Fireworks FAQs
The following are common questions and problems people have when working through with Dreamweaver:
- How do I save my image as a JPG, BMP, TIFF, or other format?
- I'm familiar with CorelDRAW, Corel PhotoPaint, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Photoshop, etc. How does Fireworks differ from these?
How do I save my image as a JPG, BMP, or TIFF file?
If you create a new image in Fireworks, the Save and Save As. . . commands only allow you to save it in Fireworks' PNG format; Export allows you to save it in the GIF. If you are editing an existing image, these same commands allow you to save it in its original format or as a PNG file.
To save the image to a completely different format, select File > Export Preview. . . and choose an appropriate format from the Format dropdown list (1). Information appears regarding the file size (2). In the example below, the resulting image will be about 21 KB in size and will take about 3 seconds to download over the fastest dial-up connection allowed by the FCC—assuming every server and connection along the way is operating at top speed. (And how often does that happen?)
Every image placed on a webpage increases the time required to load that page. On the Internet, size is everything, and smaller is definitely better. When designing images for the Web, strive for the smallest possible file size that requires the least degradation in image quality.
I'm familiar with CorelDRAW, Corel PhotoPaint, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Photoshop, etc. How does Fireworks differ from these?
Corel and Adobe produce software designed to produce and edit professional-quality graphics and images for printing and for display on the Web. Fireworks is also a heavy-duty application, but it is explicitly designed for creating graphics and images that will be displayed on webpages. It is not the best tool for, say, touching up digital photographs or for creating digital scrapbook pages.
Last updated July 15, 2004
Contact: rit@calvin.edu