Chapter 2: Fireworks Basics - MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS 8-USING FIREWORKS Use Manual

2
CHAPTER 2
Fireworks Basics
Macromedia Fireworks 8 is an application for designing graphics for use on the web. Its
innovative solutions tackle the major problems facing graphic designers and webmasters.
Using the wide range of tools in Fireworks, you can create and edit both vector and bitmap
graphics within a single file.
The advent of Fireworks freed web designers from having to jump back and forth among as
many as a dozen task-specific applications. Its nondestructive Live Filters eliminate the
frustration of having to re-create web graphics from scratch after any simple edit. Fireworks
generates JavaScript, making rollovers easy to create. Efficient optimization features shrink the
size of web graphic files without sacrificing quality.
If you are new to Fireworks, it would be helpful for you to understand general Fireworks
concepts such as opening, importing, and saving files; finding your way around the Fireworks
environment; and working within a file. After you create a new file or open an existing file,
the Fireworks work environment is available to you.
This chapter contains the following topics:
About working in Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
About vector and bitmap graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Creating a new document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Opening and importing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Saving Fireworks files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Fireworks work environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
13