Favicon Command for Fireworks

March 27 2008 I found this useful command for Fireworks offered by John Dunning. Check it out.

Introducing Thermo

Jan 11 2008 First let me say Happy New Year about 11 days late! Well, If you haven't heard the buzz yet regarding Adobe's new program Thermo, or haven't a clue what it is let alone what it's for, Adobe has posted an excellent video presentation explaining Thermo's proposed capabilities. Basically Thermo helps designers create Flex applications in a visual way, meaning non-programmers like me, can build interactive content for the web. If it pans out like the presentation shows all I can say is WOW!

For more information visit: http://www.adobe.com/newsletters/edge/december2007/video/index.html?trackingid=BOYND

Fireworks CS3 Kuler Panel

Nov 13 2007 Fireworks users can now use Kuler inside of Adobe Fireworks CS3 with this new panel. It's still considered as a beta release but it's here:

http://pixelfumes.blogspot.com/2007/08/adobe-fireworks-cs3-kuler-panel.html

Some Indispensable Fireworks Commands and Panels

Oct 17 2007 Over the past few months several new Fireworks Commands and Panels have been made available to the Fireworks community. There are a few of them that I have found quite indispensable as a designer. One extension that I have found extremely helpful is Smart Punch, created by John Dunning. This commands allows you to select several paths or bitmaps and punch them into the bottom most object. Without this extension only one object can be punched into another at a time in Fireworks - I found this out when trying to create a stamp image a couple years ago. I bet it took me ten times longer to create the same effect without the Smart Punch command! At the end of this article I have provided a link to the extension. You'll find a full description and video tutorial of it there as well.

Stamp edges created using the Smart Punch Command

Gradient Panel

Another very useful panel helps designers create more precise gradients. With this panel, designers can zoom in on gradients to help produce very detailed effects. The standard gradient panel in Fireworks doesn't offer nearly this same functionality. It's a great way to produce effects that you wouldn't otherwise be able to do in Fireworks - this makes the Gradient Panel a most have extension!

Example of a detailed gradient created with the Gradient Panel

The above gradient would have been impossible to make with the standard panel in Fireworks. At the end of this article, you'll find the link to download this extension.

Much Improved Color Palette

Fireworks CS3 ships with a color palette panel but it is quite limited in its functionality. This updated version will absolutely knock your socks off! Well... if you're into color as much as me it will!

This MUCH improved version of the Color Palette Panel allows you to do several things. For instance, in the above example, I can select any area on a bitmap image, like the photo above, using the eye dropper tool and the Color Palette will show me exactly what color I have selected and provide me with the closest web safe color. However, more than that, I can find colors that are close in range to that color if I select Blender.

The Blender shows me an entire range of colors, up to 36, that I could use to produce a harmonious color composition.

Blender: Click on the Fill selector. An eye dropper will appear allowing you to select colors in your image. You can then choose colors that fall into the same range - up to 36.

Export as Bitmap

Under Selector you'll find Mixers. Here you can export the color palette as a bitmap into a new document. You can then use these colors as a good reference in your design, or send them off to another worker so you'll both be working within the same color ranges.

Export as bitmap feature in the Color Palette

Named Colors

I think the feature that I like most from the Color Palette is the Named Colors option. Here you can browse through "themed" color values. There are several different color themes to choose from: Blue, Blue Green, Green, Yellow Brown, Orange Red, Violet Purple, Pastels, Primary, and Grayscale. The Yellow Brown color range is perfect for choosing autumn colors! The named colors provide designers with hues that go well together, which is essential for an eye pleasing template, but isn't that easy to select on your own - especially if you're color blind like me!

SmartCSS

SmartCSS is more than a command. It adds a total new functionality to Fireworks than what was previously capable. SmartCSS allows designers to export a template for a website as CSS. I'll be writing a tutorial that will cover this in the near future - as I am still learning it myself! However, you'll find a link below with a great explanation of SmartCSS and where to download it.

Download or find out more about these extensions:

Smart Punch
Gradient Panel
Color Palette
SmartCSS

Paw prints in Fireworks CS3

Sep 26 2007 This is a fun way to learn how to create textures and beveled (sunken) effects in Fireworks. In this case, we'll be creating a paw print in the sand.

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Glass Button in Fireworks

Sep 22 2007 This is a cool little button I created in Fireworks. It's basically a glass button with a 3D appearance. I thought it created a really nice effect so I thought I'd share it with you.

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Slicing/Exporting/Web Templates in Fireworks

Sep 21 2007 It's no secret, or at least it shouldn't be,that Fireworks is primarily a web designers tool. It's main purpose is to create web templates, interfaces and graphics. Over the past few months, with the release of CS3, there are a lot of newcomers to Fireworks - namely ImageReady folks who may or may not be thrilled with the fact that they now must use Fireworks to do their slicing and exporting of html. Well, no matter what you're background, I welcome you to the wonderful world of Fireworks!

(Read on...)

Haunted House Effect in Photoshop

Sep 20 2007 - It's just about my favorite time of the year - Halloween! Of course, I'll be preparing plenty of tutorials just for the occasion. First off, an easy way to create a haunted house in Photoshop.

Late to the Party but I've found the Light(box)

Sep 19 2007 - Over the past year or so I had visited quite a few sites that had this neat little effect for viewing full size photos on their web pages. I'd click on a thumbnail image and the web page would suddenly gray out and this white box would expand from the center of the page featuring the full-size image contained inside the same white box. A caption was in the lower left corner and a close button appeared in the bottom right. "Coooool!" I thought. I wondered how the heck they did that. It took me a while but I did find the source of the magic. I don't even remember what I typed into Google to find the script. I think it was something like "click on thumbnail image + gray out page + pop open groovy box". Well, at any rate, I found it a couple months ago and it is called Lightbox2 by Lokesh Dhakar. So for the rest of you, that are completely out of the loop like me, here's an example. It's cool isn't it! It's SO much better than annoying pop-up windows!

Here's where you can download the script and find out more about Lightbox2:

http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/

Balloon Text in Photoshop

Sep 18 2007 - Boy, it's been a long time since I've done a Photoshop tutorial. I hope this gets the ball rolling! Anyway, while I've been obsessed with text effects in Fireworks, I thought I'd mosey on over to Photoshop and see what I could whip up. Here's text effect number one: Balloon Text. Number two: Peeling Paint Effect.

Rapid Prototyping in Fireworks CS3

Sep 12 2007 - I have to admit I wasn't that impressed with the idea of Fireworks delving into the world of "rapid prototyping", mostly because I didn't have a clue what "rapid prototyping" was. However, after a few months of working with FW CS3, I'm beginning to see the possibilities and usefulness of prototyping in Fireworks. (Read on...)

Several New Text Style Tutorials Ready!

Sep 11 2007 - I just uploaded some new text style tutorials for Fireworks including: "cartoon text", "African Wild Text", "medieval text", "chocolate text" , "glossy plastic text", "funky marshmallow" and "slimy text."

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