Adobe Fireworks CS4: Features and Capabilities

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Adobe Fireworks CS4: A Powerful Tool for Web Graphics

Fireworks was originally created in 1998 by Macromedia. Since the company was acquired by Adobe Systems Incorporated, it has been part of the Adobe family. The most recent and improved version is Fireworks CS4.

Fireworks is a software from the multimedia family, and it is a versatile application. Images for the web can be created, designed, edited, and optimized easily. The use of this software is not exclusive to people who work in this area. Those who enjoy design and creating their own images or editing their favorite pictures can use the program. Company logos, advertising banners, and even animations are developed with it. This way, web pages become more attractive and receive more visits.

Fireworks CS4 has made the work of those designing graphics for the web easier because it is the perfect tool for the job. It allows creating graphics or images with high quality and great design in the least amount of time. This is due to the fact that effects and changes made to the images are reversible, and there is no need to jump from one designing program to another in order to give the desired final touches.


Key Features and Benefits of Fireworks CS4

Its functions allow the creation and modification of the most sophisticated images that Internet users expect to see.

You do not need to be an expert in graphic design to use Fireworks or to develop images with your own design. Fireworks helps give the desired design to images, pictures, or drawings.

With Fireworks, you can:

  • Create, edit, and optimize graphics.
  • Create and edit bitmaps and vectors.
  • Create animations.
  • Cut, duplicate, and change colors.
  • Rotate and distort images.
  • Optimize images.
  • Apply different effects.
  • Add text to customize your favorite images and pictures.
  • Export images into different formats to ease up their use on the Internet.

If it is the first time you are using this powerful tool, consider that it is necessary to learn first all the basic concepts.

Understanding Vectorial Objects and Bitmaps

With Fireworks tools, it is possible to work with two types of graphics within the same document: vectorial objects and bitmaps.

Vectorial objects are those images that are represented with lines or curves and have information on their color and position. When vectorial objects are edited, their color can be changed or their form can be altered. They can even be moved around, but the quality of their appearance will not change because its resolution is independent.

Bitmaps are formed by countless dots on a grid that are independent of each other. These dots are called pixels, which are combined to form an image. Pixels in an image have a determined color and position within the grid. Pictures are a good example of bitmaps. Images from the Internet are probably bitmaps too.
When editing a bitmap, you are working with those thousands of pixels, and not with lines. So when their size is increased, parts of the image start losing quality because pixels are redistributed inside the grid, thus reducing its resolution.

Fireworks CS4 has the necessary tools to work with each type of graphic, vector objects or bitmaps. You will learn about these tools in the next activity.

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