Chapter 2: Working With Bitmaps; Working With Bitmaps - MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS MX 2004-USING FIREWORKS Use Manual

CHAPTER 2

Working with Bitmaps

Bitmaps are graphics composed of small colored squares called pixels, which combine like the
tiles of a mosaic to create an image. Examples of bitmap graphics include photographs,
scanned images, and graphics created from paint programs. They are sometimes referred to
as raster images.
Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 combines the functionality of photo-editing, vector-drawing,
and painting applications. You can create bitmap images by drawing and painting with bitmap
tools, by converting vector objects to bitmap images, or by opening or importing images.
Fireworks has a powerful set of Live Effects for tone and color adjustment, as well as a number of
ways to retouch your bitmap images, including cropping, feathering, and duplicating or cloning
images. In addition, Fireworks has a set of image-retouching tools—Blur, Sharpen, Dodge, Burn,
and Smudge.
For information on methods for selecting and transforming images and pixel areas, see
Fireworks Help.
Working with bitmaps
The Bitmap section of the Tools panel contains bitmap selection and editing tools. To edit the
pixels of a bitmap in your document, you can choose a tool from the Bitmap section. Unlike in
previous versions of Fireworks, you do not need to deliberately switch between bitmap mode and
vector mode, but you can still work with bitmaps, vector objects, and text. Switching to the
appropriate mode is as simple as choosing a vector or bitmap tool from the Tools panel.
Note: Previous versions of Fireworks display a striped border around the canvas to indicate that
Fireworks is in bitmap mode. If you prefer to see the familiar striped border when working with
bitmaps, you can choose Bitmap Options > Display Striped Border from the Edit category of the
Preferences dialog box.
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