Fireworks 8 and Macromedia Director MX
Safely export sliced images with rollovers and even layered images. Director users can take advantage of the optimization and graphic design tools of Fireworks without compromising quality.

Fireworks 8 and other vector graphics applications

Fireworks can share vector graphics with other vector graphics applications, such as Adobe Illustrator. In Fireworks, exporting and importing vector graphics is a breeze, whether designers are using Macromedia FreeHand, Adobe Illustrator, or another illustration tool.

Fireworks 8 and other HTML editors
Fireworks generates HTML that can be read by all HTML editors and it can also import HTML content. This is a powerful feature, allowing opening and editing of most HTML documents within Fireworks.

Fireworks 8 and CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) provide added control over how web pages are displayed. CSS layers define how different elements, such as headers and links, should appear. Fireworks users can export HTML as CSS layers to create interactive pop-up menus.

Fireworks 8 and JavaScript
Fireworks 8 can understand and execute JavaScript, allowing advanced users to automate complex tasks by writing JavaScript commands and then executing them in Fireworks. Control nearly every Fireworks command or setting through JavaScript using standard JavaScript commands that Fireworks interprets:

• Command scripts are saved as JavaScript. Open and edit commands in any text editor, such as Dreamweaver, Notepad (Windows), or TextEdit (Macintosh).
• Reduce the tedium of repetitive tasks by writing JavaScript commands to run within Fireworks. Control nearly every command or setting in Fireworks through JavaScript.
• Create custom Fireworks panels by designing and coding in Flash ActionScript and exporting as a SWF movie. If dropped into the command panel's folder, the movie will appear as a panel in the Fireworks window menu.
• Use JavaScript to write custom objects and commands that affect Fireworks documents and the elements within them. The Fireworks cross product communication architecture allows ActionScript 2.0 and C++ applications to control Fireworks. For more information, see Extending Fireworks on the Fireworks Support Center at www.macromedia.com/support/fireworks/.

Conclusion
Fireworks 8 has some really exciting new changes. The improved integration with Flash is great. Some of my favorite new features are the Marquee selection to path option and text objects being automatically named by the text. A very important change is the new pop-up menus. They are now CSS based-you've got to check them out! This feature alone makes the upgrade worth it. If you've ever used the Red Eye tool, then you'll be pleased with the improvements there as well.

New fancy tools are always great but don't overlook the usability enhancements. Easier saving, opening and exporting really saves time. Fireworks remembers the last folder you've used. Other enhancements such as putting the last used font on the top of the list sure saves time as well as putting all the image editing tools in one easy to access panel.

If you've never used Fireworks before-then what are you waiting for? This is by far the BEST application out there for working with and producing web graphics. Its integration with the other Studio 8 applications and more, make Fireworks the perfect choice for creating your web graphics and even client comps (site samples)!