Fireworks MX: Zero to Hero

369 Pages·2002·74.108 MB·English

by  Joyce J. Evans, Charles E. Brown (auth.)

Fireworks MX:
Zero to Hero
Joyce J. Evans
Charles E. Brown
Fireworks MX:
Zero to Hero
© 2002 Apress
Originally published by Friends of ED in 2002
AU rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in criticat articles or reviews.
The authors and publisher have made every effort in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy
of the information. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express
or implied. Neither' the authors, friends of ED nor its dealers or distributors will be held liable for any
damages caused or alleged to be caused either directly or indirectly by this book.
First Printed October 2002
Trademark Acknowledgements
ISBN 978-1-59059-203-8 ISBN 978-1-4302-5209-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4302-5209-2
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Fireworks MX:
Zero to Hero
Credits
Authors Author Agent
Joyce J. Evans Laura Jones
Charles E. Brown
Project Manager
Additional Material Vicky Idiens
Alan McCann
Dan Maharry Reviewers
Anna Mayes
Commissioning Editor Steve McCormick
Lumbotharan Thevathasan Louis Benjamin
Ayo Binitie
Graphic Editors Nathaniel Renouf
Ty Bhogal Todd Simon
Matt Clark Steve Cox
John Williams
Technical Editors Vibha Roy
Jake Manning
James Robinson Indexer
Victoria Blackburn Simon Collins
Libby Hayward
Elizabeth Scott Proof Reader
Alan McCann Melanie Orgee
Managing Editor
Sonia Mullineux
Joyce J. Evans www.joycejevans.com
Is a training veteran with over 10 years of experience in educational teaching,
tutorial development, and Web design. She has received Editors Choice Awards
for her Fireworks 4 FIX and Design book and has authored several computer
books including Dreamweaver MX Complete Course and soon to be released
Macromedia Studio MX Bible. Joyce is a Team Macromedia Volunteer and her
work can also be found in the Macromedia Design/Developer center.
Charles Brown www.pclearningcenter.com
Resides in northern NJ and holds a doctorate in music. He has studied with Igor
Stravinsky, organist Virgil Fox, and pianist Vladimir Horowitz and made his debut
with Leonard Bernstein. Because of his work with Stravinsky, he had a close
association with artist Pablo Picasso.
In 1981 he transferred his creative skills to computers and now does web
designs for major corporations. He is also a busy trainer conducting nearly 100
workshops per year and is a frequent speaker at conferences.
Dan Maharry
Was born in a small seaside town recently notable only for the BBC blowing up
a bus on its harbour and for being the birthplace of artist and enfant terrible
Tracy Emin. While this may have hindered others, Dan has used this foundation
to come to Birmingham, England, a city famous for only one thing - the exit.
Here he ponders life, the next words he'll shove in this bio, and his ever present
list of things to do from a small flat with a large stereo and several hundred
CDs, which multiply like rabbits despite their inanimate nature. It's possible
they may be breeding with the DVDs on the shelf above too. His neighbors live
in the constant hope that he'll actually get better on his guitar at some point
in time.
Previously a student at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and
Technology studying Maths and Computers, Dan logically spent 95% of the
time working for three of the student newspapers writing almost exclusively
on film and rock music. He has come to the conclusion that it's much easier
to meet rock stars than actors.
Alan McCann www.bethanyfilms.com
Has been a full-time friend of ED for almost two years now. After graduating
with a Media degree he found his spare time activities of writing and web
designing, not his passion for film, to be his best route into a career, and has
never looked back. Since then he has written for the friends of ED DVision
imprint. satisfying his love for the moving image, and also continues to create
and develop websites for a wide range of purposes.
Since discovering Fireworks with version 4, it has fast become his most essential
creative tool and his first fully Fireworks-designed web interfaces can be found
at www.bethanyfilms.com and www.star-69.co.uk.
Welcome
The structure of the book ............................................................................................ 1
What you'll need ..............................................................................................................2
Conventions ...................................................................................................................... 3
Download Files ................................................................................................................3
Support - we're here to help ......................................................................................4
Section 1
1 Web Graphics Be the Fireworks MX interface 7
Using images on the Web ............................................................................................ 8
Vector and Bitmap graphics .......................................................................... 8
Image file formats .......................................................................................... 10
The Fireworks MX interface ...................................................................................... 13
Configuring the interface .............................................................................. 14
Creating a new document ............................................................................ 16
The context-sensitive Property inspector .............................................. 18
2 Creating content: tools and colors 29
The Tools panel ............................................................................................................. .30
Basic Vector tools ........................................................................................... .31
Bitmap tools ...................................................................................................... 36
Advanced vector tools ................................................................................. .46
Canvas tools ..................................................................................................... .51
Working with color ..................................................................................................... .52
The Color Tools ............................................................................................... .52
Understanding color modes ....................................................................... .53
Understanding color palettes ...................................................................... 54
Picking a color to work with ....................................................................... .56
Organizing your colors .................................................................................. 59
More fun with fills .......................................................................................... 60
Creating your own gradient ........................................................................ 63
Adding effects .................................................................................................. 66
Introducing styles ............................................................................................ 67
73
Object properties .......................................................................................................... 74
Layers ................................................................................................................................ 75
Manipulating objects .................................................................................................... 77
Rulers .................................................................................................................. 77
Guides ................................................................................................................7 8
Grids .................................................................................................................... 79
Ordering objects ..............................................................................................8 0
Grouping ............................................................................................................ 83
Copying an object .......................................................................................... 85
Blending Modes ............................................................................................................ 87
Symbols ............................................................................................................................ 89
Creating a symbol .......................................................................................... 90
Editing a symbol .............................................................................................. 92
4 Object behavior: interactivity 97
Behaviors ........................................................................................................................ 98
Common behaviors in Fireworks MX ...................................................................... 99
Hotspots ........................................................................................................................ 100
Editing hotspots ............................................................................................1 05
Image maps vs. navigation bars ................................................................ 105
Slices .............................................................................................................................. 106
Swapping Images ........................................................................................................ 110
Slice Types ...................................................................................................... 112
Export Settings .............................................................................................. 113
Exporting Slices ..............................................................................................1 13
Button symbols ............................................................................................................1 14
The Button library ........................................................................................ 120
The URL library .............................................................................................. 121
Pop-up menus .............................................................................................................. 122
How to create pop-up menus .................................................................. 122
5 Optimization and Exporting 129
Using the Optimize panel to optimize your projects ...................................... 130
Creating custom settings ............................................................................ 131
Creating your own presets ........................................................................ 131
Previewing our settings .............................................................................. 132
JPEG Formats .................................................................................................. 134
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Exporting in Fireworks ..............................................................................................1 36
Exporting slices .............................................................................................. 137
Exporting frames and layers ...................................................................... 138
Exporting selected areas ............................................................................ 138
Using the Export Preview ............................................................................ 140
The optimizing and exporting Wizards .................................................. 140
Exporting HTML ............................................................................................ 143
The Quick Export button ............................................................................ 143
Exporting XHTML .......................................................................................... 144
C5S layers ........................................................................................................ 144
6 Animation 147
Animation principles .................................................................................................. 148
Producing a basic animation ...................................................................... 148
Using symbols and producing keyframe animation ............................ 150
How to use animation symbols to produce animation .................... 153
Tweaking your animations ........................................................................................ 157
The onion-skinning technique .................................................................. 157
Duplicating and distributing frames ........................................................ 157
Frame delay ....................................................................................................1 58
Special effects ................................................................................................ 158
Exporting your animations ...................................................................................... 159
Section 2
7 Working with Vectors 163
Making tabs .................................................................................................................. 164
A tab with round and square corners ....................................................1 65
A tabbed folder ............................................................................................ 165
Make an L shape with a curve ................................................................................ 166
Drawing a heart shape .............................................................................................. 167
Making a decorative ornament .............................................................................. 168
Creating the small spheres with highlighting ........................................1 69
Preparing all the spheres ............................................................................ 171
Making the basic shape ............................................................................ 173
Adding depth to the basic shape ............................................................ 175
Putting the ornament together ................................................................ 176
Editing paths with vector editing tools ................................................................ 176
Freeform tool ................................................................................................ 177
Reshape Area tool ........................................................................................ 178