Fireworks 3.0

by Macromedia

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00003WGPD
• Item model number: FWW30D01
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 10, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,019 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #35 in Software > Web Development > Web Effects > Objects
  • #71 in Software > Web Development > Web Effects > Animation
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The latest release of Macromedia's Fireworks, version 3, offers more features than ever to facilitate good Web site design and better integration with other design tools.

For designers who like to experiment with impunity, Fireworks 3 now has a history panel. Similar to a multiple "undo" command, this window lists all actions performed on a file during a session. Unique to Macromedia's implementation of this function is the ability to select and save groups of commands in this panel as a macro and apply that to other objects.

Projects can now be previewed directly in the workspace, eliminating the need to export work to a Web browser. This includes previewing animation and rollover graphics and various optimization settings to see how a file will look with different amounts of compression.

Integration with Firework's sister application, Dreamweaver, has been improved. For example, objects with Fireworks behaviors are now recognized in Dreamweaver as Dreamweaver behaviors. Imported Photoshop files now retain their layer effects, as well as retaining editable text layers. Also, Fireworks can now export vector graphics in Illustrator, Freehand, or Flash formats, eliminating the need to create the artwork twice.

While Fireworks is not the only application for creating Web graphics, it is one of the most well supported and comprehensive--a good choice for any Web site designer. --Mike Caputo

Amazon.com Product Description

Fireworks 3 brings efficiency to Web graphics production. Quickly create buttons, animations, and page comps. Everything remains editable, including files from leading graphics applications. Save production time with the History panel, step-by-step button maker, and the Library. Integrate Fireworks code seamlessly into Dreamweaver and other leading HTML editors. Only Fireworks lets you script the entire application to automate workflow.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fireworks is a complete Web graphics tool ..., May 16, 2000

By 

John Harris Stevenson "tranquileye" (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fireworks 3.0 (CD-ROM)

I have used Adobe Photoshop for more than ten years, first for pre-press layout and design, and then for Web graphics starting in the mid-1990s. Back then, Photoshop was primarily a pre-press tool, and best for manipulating photographs. To make an image Web-ready, one had to use a separate utility or plug-in. Over the years, things improved. The current version of Photoshop, 5.5, is as much as Web tool as it is software for pre-press.

When it was time to upgrade Macromedia Dreamweaver from version 2 to version 3, we purchased the "studio" upgrade that included Fireworks. I had seen a demo of Fireworks at a trade show, and was impressed enough to give it serious consideration, at least for specialized tasks such as creating complex Web page layouts and animations.

That was five months ago. Photoshop and Fireworks are both installed on my computer, but I now use Fireworks for Web graphics about 80% of the time.

Fireworks was designed from the ground-up as a Web design tool. Macromedia has obviously looked at competing Web graphics programs and adopted existing "best practice" in its software. The result is a tool with amazing range.

Fireworks facilitates a number of Web design processes that I had been using in Photoshop. For example, for more complex designs I would often do the entire layout in Photoshop, then slice the image up and dump the pieces into my HTML editor. To make this common practice easier, Fireworks has a slice tool and a Web layer; slices can be exported as individual graphics with accompanying HTML. Fireworks shines in a number of other areas as well: JavaScript rollovers, GIF animation, graphics optimization, object effects, and vector graphics.

For beginners, Fireworks has a number of features to make graphic creation easier: the Button Editor makes creating rollovers quite easy, and the Style panel allows the creation and reuse of graphic characteristics.

Fireworks is a great tool, and I recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Web graphics, here I come!, September 21, 2000

By 

"dna-groove" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fireworks 3.0 (CD-ROM)

I'm a happy man now. Ever since I got into the web dev business I cursed the hours I sat infront of my computer, trying to figure out how to shade or mask the simplest text in Photoshop. I used to waste precious hours over the simplest things instead of concentrating on the actual programming. One starry night I found myself snooping around for some easier way to handle professional graphics (a paradox? you betcha!), I came accross the demo version of Fireworks 1.0 (it was a long time ago)... it was love at first sight. Imagine a programs so easy to use that I was able to produce some very professionaly looking graphics in matter of minutes, and perform some of the more complex and time consuming tasks (slicing, image maps, HTML exports etc) in the shortest time. Version 3.0 adds more features at no cost of ease of use, more plug-ins and more preset design samples. I'm never installing Photoshop again!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you only by one program for web graphics, this is it!, August 31, 2000

By 

Baltic Books "Vic" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fireworks 3.0 (CD-ROM)

Fireworks has turned out to be my best friend when it comes to any kind of web-based graphics manipulation. It is absolutely the quickest and easiest for producing photos and thumbnails.

Recently we've been putting large numbers of photos online for our members use-- I mean "hundreds". With Fireworks "batch processing" function, it takes just a few steps to manipulate the dimensions, the quality, etc. for the entire group. That means, in a few minutes you can produce 100 digital photos adjusting the resolution for easy viewing and downloads as well as instantly create thumbnails.

Fireworks also has good photo editing capabilities. I come to Fireworks from using Adobe and Corel graphic applications and have come to love this one.

This is definitely a program that should be a mainstay in your library.