Ten Fireworks Features That Are Overlooked

We're constantly getting feature requests for Macromedia Fireworks. And it's surprising that many of those features are already in the product! I polled our tech support team, and got this list of lesser-known features that would, if they were better known, make a lot of people’s lives easier. Although these features aren’t new in MX 2004, they echo this release’s key themes of saving time and achieving more design control.

1. Selective JPG Compression
   Shrink image files even further by specifying different compression levels for different image areas, so focal points remain crisp and clear, while less important areas, such as backgrounds, compress more. To do this, marquee select an image area and choose Modify > Selective JPEG to specify a different compression level than the surrounding image.

   

   Figure 1. Selective JPEG Compression

2. The Select Behind Tool
   Selecting buried elements can be a real pain if you don’t know about this feature. To select an element that’s behind another, press the V key. This converts the Pointer tool to the Select Behind tool.

   

   Figure 2. The Select Behind Tool

3. The Export Area Tool
   To export sections of a page comp for reassembly in Dreamweaver, use the Export Area tool, under Crop in the Selection tools. This way you can specify different compression settings, or even different image formats, for each piece of the comp, without actually slicing it up.

   

   Figure 3. The Export Area Tool

4. Cross-Platform Gamma Preview
   Windows video devices have a darker "gamma" than do Macs, so colors look darker on PCs. To see how your graphics will display on the other platform, select View > Windows Gamma or View > Macintosh Gamma, depending on your platform.

   

   Figure 4. Cross-Platform Gamma Preview

5. Save optimization presets
   To save your favorite optimization settings for easy re-use, choose Save Settings from the Options menu in the Optimize panel. Your new settings option will show up in the pull-down menu at the top of the Optimize panel.

   

   Figure 5. Save Optimization Presets

6. Automation Features
   Fireworks provides a couple of handy options for automating repetitive tasks. Batch processes are ideal for automatically creating thumbnails, optimizing, or applying filters to a large number of images. To create a batch process, start by choosing File > Batch Process, then follow the steps as the wizard guides you through the creation of your process. For quick-and-dirty automation, the History panel provides a simple solution. Just select a set of steps in the History panel and replay them or save them as a reusable command.

   

   Figure 6. Automation Features

7. Reconstitute Tables
   If you have an HTML table full of sliced images, but no source PNG, the Reconstitute Tables command can help you out. Select File > Reconstitute Tables, and point to any HTML file containing a table with image slices. Fireworks will import it and convert it to a PNG. Macromedia-written JavaScript behaviors, such as image rollovers and pop-up menus, will be imported and attached to the appropriate slices.

   

   Figure 7. Reconstitute Tables

8. Advanced Text and Path Manipulation
   To create text that winds a complicated path, simply draw the path, type the text, and select Text > Attach to Path. To recreate part of a free-form path, use the Redraw Path tool (located under the Pen tool). Six other useful path commands can be found under Modify > Alter Path. If you are a serious illustrator, you should check them out.

   

   Figure 8. Advanced Text and Path Manipulation

9. Customizable HTML Output
   Users often complain about the quality of the code generated by Fireworks. Some people want spacer images in empty table cells. Other people want non-breaking spaces. Some people want tables that play well in FrontPage. Other people want tables of standards-compliant XHTML. And some people don’t want any tables at all, as they would prefer absolutely positioned CSS layers. Fireworks can deliver all those code styles, and more! Use the options in the Export dialog to control the code exported by Fireworks.

   

   Figure 9. Customizable HTML Output

10. Roundtrip Graphics with Macromedia FreeHand
    Everyone knows that Fireworks plays well with Flash and Dreamweaver. But it’s also integrated with another Studio product: FreeHand. You can Import FreeHand design and storyboard files into Fireworks, and edit the objects, text, and live effects. Then add interactivity to the Fireworks files and optimize them to save space. When you export the files back to FreeHand, they will remain editable.

    

    Figure 10. Roundtrip Graphics with Macromedia FreeHand

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About the author

Matt Lerner is the product manager for Fireworks. He has worked for Macromedia on-and-off since 1998 in various product marketing and management roles related to Dreamweaver, Fireworks, the Exchange and the DevNet Resource Kits. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, playing basketball, reading, writing, travel and milkshakes. Matt lives in San Francisco.