Getting good quality text in a JPEG file has long been a concern for many designers. Fortunately for us, Fireworks MX and higher versions have a very useful feature to help with this called the Selective Quality. In Fireworks MX 2004 and higher, we also have the ability to adjust and customize the aliasing of text. In this short tutorial find out how to utilize these features to keep your text crisp and snappy when exporting a file as a JPEG image.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to build a completely functional pop-up menu using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) without knowing how to write any code at all! Below is an example of such a menu;

I've lately seen a few posts on the Adobe forums and here on CMX about batch processing in Fireworks. Considering the Fireworks 8 Batch Processing utility had some noteworthy revisions, I thought it would be a good idea to go over the wizard in detail. Streamlined and enhanced file renaming, the ability to check file dimensions when scaling during a batch process and the addition of a status bar and log file are the most notable improvements to Batch Processing. There are many articles here on CMX that touch on Batch Processing, but they are geared towards specific goals. In this article, we'll examine the utility itself piece by piece.

Those of you who follow the Fireworks forum postings will probably recognize my name. I suppose I may have gotten a reputation as a crusader who opposes the use of the original Fireworks Pop-Up Menu as implemented in Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 and earlier. I'm here to tell you that you are absolutely right. There are more than a few reasons not to use those pop-up menus, in my opinion, and I have spent a fair amount of time posting to this effect.

When it comes to designing and optimizing web graphics, it doesn't get much better than Macromedia Fireworks - given its available tools and workflow. However, Fireworks is not necessarily limited to the tools that come with it in the default installation. You can modify the interface to include new, custom panels that unlock hidden functionality, introduce new functionality, or simply improve your workflow.

As with almost any program you work with, there are going to be things you wish you could change, add, improve, or remove. It might be a feature you are used to from another program, or one you have devised on your own. 'If only I could run to the developers and tell them my great idea, the program would be perfect,' you say. I've often wanted to change things in my favorite software but am usually stuck waiting and hoping it will be fixed in the next version.

A recently received a letter from a reader asking if I knew of any plug-in programs to create text effects in Fireworks MX. The reader seemed a bit surprised when I wrote back and told them that Fireworks already had the tools to get the job done. 'Where is the button?' they asked. Many users feel that if a button isn't on the toolbar, the program can't do it.

Until the introduction of Macromedia Fireworks in 1998, no single application had been dedicated to creating, optimizing, and exporting web graphics. Instead, we had to use several applications which did not play well together.

Sailing, sailing over the bounding sea... Or in our case, inside a wine glass. We've all seen the ship-in-a-bottle knick-knack. Well, I'm here to show you how to set a sailboat afloat in a wine glass, using Fireworks MX or MX 2004, vector AND bitmap masks. Heave ho, matey, and don't forget to buckle your swash!

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those web site design comps - even the ones the clients rejected? Are you looking for new ideas and ways to use your design skills with Fireworks? It's time to break free of the browser and HTML restrictions, unleash your creativity, and let the graphic power of Fireworks take you in a new direction: PowerPoint Design Templates. It only takes a few modifications and enhancements to the original PNG files, export as a PNG, and import into PowerPoint. Even Fireworks-generated button images import into PowerPoint to use as customized bullet points, action buttons, and graphic design elements.

In last month's article I led off with the same quotation from Yeats. At the risk of seeming culturally challenged, I'll lead off with it again for the second treatment of how masks function in Fireworks, simply because it is so apt.

What do 'fantastic,' 'fabulous,' and 'fun' have in common? All three of these words describe the creative work you can do with Flash, Fireworks, and FreeHand. The Macromedia MX2004 Studio 'Fab Three' together give you the tools to create art and animations for the web and other media. Combine these with Dreamweaver and you have a dynamic set of tools.

It is not so much what is behind the mask that matters - just as Yeats so famously describes - as is what is revealed. This is certainly true of graphical masking techniques in general, and particularly in the case of Fireworks masks where you have so many options for hiding and revealing your creations to the world.

In 'Let It Snow, Man' (MXDJ Vol. 2, issue 12), I used Fireworks to create all the essential ingredients for our frozen friend. We then exported the pieces using Export as CSS Layers. This gave us a starting HTML page (generated by Fireworks) and all of our graphics in absolutely positioned DW layers (DIVs).

These days it's a slippery slope we wander between graphics for onscreen viewing and graphics designed for printing. Depending on your own background, you may be more prepared for one application than the other. Working with FreeHand and Fireworks can be slightly daunting, but immensely rewarding.

Well, there's a chill in the air. The leaves have fallen, the wind is brisker, and sometimes, even in early November, there's that 'scent of snow' in the air. In the lead-up to the holiday season, I have created a two-part series that uses both Fireworks and Dreamweaver. The end result will be a fun little 'build your own' snowman Web page.

As a writer and a trainer, I am frequently asked how to make the popular curved navigation graphic. You know the one, top banner area, side bar with an inside curve (see Figure 1). Using Fireworks you'll be amazed at how simple this can be. You'll learn how to make the curve in two different ways. One way is automated and the other is not.

A lot of tasks required to develop a Web site are repetitious and tedious. Have you ever had a folder full of images that you needed to add a border to? Or perhaps you want to reduce the size of every image. You'll probably even need to optimize each image as well. Well you can do all these tasks and more by running one batch process in Fireworks! What a timesaver, and it's so easy to do!

Users in most U.S. urban areas enjoy all kinds of options for high-speed connections, but most rural areas don't yet have that option, nor do a lot of other countries. You should keep in mind that the larger the file or combination of files on a Web page, the longer it takes to load.

It ever ceases to amaze me, whenever I am speaking at a conference or hanging out with the 'Flashies' at various user groups, to hear them tell me how they create their really 'cool' buttons in that behemoth from a company named after a building material. When I ask them if they have the Studio, the answer is an inevitable: 'Well 'duh,' of course I do!'

I have to begin this month's article with a confession. Each year, because of my articles and books, software publishers send me piles of free software with the hope that I will do an article about their product. I use the software and then, at some point, start feeling guilty. So, in that light, this is my periodic attempt at assuaging my conscience; hopefully, I'll give you some good advice.

The value of any piece of software is in how much time and effort it can save you. What good is the software if it is not going to increase productivity and efficiency? In several of my past articles, I have examined ways of automating common or repetitive processes. To that end, I am continuing the discussion this month.

I often receive photographs from readers asking me what went wrong. The picture files are too large or of poor quality. This month, we're going to look at some ways of improving your quality both within, and outside of, Fireworks MX.

OK, Fireworks class, let's see a show of hands: How many people understand how to really use the color tools in Fireworks MX? About 80% of you! Now, how many people understand the hexadecimal code behind colors? Hmmm....about 50%! Now, how many understand the mathematics behind blend modes? Wow...only 10% of you?

I recently received a letter from a reader asking if I knew of any plug-in programs to create text effects in Fireworks MX. The reader seemed a bit surprised when I wrote back and told them that Fireworks already had the tools to get the job done.

When you want to make an image available on the Web, there are two important constraints. It needs to look its best and it must download fast. Those two rarely, if ever, go together. Better image quality means a larger file size, which translates to longer download times.

In this tutorial, we're going to examine some aspects of creating a navigation bar in Fireworks MX. We will create three buttons for our small navigation bar, and then we will instruct Fireworks to write the JavaScript code necessary to create rollover effects for the buttons. In the end, we will have Fireworks generate a separate page for each button with all the required behaviors.

Masking fuzzy or irregular edges is typically a slow, painstaking procedure of hand selection with the Polygon Lasso tool, or if you prefer a vector mask, the Pen tool. Plugins that automate the process (e.g., Extensis Mask Pro, Corel Knock Out) are expensive for one-trick ponies. And shame on Extensis and Corel – they haven't been made available for Fireworks. This article will teach you to quickly mask objects with irregular edges using the new Fireworks MX 2004 Replace Color tool, a simple Alpha masking technique, and some sneaky edgerefining tricks.

Macromedia Studio MX includes a number of relatively unheralded gems. Perhaps it's because Macromedia hasn't hyped these features enough, or maybe users spend so much time focusing on a particular tool that they have simply overlooked or ignored how the other pieces of Studio MX actually work with each other. A great example of this is the stepchild of Studio MX: FreeHand MX.