There's no doubt that when Adobe acquired Macromedia priority number one was integration. Integration between Photoshop/Flash/Illustrator/Fireworks/Dreamweaver was essential to creating the Creative Suite. Being able to import and export files between all the applications in the suite is necessary for designers and developers alike. Adobe has done a pretty good job to make the process as smooth as possible though there are still a few kinks in the line.

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.

Below is the same file imported into Fireworks. It appears very much like the original image in Photoshop.

If I wanted to edit any of the effects, I would go to the Properties Panel in Fireworks and double click on Photoshop Live Effects text. This will bring up the Live Effects dialogue box. It's very similar to the one in Photoshop, however it is limited in a few aspects.

Two aspects in which Photoshop Effects in Fireworks are limited is the Gradient Overlay and the Pattern Overlay. The correct gradient and pattern is imported correctly into Fireworks, however we're not able to create a new gradient or select a different pattern. There's also some other limitations, such as Curves. Hopefully this will be remedied in future versions. However, it's a start.

You can even save the effect as a new Style in Fireworks. In the Properties Panel, just go to Filters > Options > Save as Style. When I applied the style to a new oval, similar in size to the original, it looked fairly close to the original though the color was a bit off.

Of course you can still apply Fireworks Live Filters to the object as well as use Photoshop effects for new graphics created inside of Fireworks. There's still work to do in ensuring a more seamless integration between Photoshop and Fireworks but give Adobe some time, I'm sure they'll get there.