Chapter 7: Layers, Masking, And Blending; Working With Layers - MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS MX 2004-USING FIREWORKS Use Manual

CHAPTER 7
Layers, Masking, and Blending
Layers divide a Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 document into discrete planes, as though the
components of the illustration were drawn on separate tracing paper overlays. A document can be
made up of many layers, and each layer can contain many objects. In Fireworks, the Layers panel
lists layers and the objects contained in each layer. Fireworks layers are similar to layer sets in
Photoshop. Photoshop layers are similar to individual Fireworks objects.
Masking gives you creative control over layers and objects. You can apply masks and blending
modes from the Layers panel. You can also create masks using options on the Select and Modify
menus. You can use a vector object or a bitmap object to block out part of the underlying image.
For example, if you want to block out part of a photograph so that it appears to have an elliptical
frame around it, you can paste an elliptical shape as a mask on top of the photograph. All areas
outside the ellipse disappear as if cropped, showing only the part of the picture inside the ellipse.
Blending techniques give you another level of creative control. You can create unique effects by
blending the colors in overlapping objects. Fireworks has several blending modes to help you
achieve the look you want.

Working with layers

Each object in a document resides on a layer. You can either create layers before you draw or add
layers as needed. The canvas is below all layers and is not itself a layer. For more information, see
Fireworks Help.
You can view the stacking order of layers and objects in the Layers panel. This is the order in
which they appear in the document. Fireworks stacks layers based on the order in which you
created them, placing the most recently created layer on the top of the stack. The stacking order
determines how objects on one layer overlap objects on another. You can rearrange the order of
layers and of objects within layers.
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