Hello,

I'm a new user to Fireworks CS 3. Just purchased it and I'm finding that
opening Photoshop files in Fireworks is not all that smooth. First thing
Fireworks doesn't recognize any layer that has no fill on it. Sometimes I will
put no fill on a vector object and add a stroke effect. When opened in
Fireworks the layer is blank. Also some text layers are scattered all over the
layout. Is this a known issue? Is there a solution besides not using no fill on
Photoshop layers.

vhteacher wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm a new user to Fireworks CS 3. Just purchased it and I'm finding that
> opening Photoshop files in Fireworks is not all that smooth. First thing
> Fireworks doesn't recognize any layer that has no fill on it. Sometimes I will
> put no fill on a vector object and add a stroke effect. When opened in
> Fireworks the layer is blank. Also some text layers are scattered all over the
> layout. Is this a known issue? Is there a solution besides not using no fill on
> Photoshop layers.
>

Are you planning to convert existing PSD's to FW? The best suggestion is
to build the files in FW to begin with if possible. Bear in mind that at
this time, FW will rasterize your PS vectors anyway. As for text layers
being scattered about, I have not had this problem but also at this
time, PS and FW handle text differently. There was not enough time to
get the Adobe font engine working in a stable manner for CS3, but I am
sure this will be addressed in future releases.

If you're doing a lot of vector work and prefer not to start in FW, do
it in Illustrator. FW has much better support for AI vectors than PS
vector shapes.

HTH
--
Jim Babbage - .:Community MX:. & .:Adobe Community Expert:.
http://www.communityMX.com/
CommunityMX - Free Resources:
http://www.communitymx.com/free.cfm
---
.:Adobe Community Expert for Fireworks:.
Adobe Community Expert
http://tinyurl.com/2a7dyp
---
See my work on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_babbage/

Jim,

Right now I'm using PS to create website mockups using the layer comp feature
to create pages (much like the pages feature in FW.) I purchased FW recently so
that it would fill in what web stuff PS doesn't do. I thought that creating
mockups would be easier in FW but since it's not working correctly I don't
think it's a good work flow at this point.

Creating a mockup in FW is good but PS is more powerful and has features FW
doesn't have like smart objects, line spacing, and easier to work with filters
and effects. I'm trying to find what FW's role in the workflow. The only thing
I think FW has that PS doesn't is Common Library items and an easier way to
create rollovers.

Illustrator doesn't work for me as far as web layout is concerned because it's
a little more difficult getting it to the web and the filters really create a
large file size.

vhteacher wrote:
> Jim,
>
> Right now I'm using PS to create website mockups using the layer comp feature
> to create pages (much like the pages feature in FW.) I purchased FW recently so
> that it would fill in what web stuff PS doesn't do. I thought that creating
> mockups would be easier in FW but since it's not working correctly I don't
> think it's a good work flow at this point.
>
> Creating a mockup in FW is good but PS is more powerful and has features FW
> doesn't have like smart objects, line spacing, and easier to work with filters
> and effects. I'm trying to find what FW's role in the workflow. The only thing
> I think FW has that PS doesn't is Common Library items and an easier way to
> create rollovers.
>
> Illustrator doesn't work for me as far as web layout is concerned because it's
> a little more difficult getting it to the web and the filters really create a
> large file size.
>
The workflow is different in FW than it is in PS (I use both for
different purposes, so I'm not trying to knock PS at all). I came from
PS to FW, so I know there is a definite difference in the approach, but
it's one which I find is quicker.

As you have probably already discovered, layer comps don't translate to
FW, much like FW pages don't translate to PS. You'd need to save off
separate PSDs of each comp. Same for FW; you'd need to save each page as
a separate PSD file in order to open it within PS and still retain
editability.

FW makes use of symbols as opposed to Smart Objects. While not exactly
the same as Smart objects which link to the original file, Symbols can
play a similar role from within FW.

The pages funtion includes the a master page feature and the ability to
share layers and web layers across multiple pages, which can both be
time savers. Line spacing for text is available in the P.I. In keeping
with text, FW also has a nifty command for placing lorem ipsum text as
placement text.

As for filters and effects, most third party filter plugins will work
with FW, including the filter set from PS 5.5. As for Effects, you have
a starting point with the Styles panel, and again, there are many style
sets out there on the web which can be added to FW.

I agree that Photoshop is a powerful bitmap editor. It's the king of
image manipulation, but its roots are more firmly placed in pre press
rather than web. FW is built for a web workflow. What is it you find is
not working correctly?

In general, FW also does a more efficient job of optimizing images, when
they are exported, and makes working with vectors a breeze (IMO).

Here are a couple links to articles that might :

http://www.pixelyzed.com/pixelforge/whychoosefireworks/

http://www.communitymx.com/content/a....cfm?cid=82930

http://www.communitymx.com/content/a....cfm?cid=1BFD3

http://www.communitymx.com/content/a....cfm?cid=C5610

In the end it's really up to you. The client doesn't care how the job
gets done, so long as it's done to spec, on time and on budget. Use the
tools you feel benefit you the most, and save you the most time. I think
if you invest the time to learn FW, you will find it can save you time.

There are certainly things PS does which FW does not. The same argument
can be used the other way round. Each iteration of FW shows integration
improvements. For the longest time this wasn't possible due to the fact
MM and Adobe were competing against each other and not sharing. Now that
all the apps are under one umbrella, the integration is occurring, but
only so much can be done in any single release.

HTH

--
Jim Babbage - .:Community MX:. & .:Adobe Community Expert:.
http://www.communityMX.com/
CommunityMX - Free Resources:
http://www.communitymx.com/free.cfm
---
.:Adobe Community Expert for Fireworks:.
Adobe Community Expert
http://tinyurl.com/2a7dyp
---
See my work on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_babbage/

[q]Originally posted by: Newsgroup User
vhteacher wrote:
> Jim,
>
> Right now I'm using PS to create website mockups using the layer comp
feature
> to create pages (much like the pages feature in FW.) I purchased FW recently
so
> that it would fill in what web stuff PS doesn't do. I thought that creating
> mockups would be easier in FW but since it's not working correctly I don't
> think it's a good work flow at this point.
>
> Creating a mockup in FW is good but PS is more powerful and has features FW
> doesn't have like smart objects, line spacing, and easier to work with
filters
> and effects. I'm trying to find what FW's role in the workflow. The only
thing
> I think FW has that PS doesn't is Common Library items and an easier way to
> create rollovers.
>
> Illustrator doesn't work for me as far as web layout is concerned because
it's
> a little more difficult getting it to the web and the filters really create
a
> large file size.
>
The workflow is different in FW than it is in PS (I use both for
different purposes, so I'm not trying to knock PS at all). I came from
PS to FW, so I know there is a definite difference in the approach, but
it's one which I find is quicker.

As you have probably already discovered, layer comps don't translate to
FW, much like FW pages don't translate to PS. You'd need to save off
separate PSDs of each comp. Same for FW; you'd need to save each page as
a separate PSD file in order to open it within PS and still retain
editability.

FW makes use of symbols as opposed to Smart Objects. While not exactly
the same as Smart objects which link to the original file, Symbols can
play a similar role from within FW.

The pages funtion includes the a master page feature and the ability to
share layers and web layers across multiple pages, which can both be
time savers. Line spacing for text is available in the P.I. In keeping
with text, FW also has a nifty command for placing lorem ipsum text as
placement text.

As for filters and effects, most third party filter plugins will work
with FW, including the filter set from PS 5.5. As for Effects, you have
a starting point with the Styles panel, and again, there are many style
sets out there on the web which can be added to FW.

I agree that Photoshop is a powerful bitmap editor. It's the king of
image manipulation, but its roots are more firmly placed in pre press
rather than web. FW is built for a web workflow. What is it you find is
not working correctly?

In general, FW also does a more efficient job of optimizing images, when
they are exported, and makes working with vectors a breeze (IMO).

Here are a couple links to articles that might :

http://www.pixelyzed.com/pixelforge/whychoosefireworks/

http://www.communitymx.com/content/a....cfm?cid=82930

http://www.communitymx.com/content/a....cfm?cid=1BFD3

http://www.communitymx.com/content/a....cfm?cid=C5610

In the end it's really up to you. The client doesn't care how the job
gets done, so long as it's done to spec, on time and on budget. Use the
tools you feel benefit you the most, and save you the most time. I think
if you invest the time to learn FW, you will find it can save you time.

There are certainly things PS does which FW does not. The same argument
can be used the other way round. Each iteration of FW shows integration
improvements. For the longest time this wasn't possible due to the fact
MM and Adobe were competing against each other and not sharing. Now that
all the apps are under one umbrella, the integration is occurring, but
only so much can be done in any single release.

HTH

--
Jim Babbage - .:Community MX:. & .:Adobe Community Expert:.
http://www.communityMX.com/
CommunityMX - Free Resources:
http://www.communitymx.com/free.cfm
---
.:Adobe Community Expert for Fireworks:.
Adobe Community Expert
http://tinyurl.com/2a7dyp
---
See my work on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_babbage/
[/q]

Jim,

Thanks for the info. Now I see the value of Fireworks. Being from Photoshop
I'm still very comfortable with the program. I think with me Fireworks is a
little difficult to use because it's much different than Photoshop. For
instance the other day I decided to create a web banner in Fireworks. I got to
a point where I needed to create a layer mask. I couldn't find out easily how
to create one so I just when to Photoshop and finished it. Later I found that
you can make layer masks in Fireworks.

I'll read the articles that you gave. Thanks for all of your .

vhteacher wrote:
> Jim,
>
> Thanks for the info. Now I see the value of Fireworks. Being from Photoshop
> I'm still very comfortable with the program. I think with me Fireworks is a
> little difficult to use because it's much different than Photoshop. For
> instance the other day I decided to create a web banner in Fireworks. I got to
> a point where I needed to create a layer mask. I couldn't find out easily how
> to create one so I just when to Photoshop and finished it. Later I found that
> you can make layer masks in Fireworks.
>
> I'll read the articles that you gave. Thanks for all of your .
>
Masking:

Draw a vector shape over top of your bitmap. Set the fill color to
white. Select both images and go to Modify> Mask > Group as Mask. The
mask remains very editable.

You can do them with bitmaps, too, but vectors are more editable and
flexible IMO.

And you're very welcome. Any time. :-)

--
Jim Babbage - .:Community MX:. & .:Adobe Community Expert:.
http://www.communityMX.com/
CommunityMX - Free Resources:
http://www.communitymx.com/free.cfm
---
.:Adobe Community Expert for Fireworks:.
Adobe Community Expert
http://tinyurl.com/2a7dyp
---
See my work on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_babbage/