INTRODUCING FIREWORKS

To prepare pictures for the web you need a graphics software
package. Fireworks has been designed by Macromedia to support Dreamweaver.

The advantages of using Fireworks in this Guide are that the
software is an integral part of the Studio MX package and also that it has been designed with an excellent optimisation facility to get the file size to its smallest.

This is the original picture being viewed at 25% magnification.

If we explored the many exciting features in this software we could fill another Guide - so we will concentrate on those areas of work involved with cropping and sizing your pictures, improving their sharpness and clarity, and saving to the optimum size for use on your web pages.

We will also look at making some attractive buttons which could be used for your navigation links.

Editing your picture:
Open Fireworks by double clicking its yellow icon from your desktop or program list.
File > Open and browse for the picture you want to work on in your webwork folder. For this example we are working on a picture of two men on camels in Egypt.

When the picture is opened in Fireworks you will see a similar screen arrangement as seen in Dreamweaver with a tools bar on the left; a Properties Inspector underneath and various working panels on the right. This gives you a feeling of software familiarity.

The Properties Inspector will tell you that this picture is originally 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high so you cannot see it all on your screen (nor fit it on this page). To be able to start work on the picture go to View > Magnification 25%.

Now we will start editing the picture