VirtualClues - Fireworks CS3

Fireworks CS3 New Features

Fireworks CS3 is Adobe's first upgraded version of the powerful web graphics program that us former Macromedia-ites have loved for years. I was always amazed that Macromedia didn't promote Fireworks as well as they should have and that it remained misunderstood and labeled as a program "for amateurs" or worse yet - a lite version of Photoshop. Ugh! That one always killed me. As a long time supporter and fan of Fireworks, I'm happy to show you some new features integrated into the new version. For those of you, who are familiar with Fireworks and have been working with it for years, you'll notice some fairly significant changes. For those of you who are new to Fireworks you'll probably feel at home with some of the new features and abilities since much of them have to do with tighter integration with other Adobe products that you may be more familiar with - namely Photoshop and Illustrator.

Anyway on with the new stuff!

Photoshop Live Effects

In order for Fireworks to import Photoshop files correctly and then have those files remain completely editable, Fireworks included Photoshop Effects inside of it. In the screen shot above you can see the file I created in Photoshop, several effects were applied to give you an idea of what Fireworks can do in the terms of preserving Photoshop Effects.

Pages

New in Fireworks CS3 is the ability to create "Pages". Pages allow designers to create linked mock-ups of what may become web pages or interfaces.

9-Slice Scaling

With 9-Slice Scaling, objects can now be scaled, bigger or smaller, while retaining their right proportions.

Rich Symbols

(Above: An example of a Rich Symbol - Flex Component)

Rich Symbols provide developers (and designers) a new tool to create Flex Componets, Flow Diagrams, Buttons and even Animations. You'll find them in the Common Library (Window > Common Library). Attributes can be assigned to many of them such as labels, colors, rollover effects, etc. You can even create your own rich symbols and add them to the Common Library. I have to admit, I'm no Flex developer but even I can create rich symbols to be used in later projects, such as a two-state button.

Adobe Bridge

Fireworks CS3 is now integrated with Adobe Bridge. To access Bridge in Fireworks go to File > Browse. Bridge is used esentially for finding and organizing images. Your able to visit Adobe Stock Photos to search for and purchase single images or download comps for your projects.

Slideshow Command

The Slideshow Command creates image galleries from your selected files or folders and then publishes them in either Flash or SPRY/HTML players.