Table of Contents

(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with a Summary, Workshop, and Exercises.)

Introduction.
I. LEARNING THE BASICS: IMAGE FILE FUNDAMENTALS.

Hour 1. Getting to Know the Fireworks MX Interface.


Getting Started with Fireworks MX. Finding Your Tools. Using the Property Inspector. Laying Out Panels. Looking for More Help?

Hour 2. Image Collection and Management.


Creating Fireworks Native Images (PNG). Using Supported Formats. Collecting Graphics. Organizing and Sharing Graphics. Creating Backups of Source Images. Legal Considerations.

Hour 3. Choosing Optimization Settings and Exporting Graphics.


Working with Different Output Formats. Comparing Compression. Advanced Compression Settings. Exporting from Fireworks.

II. BITMAP EDITING: THE DIGITAL DARKROOM.

Hour 4. Working with Bitmap Images.


What Is a Bitmap? Changing the Canvas. Using the Layers Panel. Choosing Colors and Managing Swatches. Drawing and Painting.

Hour 5. Editing Bitmap Graphics.


Area Selection Tools. Selection Options. Working with Bitmaps as Objects.

Hour 6. Improving Photos.


Color and Contrast Correction with Fireworks. Photo Retouching Techniques.

III. GRAPHIC DESIGN: WORKING WITH ART AND TEXT.

Hour 7. Working with Vector Paths.


Drawing Points and Lines. Opening and Importing Vector Graphics.

Hour 8. Creating Text and Typographic Effects.


Using the Text Tool. Setting Properties for Text and Text Objects. Changing Text Flow with Text Blocks, Paragraph Settings, and Paths.

Hour 9. Tools and Techniques for Layout and Design.


Reshaping, Altering, and Combining Paths. Converting Text into Paths. Using Paths as Masks. Using Rules, the Grid, and Alignment.

Hour 10. Tricks of the Trade.


Creative Fill Techniques. Advanced Stroke Options. Adding Effects to Vectors.

IV. CREATING ANIMATIONS: THE POWER OF MOTION.

Hour 11. Planning and Creating Animation for the Web.


Animation Theory and Storyboarding for the Web. Creating and Organizing New Frames. Converting Objects into Symbols.

Hour 12. Improving and Finishing Your Animation.


Inserting Motion Tweens. Viewing and Selecting Objects Across Frames. Exporting an Animated GIF.

Hour 13. Working with Flash MX.


Exporting as a Flash SWF File. Working with PNGs in Flash. Exporting from Flash to Fireworks.

V. DESIGNING WEB PAGES: LAYOUT, INTERACTIVITY, AND PUBLISHING.

Hour 14. Slicing Layouts.


What Are Slices, and Why Should I Use Them? Creating Slices on the Web Layer. Specifying Slice Properties. Exporting Image Slices.

Hour 15. Creating Interactive Graphics.


Adding Links and Hotspots to Slices. Adding Behaviors to Slices and Hotspots. Creating Interactive Button Symbols. Working with Symbols and the Library Panel.

Hour 16. Exporting HTML Code from Fireworks.


Specifying HTML Export Settings. Editing HTML Source Code. More Automated HTML Code Tools.

Hour 17. Working with Dreamweaver MX.


Roundtrip Editing. Creating Dreamweaver Templates from Fireworks Layouts. Using Dreamweavers Web Publishing Tools.

VI. SPEED UP YOUR WORKFLOW: AUTOMATION AND CUSTOMIZATION.

Hour 18. Batch Processing and Configuration Sharing.


Batch Processing. Sharing Customized Fireworks Configurations.

Hour 19. Creating Custom Scripts for the Commands Menu.


Using the History Panel to View Your Steps. Saving a Custom Script from the History Panel. Viewing Custom Scripts as Text. Organizing the Commands Menu. Batch Processing Files.

Hour 20. Harnessing the Power of Macromedia Extensions.


Downloading and Installing Fireworks Extensions. Creating an Interface through Flash MX.

VII. FIREWORKS AND FRIENDS: WORKING WITH OTHER APPLICATIONS.

Hour 21. Adobe Photoshop and ImageReady.


Using Photoshop Graphics in Fireworks. Placing Fireworks Graphics into Photoshop. Using Photoshop Filters and Plug-ins in Fireworks. Opening a PNG File into ImageReady. Optimizing a Fireworks PNG in ImageReady.

Hour 22. Macromedia FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator.


Importing Vector Graphics into Fireworks. Exporting Fireworks Files to FreeHand and Illustrator. Optimizing Bitmap Images and Files to Print.

Hour 23. HTML Options and Editors.


HTML Setup in Fireworks. Fireworks HTML and GoLive. Importing HTML Tables.

Hour 24. Microsoft Office.


Bringing WordArt and Excel Charts into Fireworks. Exporting Fireworks HTML for Use in FrontPage.

Glossary.
Index.

Promotional Information

Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Fireworks X in 24 Hours is written for Web designers who are looking for a book to quickly and easily get up to speed with Fireworks. The reader most likely has some experience creating Web pages and designing Web graphics, and probably plans on using Fireworks in conjunction with Macromedia Dreamweaver. Readers will learn everything they would need to know in order to use Fireworks in a professional graphics production environment - everything from how to create and edit graphics, to using complex techniques like transformations, to optimizing graphics for use on Web pages, to creating animations and interactive elements.

About the Author

Jackson West has loved computers since he was a child and has spent the majority of his life figuring out how to make them sing, dance, and look pretty. Growing up in Seattle, he was exposed to the technological revolution of the last century. Attending the Film and Television Production program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts exposed him to the world of sight and sound, and he has had digital and analog equipment wired together ever since. Jackson now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he consults on Web programming, graphics, and multimedia applications. He has spent time at a number of top software companies, including Microsoft, Macromedia, and Sonic Solutions. He has written for CNET, McGraw-Hill, and Sams Publishing. He is always looking for ways to be cheaper and faster.

You can visit Jackson on the Web at http://www.jacksonwest.com/, where you can find examples of his goofy creative sensibility and sense of joy with multimedia doohickeys like "The Funky Engineer," "Random Art Generator," and "Political Action Committee Man." Jackson is a polished speaker and would be glad to speak at your next conference. Feel free to email him at jacksonwest@onebox.com.