, and Live Effects

    Build in interactivity using hotspots, slices, and JavaScript behaviors no coding required

    Speed up production with styles, libraries, and round-trip workflow features

    Make the most of sliced file auto-checkout, XHTML support, and other new tools for Dreamweaver integration

    Get up to speed fast on GIF animation and createstate-of-the-art banner ads

    Shelving Category:Web Development/Fireworks

    Reader Level:Beginning to Advanced

    System Requirements:PC running Windows 98 SE/2000/Me/XP, Windows NT 4SP6; Power Macintosh running System 9.1 or higher/OSX 10.1 or higher. See the Whats on the CD-ROMappendix for details and complete system requirements. ISBN 0-7645-3662-1

    $44.99 USA$67.99 Canada33.50 UK incl. VAT

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    Create traffic-stopping vector orbitmap Web graphicsand animations

    Build eye-catchingeffects using layers,rollovers, frames,and slices

    Master the newinterface andimproved graphicsand Web connectivitytools

    Fireworks MXJoseph W. Lowery, bestselling author of Dreamweaver MX Bible

    and Derren Whiteman

    Joseph Lowery and Derren Whiteman provide details andexamples essential for the Web graphics professional.

    David Morris, Fireworks Product Manager, Macromedia

    ,!7IA7G4-fdggcf!:P;o;O;t;tFireworks tools

    and moreon CD-ROM

    BONUS CD-ROM!Fireworks tools plus Fireworks MX trial version and more

    w w w . w i l e y . c o m / c o m p b o o k s /

    100%O N E H U N D R E D P E R C E N T

    C O M P R E H E N S I V EA U T H O R I T A T I V EW H A T Y O U N E E DO N E H U N D R E D P E R C E N T

    Apply Photoshop-compatible Filters and Live Effects, or adjust opacity, togive your work a whole new look.

    Bonus CD-ROM Fireworks commands, templates, textures, gradients,

    strokes, and images Macromedia Flash MX, Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX,

    and FreeHand trial versions Splat!, Eye Candy 4000, and Xenofex demo versions by

    Alien Skin Software Fireworks MXBible

    Includes 16 pages offull-color examples

    *85555-BAFCBi

    100%C O M P R E H E N S I V E

    Foreword by David Morris, Fireworks Product Manager, Macromedia

    The Touchup tools in Fireworks MX make bitmapmanipulation much simpler by putting Blur, Sharpen,Dodge, Burn, and Smudge right at your fingertips.

    536621 cover 7/25/02 9:36 AM Page 1

  • Fireworks MX Bible

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page i

  • 013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page ii

  • Fireworks MX Bible

    Joseph W. Lowery and Derren Whiteman

    Best-Selling Books Digital Downloads e-Books Answer Networks e-Newsletters Branded Web Sites e-Learning

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page iii

  • LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BESTEFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS BOOK, THEY MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THEACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIEDWARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATEDOR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIESCONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION. YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONALWHERE APPROPRIATE. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT ORANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL,OR OTHER DAMAGES.

    Fireworks MX BiblePublished byWiley Publishing, Inc.909 Third AvenueNew York, NY 10022www.wiley.comCopyright 2002 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, IndianaLibrary of Congress Control Number: 2002107897ISBN: 0-7645-3662-1Manufactured in the United States of America10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 11B/SS/QY/QS/INPublished by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, IndianaPublished simultaneously in CanadaNo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorizationthrough payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the LegalDepartment, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4447, E-Mail: [email protected].

    For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our CustomerCare Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993 or fax 317-572-4002.Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats.Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of WileyPublishing, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. PANTONE and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc. FreeHand 10 and Macromedia Flash MX Copyright 1995-2000. Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 USA. All Rights Reserved. Macromedia, Flash,Fireworks and FreeHand are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or othercountries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated withany product or vendor mentioned in this book.

    3662-1 FM.F 8/5/02 2:35 PM Page iv

  • About the AuthorsJoseph Lowery has been writing about computers and new technology since 1981.He is the author of the current and previous editions of Dreamweaver Bible andFireworks Bible as well as Buying Online For Dummies (all from Wiley Publishing, formerly Hungry Minds, Inc.). He recently co-wrote a book on Flash with designerHillman Curtis and has also written books on HTML and using the Internet for business. His books are international best-sellers, having sold over 300,000 copiesworldwide in ten different languages. Joseph is also a consultant and trainer andhas presented at Seybold in both Boston and San Francisco, Macromedia UCON in the U.S. and Europe, and at ThunderLizards Web World. As a partner in DevaAssociates, Ltd., Joseph developed the Deva Tools for Dreamweaver set of naviga-tional extensions. Joseph and his wife, dancer/choreographer Debra Wanner, have a daughter, Margot.

    Derren Whitemans online life began before the invention of the World Wide Web,when data moved across the Internet, and online communities were based aroundelectronic bulletin board systems (BBS). He built Web sites by hand in the earlydays of the World Wide Web because that was how you made them in thosedays and later took up modern tools after joining Mediafear, a San Francisco-based Web design shop where he spent three years building dynamic Web sites for artists and musicians. Derren has also served as an information technology consultant and computer instructor, enabling individuals and small businesses to use technology to their greatest advantage.

    Derren spends much of his time in technical publishing, helping to make todaysWeb-building tools accessible to everyone. He served as Technical Editor for versions 3 and 4 of Joseph Lowerys Fireworks Bible (Hungry Minds, Inc.) andDreamweaver 4 Bible (Hungry Minds, Inc.). Other books that Derren worked oninclude Mastering Dreamweaver 4 and Fireworks MX (Sybex, Inc.), Look & LearnDreamweaver 4 (Hungry Minds, Inc.), and From FrontPage to Dreamweaver (SamsPublishing).

    Derren is a Macromedia Certified Dreamweaver 4 Developer and a volunteer mem-ber of Team Macromedia for Fireworks (http://www.macromedia.com/go/team).He maintains a number of Web sites, including FrancinePaul.com, Konis.com,and of course, Derren.com. He makes his home in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page v

  • CreditsAcquisitions EditorMichael Roney

    Project EditorMartin V. Minner

    Technical EditorKleanthis Economou

    Copy EditorsRoxane MariniNancy Rapoport

    Editorial ManagerRev Mengle

    Vice President and Executive Group PublisherRichard Swadley

    Vice President and Executive PublisherBob Ipsen

    Executive Editorial DirectorMary Bednarek

    Project CoordinatorRyan Steffen

    Graphics and Production SpecialistsBeth Brooks, Melanie DesJardins, Joyce Haughey, Clint Lahnen, Kristin McMullan, Barry Offringa,Brent Savage, Jeremey Unger

    Quality Control TechniciansJohn Greenough, Susan Moritz

    Permissions EditorLaura Moss

    Media Development SpecialistAngela Denny

    Proofreading and IndexingTECHBOOKS Production Services

    Cover ImageAnthony Stuart

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page vi

  • To Doris Cutler doing business in our family as Aunt Doree thanks for all the love and support you offered us from afar

    and for keeping my Dad in his place as only an older sister could.

    JL

    For Phyllis and Chris, your support has always gone above and beyond. And for Rob Houston, proof that a great teacher really does teach.

    DW

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  • Foreword

    The Fireworks engineering team saw the storm coming across the North CentralTexas landscape. The Internet bubble had burst and companies were lookingfor ways to reduce costs while keeping quality high. The next release of Fireworkshad to be really special; it wasnt enough to produce great looking, highly-optimizedWeb graphics or cutting-edge navigation elements. The process of production hadbecome as important as the final output the next generation of Fireworks neededto be easy to use, more powerful and open for enhanced teamwork.

    A key goal was to streamline both the workspace and the workflow. For the work-space, we incorporated a Property inspector similar to the one found in Dreamweaver,but customized for a graphics application. The Property inspector makes it far easierto modify fill and stroke settings and much more without having to dig through a tonof panels. However, the Property inspector cant do it all, so we also enhanced theoverall panel management with dockable, collapsible panel groups that are easy tofind when you need them and get out of your way when you dont. Not coinciden-tally, youll find the same polished user interface across the Studio MX line, includingMacromedia Flash MX and Dreamweaver MX a significant ease-of-use factor in andof itself.

    We tried to improve the workflow with other enhancements to the workspace. One of the strengths of Fireworks is its ability to work both with vector-based andbitmap-based graphics; it hasnt, however, always been easy to move from one modeto another. To smooth out the workflow, Fireworks now switches modes automati-cally based on your selected tool, object, or layer; its so effortless that we call itmodeless editing. We think youll also find our new on-screen text editing a greattime-saver. Select the text tool, click anywhere on the canvas and begin typing toinsert your text. Need to correct a word or change a font? Just double-click into the text and make your change.

    One of the most popular features introduced in Fireworks 4 was our pop-up menucreator. We decided to ramp up the power on this feature and now in Fireworks MXyou can make pop-up menus in either vertical or horizontal formats, with far greatercontrol over positioning, appearance, and interactivity. Another new power-user fea-ture thats getting rave reviews is the Data-Driven Graphics Wizard. This command actually created by Fireworks MX Bible author Joseph Lowery dissolves productionroadblocks by combining Fireworks graphic templates with XML data files to outputas many variations on a theme as required, with a fraction of the work.

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page ix

  • x Fireworks MX Bible

    The Data-Driven Graphics Wizard is, quite literally, the tip of an open architecturepowerhouse as big as a proverbial iceberg. Starting in Fireworks MX, custom commands and panels can be constructed that leverage the JavaScript API of theFireworks graphics engine with a Flash user interface. Youll find other examples ofnew Fireworks extensibility throughout the program as evidenced by the very handyAlign panel and other extensions under the Commands menu. Like Dreamweaver andFlash, extensions are easily installed and removed through the Extension Manager.

    The Web is continuing to evolve and Fireworks is keeping pace. In addition to out-putting JavaScript and HTML for the majority of the worlds code editors, FireworksMX now speaks XHTML fluently. Moreover, the code output is compliant with Webaccessibility standards, including Federal guideline Section 508. Fireworks is poisedto help designers like yourself grow and move steadily forward.

    Changes whether they are the result of an economic downturn or the introductionof exhilarating new technologies are often difficult to go through and made easierwith the proper guide. In the book you hold in your hands, youll find one of bestroadmaps to the changes in Fireworks MX available. Joseph Lowery and DerrenWhiteman provide details and examples essential for the Web graphics professional.

    Our desire to make Fireworks better is ongoing and our mailbox never closes. If you have a suggestion for a new feature or a way to be more productive, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]. Were looking forward tohearing from you.

    David MorrisProduct Manager, FireworksMacromedia

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page x

  • Preface

    Remember that burst of pleasure when you first realized how exciting the Web could be? Ill let you in on a little secret: Macromedia Fireworks makescreating graphics for the Web fun again. Images produced with Fireworks are assophisticated and rich as those created with any other combination of programs,plus theyre Web-ready as optimized as possible and bundled with HTML andJavaScript code for amazing interactive effects.

    Ill be the first to admit my bias. Im a Dreamweaver power user, and it seems onlynatural to combine Macromedias exciting Web-graphics solution with its premierWeb-authoring tool. In fact, Macromedia encourages you to do so with its StudioMX offering. But while Im confessing, let me also note that I have no patience fortools that dont do the job. The wonderful revelation about Fireworks is that thisprogram eliminates production bottlenecks I didnt even know existed all whileproducing stunning imagery that stays editable through revision after easy revision.

    When I set out to write this book, I decided to really push Fireworks. Rather thanusing it merely to optimize a series of images (which it does superbly), or to createa compact animation (which it also does superbly) from work created in other programs, I used Fireworks exclusively for all image manipulation and creation.Consequently, both my productivity and my creativity went through the roof.Fireworks MX Bible was designed to give you all the information and techniques you need to achieve the same results.

    JL

    Who Should Read This Book?The Web is, without a doubt, one of the key phenomena of our time, and it hasattracted an enormous amount of talent, both artistic and technical. After all, howoften does a new mass medium appear? The range of Web designers extends fromfirst-generation artists drawn to the exciting Internet possibilities, to print profes-sionals who want to expand their creative horizons. Fireworks MX Bible talks to allthose groups, offering solutions to everyday graphics problems, as well as provid-ing a complete reference for the program.

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page xi

  • xii Fireworks MX Bible

    What Hardware and Software Do You Need?Fireworks MX Bible includes full coverage of Macromedia Fireworks MX. If you dontown a copy of the program, the CD-ROM that accompanies this book contains a fullyfunctional, 30-day trial version. Written to be platform-independent, this book coversboth Macintosh and Windows versions of Fireworks MX.

    Fireworks for Windows requires a 300 MHz Pentium processor (Pentium II or higherrecommended) and one of the following operating systems: Windows NT 4 (ServicePack 6 or later), Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, 2000, or XP.

    Fireworks for Macintosh requires a Power Macintosh processor (G3 or higher rec-ommended) and Mac OS 9.1 or a later version, including Mac OS X, version 10.1 orlater.

    On either platform, Fireworks also requires the following:

    64MB of available RAM 80MB of available disk space 800600-pixel, 256-color display (1,024768 pixels or higher and millions of

    colors recommended)

    Adobe Type Manager 4, or a later version may be required if you work withType 1 (PostScript) fonts. For Macintosh, this requirement applies only to OS 9.x)

    Please note that these requirements are the minimum. As with all graphics-baseddesign tools, more capability is definitely better for using Fireworks, especially interms of RAM and processor speed.

    How This Book Is OrganizedFireworks MX Bible can take you from raw beginner to full-fledged professional ifread cover to cover. However, youre more likely to read each section as needed,taking the necessary information and coming back later. To facilitate this approach,Fireworks MX Bible is divided into seven major, task-oriented parts. When yourefamiliar with Fireworks, feel free to skip around the book, using it as a referenceguide as you build your own knowledge base.

    The early chapters present the basics, and all chapters contain clearly writtensteps for the tasks you need to perform. In later chapters, youll encounter sectionslabeled Fireworks Techniques. Fireworks Techniques are step-by-step instructionsfor accomplishing specific Web-design tasks for example, using a mask to add aninteresting border to an image. Naturally, you can also use Fireworks Techniques assteppingstones for your own explorations into Web-page creation.

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  • xiiiPreface

    If youre running Fireworks while reading this book, dont forget to use the CD-ROM.An integral element of the book, the CD-ROM offers a number of additional Fireworkstextures, gradients, and HTML templates, in addition to trial programs from majorsoftware vendors.

    Part I: Come See the FireworksPart I begins with an overview of the Fireworks philosophy and design. To get themost out of the program, you need to understand the key advantages it offers andthe deficiencies it addresses. Part I takes you all the way from setting up documentsto getting the most out of Fireworks.

    The opening chapters give you a full reference to the Fireworks interface and all of its customizable features. Chapter 1 will be of special interest to users of previ-ous versions of Fireworks; its a complete guide to all the newly added features in Fireworks MX. Later chapters in Part I provide an overview of everything thatFireworks can do this feature-rich program will often surprise you.

    Part II: Mastering the ToolsThe Fireworks approach to graphics is fundamentally different from any other toolon the market. Consequently, youll need to travel the short learning curve beforeyou can get the most out of Fireworks. The early chapters in Part II cover all theessentials, from basic object creation, to full-blown photo manipulation.

    Color is a key component of any graphic designers tool kit, and color on the Webrequires special attention, as youll see in Chapter 7. The object-oriented nature ofFireworks is explored in chapters on creating simple strokes and combining pathsin a variety of ways to help you make more sophisticated graphics. Fireworksexcels at creating graphical text for the Web youll see how in Chapter 10.

    Part III: Achieving EffectsFireworks graphics really begin to gain depth in Part III. The variety of fills and textures available as well as the capability to add your own are critical for thewide range of image production for which a Web designer is responsible. Chapter 12explores the exciting world of Fireworks Live Effects and filters, which are excitingnot just because theyre easy to use and they look great, but also because of thepositive impact that their always-editable nature will have on your workflow.

    Most of the time, a graphic will actually contain a number of images. Chapter 13explains the Fireworks methods for arranging and compositing multiple objects inorder to achieve stunning results. The Fireworks mask-group feature, in particular,is an especially creative and powerful tool that takes the hard work out of alphachannels. Although Fireworks is a great drawing tool, its also adept at handlingbitmap imagery.

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  • xiv Fireworks MX Bible

    Part IV: Coordinating WorkflowWeb design is an ongoing process, not a single event. Part IV is dedicated to helpingyou streamline your workflow, as you acquire images via scanning or importing,manipulate them in Fireworks, and then optimize them on export, either for theWeb or for import into other creative tools, such as Macromedia Director or Flash.

    Although its true that Web graphic design is an art form, its also a business andone element of that business is applying a consistent look and feel to each elementof a particular Web site. Fireworks styles enable you to save formatting instructionsfrom one object and apply them to other objects again and again. The Library panelis a place to store symbols, objects you use frequently, such as logos and navigationbuttons. Fireworks symbols further minimize repetitive work by linking similarobjects so that changes need only be made once. Chapter 18 describes howFireworks MX helps you update and maintain your graphics through the URL paneland the surprising Find and Replace feature. The final chapter in Part IV covers thegreatly expanded Command feature set with its new Flash movie interface capabil-ity and the History panel, useful for constructing simple reusable commands fromyour actions.

    Part V: Entering the WebFireworks broke new ground as the first image editor to output HTML and JavaScriptcode. With its full-featured hotspots, image maps, and sliced images embedded inHTML tables, Fireworks is incredibly Web-savvy. Part V explains the basics of Webinteractivity for those designers unfamiliar with the territory and also offers specificstep-by-step instructions for linking JavaScript behaviors to graphics.

    If you work with Dreamweaver (or work with someone who does), youll want tocheck out Chapter 22 in order to get the most out of the integration possibilitiesbetween Fireworks and Dreamweaver.

    Part VI: AnimationAnimations have become important to the Web. Not only do they offer an alternativeto static displays, but GIF animations are used extensively in the creation of bannerads. Animation in Fireworks MX is surprisingly full-featured and easy-to-use. Wellwalk step by step through the creation of a banner ad and discover tweening, onionskinning, and other basic animation techniques.

    Part VII: Programming with FireworksOne of the most amazing things about Fireworks MX is the way it can be controlledby scripts written in JavaScript, the most common scripting language for Webauthoring. Fireworks offers many ways to customize the way you work with the

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  • xvPreface

    program. Well look at each of them and discover the extensive Fireworks JavaScriptAPI (Application Programming Interface). The final chapter explores the brave newworld of Fireworks extensions and describes how you can use Flash to create userinterfaces for such commands.

    Part VIII: AppendixesAppendix A is a Web primer, a place to get a good grounding on the ways of the Web.Appendix B is a handy reference guide to productivity-boosting keyboard shortcutson both Macintosh and Windows systems. The material on the accompanyingCD-ROM is detailed in Appendix C.

    Conventions Used in This BookThe following conventions are used throughout this book.

    Windows and Macintosh conventionsBecause Fireworks MX Bible is a cross-platform book, it gives instructions for both Windows and Macintosh users when keystrokes for a particular task differ.Throughout this book, the Windows keystrokes are given first, and the Macintoshkeystrokes are given second in parentheses, as in the following example:

    To undo an action, press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z).

    The first action instructs Windows users to simultaneously press Ctrl and Z, andthe second action (in parentheses) instructs Macintosh users to press Commandand Z together. In Fireworks for Windows, the keyboard shortcuts are displayed inthe menus in plain English. In Fireworks for Macintosh, as in other Macintosh pro-grams, the keyboard shortcuts are specified in the menus by using symbols thatrepresent the modifier keys.

    Youll notice that in most but not all keyboard shortcuts, the Windows Ctrl keycorresponds to the Macintosh Command key, and the Windows Alt key correspondsto the Macintosh Option key.

    Screen captures in odd-numbered chapters are of Fireworks for Windows runningon Windows 98; in even-numbered chapters, theyre of Fireworks for Macintosh run-ning on Mac OS 9. In the rare event that a particular feature or example is markedlydifferent on each platform, both are shown.

    For the purposes of this book, Windows generally refers to Windows NT 4 (ServicePack 6 or later), Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.Similarly, Macintosh or Mac OS refers to Mac OS 9.1 or higher or OS X, version 10.1or higher.

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  • xvi Fireworks MX Bible

    Keyboard combinationsWhen you are instructed to press two or more keys simultaneously, each key in thecombination is separated by a plus sign. For example:

    Ctrl+Alt+T (Command+Option+T)

    The preceding line tells you to press and hold down the two modifier keys (eitherCtrl+Alt or Command+Option, depending upon your platform), and then press andrelease the final key, T.

    Mouse instructionsWhen instructed to click an item, move the mouse pointer to the specified item andclick the mouse button once. A double-click means clicking the mouse button twicein rapid succession.

    A right-click means clicking the secondary mouse button once. Macintosh userswho use a one-button mouse can substitute a Control-click for a right-click. To do so,press and hold down Control on your keyboard, and click the mouse button once.

    When instructed to select an item, you may click it once as previously described. Ifyou are selecting text or multiple objects, you must click the mouse button once,hold it down, and then move the mouse to a new location. The item or items selectedinvert color. To clear the selection, click once anywhere in an empty part of thedocument background.

    Menu commandsWhen instructed to select a command from a menu, you see the menu and the com-mand separated by an arrow symbol. For example, when instructed to execute theOpen command from the File menu, you see the notation File Open. Some menususe submenus, in which case you see an arrow for each submenu, as in Modify Transform Free Transform.

    Typographical conventionsItalic type is used for new terms and for emphasis. Boldface type is used for textthat you need to type directly from the computer keyboard.

    CodeA special typeface indicates HTML or other code, as demonstrated in the followingexample:

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  • xviiPreface

    Have a Nice Day!

    This code font is also used within paragraphs to designate HTML tags, attributes,and values, such as , bgcolor, and #FFFFFF.

    The () character at the end of a code line means that you should type the next lineof code before pressing Enter (Return).

    Navigating through this bookVarious signposts and icons are located throughout Fireworks MX Bible for yourassistance. Each chapter begins with an overview of its information, and ends witha quick summary.

    Icons are placed in the text to indicate important or especially helpful items. Heresa list of the icons and their functions:

    Tips provide you with extra knowledge that separates the novice from the pro.

    Notes provide additional or critical information, and technical data on the currenttopic.

    Sections marked with a New Feature icon detail an innovation introduced inFireworks MX.

    Cross-Reference icons indicate places where you can find more information on aparticular topic.

    The Caution icon is your warning of a potential problem or pitfall.

    The On the CD-ROM icon indicates the CD-ROM contains a related file.On theCD-ROM

    Caution

    Cross-Reference

    NewFeature

    Note

    Tip

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page xvii

  • xviii Fireworks MX Bible

    Further informationYou can find more help for specific problems and questions by investigating severalWeb sites. Macromedias own Fireworks Web site is the best place to start:

    http://www.macromedia.com/software/fireworks

    I heartily recommend that you visit and participate in the official Fireworks newsgroup:

    news://forums.macromedia.com/macromedia.fireworks

    Youre also invited to visit my Web site for book updates and new developments:

    http://www.idest.com/fireworks

    You can also e-mail me:

    mailto:[email protected]

    I cant promise instantaneous turnaround, but I answer all my e-mail to the best ofmy ability.

    013662-1 FM.F 8/2/02 2:12 PM Page xviii

  • Acknowledgments

    This is one of my favorite moments in writing a book: when I get to acknowledgeand thank the many generous people who helped make this book possible. Firstand foremost among these folks is Derren Whiteman. For the past several editions,Derren had served as the unindicted co-conspirator for the Fireworks Bible in hisrole as technical editor. Im extremely pleased to welcome him to the indictedranks with the pleasures and privileges so associated. In other words, Duck,Derren, duck!

    Seriously, Derren has provided an eagle eye for detail and a relentless drive for per-fection all during the writing of the Fireworks MX Bible. I greatly value his expertiseand sense of humor it helped me keep mine despite a rather grueling productionschedule.

    I also owe a great debt of gratitude to Kleanthis Economou, who graciously acceptedthe technical editor chores for this edition. Not only is Kleanthis a terrific designerand Fireworks wizard in his own right if you need any proof, just stop by www.projectfireworks.com hes also a leader in the new Fireworks extension developer community. Im honored to have him on-board.

    The Fireworks community has grown considerably over the past year, and its gen-erosity even more so. Special thanks to those designers who graciously allowed meto include their work on the CD-ROM: Kleanthis Economou, Massimo Foti, LindaRathgeber, Eddie Traversa, Simon White, and others. I owe a debt of gratitude and probably a drink or three to another Fireworks community member, authorSandee Cohen. Sandees work continues to inspire, and I wish her continued success.

    Of course, I wouldnt be writing this book and you certainly wouldnt be readingit if it werent for the fantastic vision of the Fireworks team. Fireworks is a mar-velously complex program, and there is true glory in bringing it to life. A heartythank you and a round of applause to you all: Jeff Ahlquist, Doug Benson, BrianEdgin, Andy Finnell, Rob McCullough, Randy Varnell, and Eric Wolff among manyothers. Finally, let me offer a special thanks to David Morris, Fireworks ProductManager, for his support and encouragement, as well as the openness and accesshe has granted me.

    JL

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  • Contents at a GlanceForeword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixPreface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiAcknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

    Part I: Come See the Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Chapter 1: Welcome to Fireworks MX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Chapter 2: Understanding the Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Chapter 3: Customizing Your Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Chapter 4: Setting Up Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

    Part II: Mastering the Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Chapter 5: Creating Vector Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Chapter 6: Working with Bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Chapter 7: Managing Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Chapter 8: Choosing Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Chapter 9: Structuring Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267Chapter 10: Composing with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

    Part III: Achieving Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327Chapter 11: Using Fills and Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329Chapter 12: Creating Live Effects and Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359Chapter 13: Arranging and Compositing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

    Part IV: Coordinating Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455Chapter 14: Capturing and Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457Chapter 15: Exporting and Optimizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493Chapter 16: Working with Fireworks Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547Chapter 17: Using Symbols and Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559Chapter 18: Updating and Maintaining Web Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581Chapter 19: Automating Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611

    Part V: Entering the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643Chapter 20: Mastering Image Maps and Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645Chapter 21: Activating Fireworks with Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683Chapter 22: Integrating with Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719

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  • Part VI: Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743Chapter 23: Applying Animation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745Chapter 24: Animating Banner Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783

    Part VII: Programming with Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797Chapter 25: Customizing Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799Chapter 26: Building Fireworks Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811

    Part VIII: Appendixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863Appendix A: Web Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889Appendix C: Whats on the CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909

    Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915End-User License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967

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  • ContentsForeword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

    Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

    Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

    Part I: Come See the Fireworks 1

    Chapter 1: Welcome to Fireworks MX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Mastering Fireworks MX the Next-Generation Graphics Package . . . . . 4

    Combining the best features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Emphasizing vectors and incorporating bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Digging into screen orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Getting the most from this Internet-based program . . . . . . . . . . . 5

    Getting the Best of Both Pixels and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Using vector tools with organic bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Exploring bitmap compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Learning Live Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Focusing on styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Looking at animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

    Linking to the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Delving into hotspots and slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Dissecting the URL panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Evaluating images with Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Optimizing for the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Integrating with Dreamweaver MX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

    Stepping over to Flash MX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Examining Production Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

    Grasping batch processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Using automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Extending Fireworks with custom commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

    Learning Whats New in Fireworks MX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Looking at the user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Exploring graphics creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Discovering Web connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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    Chapter 2: Understanding the Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Examining the Fireworks Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Understanding the Document Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

    Smart Maximize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Document window controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Display options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

    Exploring the Tools Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Selecting the Proper View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Accessing Toolbars (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

    Main toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Modify toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Status bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

    The Property inspector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Tool options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Stroke settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Fill settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Effect settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

    Managing the Floating Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Grouping and moving panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Panel Layout Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Hiding and revealing panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Collapsing panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Examining common features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Optimize panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Swatches panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Color Mixer panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Layers panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Align panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Frames panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58History panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Info panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Behaviors panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61URL panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Styles panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Library panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Find and Replace panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Project Log panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Answers panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

    Using the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Application menu (Mac OS X only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69File menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Edit menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72View menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Select menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Modify menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Text menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Commands menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

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    Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Window menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Help menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

    Chapter 3: Customizing Your Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Setting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

    Learning general preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Understanding editing preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Learning Launch and Edit preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Examining folder preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Discovering Import preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

    Setting Up for Multiple Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Adjusting the HTML Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

    Understanding general options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Discovering table options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Learning document-specific options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

    Selecting Print Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Personalizing Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

    Changing the current shortcut set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Working with custom keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

    Chapter 4: Setting Up Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Creating New Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

    Exploring two approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Understanding the canvas options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Discovering the steps to create a new document . . . . . . . . . . . 124

    Opening Existing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Examining file formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Opening multiple images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

    Storing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Closing a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Reverting to a saved file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

    Modifying Canvases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Altering the canvas size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Trimming the canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Picking a new canvas color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Rotating the canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

    Part II: Mastering the Tools 141

    Chapter 5: Creating Vector Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Understanding Vector Objects in Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Examining Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

    Applying a stroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Looking at open and closed paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

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    Grasping the center point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Examining direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

    Starting from Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Examining rectangles and squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Using ellipses and circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Exploring polygons and stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

    Drawing Lines and Freeform Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Making straight lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Drawing with the Vector Path tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

    Constructing Bzier Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Drawing lines with the Pen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Creating smooth curves with the Pen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Mixing lines and curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Adjusting curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Using the keyboard modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

    Chapter 6: Working with Bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Understanding Bitmaps in Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

    Examining bitmap preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Opening existing bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Scaling bitmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Inserting a bitmap into a document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Inserting an empty bitmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Using bitmap tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Understanding the Touchup tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

    Fireworks Technique: Limiting Your Drawing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196Making Pixel Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

    Selecting all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Selecting similar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Selecting none . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Selecting inverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Feathering an existing selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Expanding or contracting a marquee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199Adding a border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199Using the Smooth command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199Saving and restoring selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

    Converting a Vector into a Bitmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

    Chapter 7: Managing Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Working with Color on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

    Examining bit depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204Understanding hexadecimal colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Exploring Websafe colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206Looking at platform differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Working with color management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

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    Mixing Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Using the Color Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Choosing a color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Accessing the color models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

    Selecting Swatches of Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Choosing from the color wells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Using the Eyedropper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Accessing the system color picker(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Opting for no color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Using the Swatches panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Accessing the Color Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

    Fireworks Technique: Converting Pantone Colors to Websafe Colors . . . 224Using ColorWeb Pro for Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Using ColorWeb Pro for Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

    Chapter 8: Choosing Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Using the Stroke Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

    Stroke categories and types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231Stroke edge and size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232Stroke texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

    Working with the Built-in Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234Pencil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235Basic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237Air Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238Calligraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Charcoal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240Crayon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241Felt Tip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242Watercolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244Random . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Unnatural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

    Creating New Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Managing your strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Editing the stroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

    Fireworks Technique: Making Dotted Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Orienting the Stroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

    Chapter 9: Structuring Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267Transforming Objects Visually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

    Using scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268Examining skewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270Discovering distorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271Understanding rotating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

    Transforming Objects Numerically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

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    Fireworks Technique: Creating Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274Managing Points and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

    Moving points with the Subselection tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276Adding and removing points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Closing an open path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279Working with multiple paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

    Editing Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281Redrawing a path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281Examining the Freeform and Reshape Area tools . . . . . . . . . . . 282Discovering the Path Scrubber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287Discerning path operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

    Chapter 10: Composing with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

    Using the Text Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299Enabling Text Editor options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301Choosing basic font characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301Discovering paragraph spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303Adjusting text spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

    Re-Editing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308Preserving Look or Editing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309Importing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310Checking Your Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311Transforming Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

    Adding strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314Enhancing fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316Using the transform tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317Converting text to paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318Converting text to an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

    Fireworks Technique: Cookie-Cutter Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318Using the Text on a Path Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320Fireworks Technique: Masking Images with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

    Part III: Achieving Effects 327

    Chapter 11: Using Fills and Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329Using Built-in Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

    Turning off an objects fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330Using a Solid fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330Using the Web Dither fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

    Managing Gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335Applying a Gradient fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335Altering gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

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    Using Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341Adding new Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342Adding Patterns to a document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344Altering Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

    Fireworks Technique: Creating Seamless Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346Adding Texture to Your Fills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

    Adding new textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353Converting a color image to grayscale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353Assigning an additional textures folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Adding textures to a document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

    Filling with the Paint Bucket Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

    Chapter 12: Creating Live Effects and Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359Understanding Fireworks Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

    Using Effects in the Property inspector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360Applying Live Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361Examining the Filters menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

    Working with Included Live Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364Adjusting color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366Adjusting tonal range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366Using three dimensions with Bevel and Emboss . . . . . . . . . . . . 373Adding depth with blurring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377Learning holdover effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378Examining Shadow and Glow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379Sharpening to bring out detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

    Fireworks Technique: Making Perspective Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383Managing Live Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

    Storing a customized effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387Grasping missing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

    Reading All About Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388Using vector objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389Examining bitmap objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389Identifying pixel selections in a bitmap object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390Checking out false pixel selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390Evaluating multiple objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

    Using Third-Party, Photoshop-Compatible Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392Installing third-party filter packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392Using filters with multiple applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393Using shortcuts (aliases) to plug-in folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394Exploring Alien Skin Eye Candy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394Investigating Kais Power Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

    Chapter 13: Arranging and Compositing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . 407Using Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

    Adding a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409Naming a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

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    Duplicating a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409Deleting a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Changing stacking order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Editing layer by layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Using the Selection column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411Opening layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411Examining the Web Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

    Aligning and Distributing Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414Using a theoretical rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415Aligning to the canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

    Looking at Layout Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420Using rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420Working with guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422Exploring the grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

    Grouping Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426Working with Alpha Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

    Creating vector masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430Applying bitmap masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431Editing masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436Masking suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439Fireworks technique: Quick photo edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

    Examining Opacity and Blending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441Controlling opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442Using blending modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442Investigating blending modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444Fireworks technique: Simulating a light source

    with blending modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446Fireworks Technique: Feathering Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448Fireworks Technique: Applied Compositing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

    Part IV: Coordinating Workflow 455

    Chapter 14: Capturing and Importing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457Introducing Image Captures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

    Examining TWAIN-compliant devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458Installing Photoshop Acquire plug-ins (Macintosh only) . . . . . . . 459

    Scanning Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460Examining the Scanning Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

    Selecting a scan resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462Choosing a color depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464Setting other options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465Scanning directly into Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

    Looking at Digital Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466Capturing images for use in Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466Exploring digital camcorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

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    Inserting Objects from Other Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468Copying and pasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469Dragging and dropping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

    Importing External Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471Grasping bitmap image files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471Discovering vector art files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477Digging into text files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482Looking at common problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

    Rebuilding Imported Web Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484Making Screen Captures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

    Exploring built-in screenshot tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486Delving into specialized applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

    Opening Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488Importing multiple files as a new animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488Importing Flash animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

    Chapter 15: Exporting and Optimizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493Exploring Optimization Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

    Optimize panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495Optimize panels Color Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496Workspace preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497Frame controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

    Exporting Indexed Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503Color palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505Number of colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506Matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509Lossy GIF compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510Dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511Remove unused colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515Interlaced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515Saved settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516Fireworks technique: Creating GIF-friendly images . . . . . . . . . . 516

    Exporting Photographic Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518JPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520PNG 32 and 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525Other formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

    Sending Images to Other Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526Integrating Fireworks with FrontPage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527Working in the Export Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

    Cropping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530Scaling exported images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

    Using the Export Wizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533Examining Additional Export Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

    Exporting as CSS layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536Exporting for Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

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    Exporting files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539Exporting as Image Wells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540Exporting vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541Exporting Photoshop documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

    Chapter 16: Working with Fireworks Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547Understanding Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548Applying Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549Creating New Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550Managing Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552Fireworks Technique: Isolating Patterns and Textures from Styles . . . . . 555

    Chapter 17: Using Symbols and Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559Understanding Symbols and Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559Introducing the Library Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563Making and Modifying Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

    Creating a symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564Modifying symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567Creating Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569Modifying Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

    Working with Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571Making and modifying Button Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571Using Button Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573Instance Level Button Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

    Managing Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575Importing a Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576Exporting and sharing Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

    Chapter 18: Updating and Maintaining Web Graphics . . . . . . . . 581Using Preview in Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581Managing Links with the URL Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585

    Accessing the URL History list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586Adding URLs to the URL Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587Managing URL Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

    Updating Graphics with Find and Replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591Searching and replacing text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594Searching with Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595Altering font characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599Changing colors throughout a site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601Snapping colors to Websafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602Updating URLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

    Working with the Project Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604Batch Processing Graphics Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

    Grasping the basic procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606Running scriptlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

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    Chapter 19: Automating Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611Running Built-in Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612

    Examining the Creative commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612Data-Driven Graphics Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620Examining the Document submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625Using Panel Layout Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627Storing Custom Panel Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628Using the Reset Warning dialog boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628Examining the Web submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

    Enhancing Productivity with the History Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630Using Undo and Redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631Building commands without coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632Copying steps to the clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636

    Managing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637Managing saved commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638Managing Flash commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

    Part V: Entering the Web 643

    Chapter 20: Mastering Image Maps and Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . 645Understanding Image Maps and Hotspots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646Using the Hotspot Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647

    Examining the rectangle hotspot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648Examining the circle hotspot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649Examining the polygon hotspot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650Assigning links to hotspots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651Covering an object with a hotspot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

    Exporting Image Map Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653Choosing an HTML style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653Inserting image map code in a Web page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

    Understanding Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660Slicing Images in Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662

    Looking at rectangle slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662Looking at polygon slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663Working with slice guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664Copying an image to a slice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668Setting URLs in slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668

    Exporting Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671Exporting slices as different image types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671Setting the Export options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671Inserting slices in a Web page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672Exporting single slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675

    Fireworks Technique: Exporting Dreamweaver Library Items . . . . . . . 676Fireworks Technique: Animating a Slice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

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    Chapter 21: Activating Fireworks with Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . 683Understanding Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683Using the Behaviors Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

    Attaching Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685Modifying a Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686Deleting a Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687

    Creating Rollovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687Examining how rollovers work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687Learning rollover states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688Creating rollover images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689Applying the Simple Rollover Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691

    Exporting Rollovers for the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692Exporting the code from Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693Inserting rollover code in your Web page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

    Looking at Nav Bar Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698Creating a Nav Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698Building buttons in the Button Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699

    Examining Advanced Rollover Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702Making disjointed rollovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702Creating external rollovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703Working with hotspot rollovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704Displaying a status bar message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706

    Working with Pop-up Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707Using Drag-and-Drop Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714

    Creating a simple rollover with drag and drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715Creating disjoint rollovers with drag and drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716Removing drag-and-drop Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718

    Chapter 22: Integrating with Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719Introducing Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719Optimizing Images from Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720Editing Images from Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722

    Setting Fireworks as the graphics editor in Dreamweaver . . . . . . 723Recognizing Design Notes in Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724Modifying sliced images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725

    Exporting Dreamweaver Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726Working with Dreamweaver Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727XHTML Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730Quick Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731Fireworks technique: Adding CSS layers to Dreamweaver . . . . . . 731

    Working with Image Placeholders from Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . 734Using Fireworks Behaviors in Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734Fireworks Technique: Creating a Web Photo Album . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737Making Hybrid Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739

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  • xxxvContents

    Part VI: Animation 743

    Chapter 23: Applying Animation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745Understanding Web Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

    Getting a handle on bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746Making a statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746Examining why to animate a GIF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747

    Using the Fireworks Animation Toolkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749Managing frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749Animating objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754Using the VCR controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757Setting frame delay timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757Using Onion Skinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759Examining export settings and options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761

    Examining Web Design with Animated GIF Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765Animating background images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765Reusing animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765Scaling an animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765Using the browsers background image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766Preloading an animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766Using animated rollovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767Slicing animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768

    Tweening Graphic Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768Fireworks technique: Tweening Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771Fireworks technique: Tweening depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772Fireworks technique: Fading in and out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775

    Using Animation Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777Creating animation symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777Editing an animation symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779

    Chapter 24: Animating Banner Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783Understanding Banner Ad Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783

    Examining size IAB/CASIE standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783Looking at weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785Putting it in the page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785Advertising it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785

    Fireworks Technique: Creating a Banner Ad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786Step I: Set the stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786Step II: Write the script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786Step III: Create the cast of characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787Step IV: Direct the action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789Step V: Leave the excess on the cutting-room floor . . . . . . . . . . 793

    Fireworks Technique: Using Blur to Save Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793

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    Part VII: Programming with Fireworks 797

    Chapter 25: Customizing Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799Using the HTML and JavaScript Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799Examining the Configuration Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

    Batch Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803Command Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804jsextensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804Export Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804HTML code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805Nav Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807URL Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807

    Looking at the Fireworks MX Preferences File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808

    Chapter 26: Building Fireworks Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811Building a User Interface in Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812

    Executing Fireworks functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812Finishing a command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814Integrating Flash input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814Debugging Flash commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814Storing Commands and Commands panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816

    Fireworks API Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817Examining Nonstandard Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817

    Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817File URLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819Rectangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819

    Looking at Global Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820alert(message) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820confirm(message) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820fw.yesNoDialog(text) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821prompt(caption, text) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821WRITE_HTML(arg1[, arg2, . . ., argN]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822write(arg1[, arg2, . . ., argN]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823

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    Exploring the Fireworks Global Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823fw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838Find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843

    Dissecting Hotspot Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846exportDoc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 847Image maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851

    Looking at Slice Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853SliceInfo object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853Slices object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 856

    Accessing the Fireworks API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858Document functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858Fireworks functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859History panel functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860

    Part VIII: Appendixes 863

    Appendix A: A Web Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865

    Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889

    Appendix C: Whats on the CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909

    Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915

    End-User License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967

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  • Come Seethe Fireworks

    Part I begins with an overview of the Fireworks philoso-phy and design. To get the most out of the program, youneed to understand the key advantages it offers and the defi-ciencies it addresses. Part I takes you all the way from settingup documents to getting the most out of Fireworks.

    The opening chapters provide a full reference to the Fireworksinterface and its customizable features. Chapter 1 will be ofspecial interest to users of previous versions of Fireworks; itsa complete guide to all the newly added features in FireworksMX. Later chapters in Part I provide an overview of everythingFireworks can do.

    In This Part

    Chapter 1Welcome toFireworks

    Chapter 2Understanding the Interface

    Chapter 3Customizing Your Environment

    Chapter 4Setting UpDocuments

    P A R T

    II

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  • Welcome toFireworks MX

    Every Fourth of July, I sit with my friends and family on aneighbors rooftop to watch the fireworks explode overManhattan. Almost every apartment building roof around usholds a similar gathering. Everyone oohs and ahhs to his orher own view of the spectacular light show; some of the pat-terns and images are familiar, whereas others have never beenseen before.

    The World Wide Web has become a global light show, runningaround the clock. The graphics that fill Web pages explodewith brilliance, intensity, and meaning, and are viewed by mil-lions, each from his or her own perspective. The Web is still arelatively new medium, uniquely capable of both enlighteningand entertaining; its also an extremely voracious medium, asthousands upon thousands of new and updated Web sitesemerge daily. In addition to content, the Web needs graphics:all manner of images, illustrations, logos, symbols, and icons.Some of the images are static, others are