O/T Anyone use Macromedia Fireworks 4?

[IronFist]

I just downloaded a trial version... I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm having trouble highlighting and moving stuff. I don't even wanna think about doing flash stuff... If any of you use it, how did you learn? Can you recommend a book? Or is it easier to learn in a class? What's the learning curve like?

It seems like absolutely everything you draw is treated as it's own object, which is making it a bítch for me to merge things together and edit them.

IronFist

[red_fists]

Hi.

My Wife does. I use different Software to her for Graphic generation.

When she bought the Firework/Dreamweaver Soft , it was packaged with 2 thick Books.

In the meantime she has added a few other Books to her collection.

Things being treated as individual objects is normal. You need to combine them into a single object, You can split them later again if you need to.

But if you are a novice to that type of software best get some Books, check the Computer Section there should be a few Books specific to your Software.
Bassically the Trial Software is for experienced People that want to check out what features the Software offers.

Hope this helps.

[IronFist]

Thanks :)

Yeah, I got the trial of Dreamweaver, too.

IronFist

[Sharky]

Flash is tricky. You need a book. Also try searching for tutorials on the net. Last time i tried making something in flash i used the really good help that comes with the program, it has tutorials etc. Try webmonkey.com

Dreamweaver is a piece of pi.ss to use.

[HopGar]

I use them both. Take a web design class. It makes everythin easier. I personally learned Flash on my own, its not too hard, you just need lots of patience and and of spare time b/c figuring it out takes a long time.

peace y'all

[IronFist]

Originally posted by Sharky

Dreamweaver is a piece of pi.ss to use.

Does that mean easy, or frustrating?

IronFist

[red_fists]

Best HTML Editor out there:

"Notepad"

Small, easy to use and no quirks.

Dreamweaver is ok, for doing the initial layout and positioning, after that changes can be made quickly using a plain text editor.

:D :D

[IronFist]

Yeah, when I can't figure out how to do something in Dreamweaver I just click in the top window that shows the code and manually change it there.

I'm learning.

IronFist

[dezhen2001]

try this website. they have lots of really great books which are easy to use. Helped me get thru this year at University!

http://www.friendsofed.com

They're written by web/graphic designers for designers, so it really makes sense imo :)

good luck with it ironfist!

david

[Sharky]

piece of pi.ss means it's easy to use, it's just a wysiwyg editor. very powerful though.

flash is annoying, i don't like it, but then i don't like many flash pages either.

[dezhen2001]

depends on what u do with it. most ppl go over the top with the whole animation and stuff... but that's where the design skill comes in :)

i usually use a mixture of flash and dreamweaver to do most things.

david

[ewallace]

for code editing I use edit plus. It is free and has very good utilities. Dreamweaver is the best WYSIWYG(visual) editor by far. Stay away from ms frontpage.

I prefer photoshop over fireworks, but I like FW for slicing images because I think image ready sucks. Here are some links to some good graphic tutorial sites:

http://www.wastedyouth.org
http://www.eyeball-design.com
http://www.phong.com

[David Jamieson]

With Flash, the software itself contains lesson files under the window menu.
Using the built i help system you can a learn a bit also.
If you use the user guide, it will walk you through everything logically. As well you can visit www.flashkit.com for some really great tutorials.

For Dreamweaver, the same again. Macromedia has great built in help systems that will teach you a lot about the software.
For fireworks, get to know the tools by using them. Think of it like you are putting together a collage of items on a single canvas to make one image.
It's all good.

peace

[IronFist]

Whoa, thanks for all the tips :)

IronFist

[dezhen2001]

i didn't know there were so many web/design related people on this forum... cool :cool:

david

[red_fists]

IronFist.

If you wanna create Graphics quickly especially for Menues and the like, have a look at what:

XARA (http://www.xara.com)

has to offer.

This is the Software I use, and some of their packages have plugins into Fireworks.

Using gheir Web-style Software it took me about 10 min, to generate 5 Menus with MouseOn, MouseOver and selected state Buttons. It also generates all the JScript & HTML code you need.

Great for the graphically impaired like me.
Hope this helps.

[IronFist]

Thanks red_fists. I think I'll check that out.

IronFist