Simplifying A Path; Expanding A Stroke - MACROMEDIA FIREWORKS 8-USING FIREWORKS Use Manual

Simplifying a path

You can remove points from a path while maintaining its overall shape. The Simplify
command removes redundant points on your path by an amount you specify.
You might want to use Simplify if you have a straight line that contains more than two points,
for example. (Only two points are necessary to produce a straight line.) Or perhaps your path
contains points that lie exactly on top of one another. Simplify removes points that are
unnecessary to reproduce the path you've drawn.
To simplify a selected path:
1. Select Modify > Alter Path > Simplify.
The Simplify dialog box appears.
2.
Enter a simplification amount and click OK.
As you increase the amount of simplification, you increase the degree to which Fireworks
can alter the path to reduce the number of points on that path.

Expanding a stroke

You can convert the stroke of a selected path into a closed path. The resulting path creates the
illusion of a path with no fill and a stroke that takes on the same attributes as the original
object's fill.
Expanding the stroke of a path that intersects itself can produce interesting results. If the
original path contains a fill, the intersecting portions of the path will not contain a fill after
the stroke is expanded.
To expand a selected object's stroke:
1. Select Modify > Alter Path > Expand Stroke to open the Expand Stroke dialog box.
2. Set the width of the resulting closed path.
3. Specify a corner type: miter, round, or beveled.
140 Chapter 5: Working with Vector Objects