Please discuss these points :

 

1 : Assuming print isn't involved, just screen, FW is better than PS for web site mockups, layouts, general design, shape manipulation, speed of use, user interface, and a number of other things I can think of when it comes to mocking up a site for a client. I only just discovered that recently.

 

2 : Are Adobe going to discontinue FW after CS 5.5. - Does this mean it's not worth buying?

 

3 : If I concentrate my design energies into FW not PS from now on, am I putting myself effectively out of the market? In a bad position professionally?

 

4 : Where do I stand when it comes to exporting from FW 5.5 into an older version of photoshop?

 

Tell me what you think. Personally I think I've done the same old thing of "You gotta use PS" so I learnt that over the last number of years. And brilliant it is. But I feel it's the wrong tool for the job. Well not exactly the wrong one, but a bloated oversized one. And rumour is that Adobe are discontinuing FW which strikes me as the right lightweigtht speedy efficient intuitive tool for this particular job? What's going on?

 

Sorry if this has been hammered to death already, couldn't find much on it in a search.

Meh. That rumour's been going around since Adobe bought Macromedia, I wouldn't give much credence to it.

Meh. That rumour's been going around since Adobe bought Macromedia, I wouldn't give much credence to it.

 

Thanks mate. That's the kind of good news I want to hear.

 

I'm really a front end developer who also does some design work, rather than primarliy a designer, so I tend to be a bit "behind" in all the latest rumours and stuff concerning companies like Adobe.

Edited February 9, 201214 yr by Gibson

I much prefer Fireworks to Photoshop for working with graphics and images for the web. I find that Fireworks has everything I need for editing, resizing, etc. If it was for printed copy then I would agree that Photoshop is the tool to use.

 

Should mention that I'm not a graphic designer by trade, have a very talented graphics guy who knows Photoshop inside out, so have no need for the high end capabilities of Photoshop, which really is the business if you're in that business.

 

For the web, Fireworks is perfectly acceptable for me.

For the web, Fireworks is perfectly acceptable for me.

Agreed!

I've been mucking about with it for a while now and am very impressed.

 

For a start - Master pages, symbols, and styles. All of these are a Godsend when it comes to mucking about with wireframes and mockups. All of which act very much like CSS, really. And that's only scratching the surface without talking about any of the other wicked features it offers.

 

Of course it's not perfect - one criticism would be when adjusting sliders for opacity etc. - it doesn't give you a real time preview, you have to click off the slider to see the result. There are a few extremely minor niggles like this, but they pale in comparison to the advantages.

 

Don't know what the rest of you think, but my personal verdict is it's an excellent lightweight yet very powerful toolkit so far.

 

Hope they do keep it on for CS6 - it seems there's a lot of potential for this application.

I've been using FW and it seems really good for the web, really easy to make mock designs with. PS is more on all rounder for everything and for the tiny details.

I started on photoshop and so the shortcuts etc have become second nature to me. I have tried fireworks as i could see the benefits of using it for web design but personally found that it ran a bit slow and i was always moaning to myself that i could have done x thing in photoshop quicker. But that is of course only in my experience.

 

If you use fireworks and you can get what you need to do done then use that But you can also change the word 'fireworks' in that last sentence to any other software in that range that gets your job done.

But you can also change the word 'fireworks' in that last sentence to any other software in that range that gets your job done.

 

 

True words, man.

 

Nice Gee-tars. Watchya got?

 

Nice Gee-tars. Watchya got?

 

 

Cheers, the one in the center is just a cheap Les paul copy, the bottom left is a fender squier p bass, the top right is a line 6 variax which is pretty sweet and the black on the top left is an ibanez 7 string - my main one. Do you play guitar / any instruments?

Do you play guitar / any instruments?

 

Yeah man, I play guitar and Double Bass. Got a Gretsch Electromatic 5125 in black and a '79 Les Paul Deluxe in Wine Red. And a cheap double bass that is suprisingly good for the price (Unknown make, probably chinese). My amps crapped out though - would like to save up for a Fender Bassman/Reverb - that kind of thing.

 

Ah that explains the weird pickguard shape on your Les Paul.

Interesting - 7 string - Ibanez are always a winner - quality stuff they make. Sounds like you could be a Vai fan or something?

 

Have you got a band? Shall we all steam down to your next gig and do some WDF wrecking?

Edited March 14, 201214 yr by Gibson

Oh and more relevant to the thread - my mistake, Fireworks does operate at 300dpi, it just doesn't operate in CMYK, same as GIMP in those respects then ,I guess.