Fireworks-Pros and Cons

[jenmay]

Some background....I am building a site all hand-coded. I tried Frontpage (still had to hand-code too much to make it worth it) and Dreamweaver (I was totally lost, not sure why). So, I decided to stick with the good old-fashioned method (I should also point out, I have control issues-probably why I don't like letting a program do it for me).
I have been using the Fireworks trial for the past month and really like it. I don't really use the scripting (again-control issues). But, I feel comfortable and familiar with designing my graphical elements in it.
Now that my trial is up, my boss has approved purchasing the program. But, before I do, I would like to make sure that it is really what I want. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate me changing my mind and wanting a different program in a few months.
Does anyone have any pros/cons with Fireworks that I should know about before I commit?
Again, all I really need it for is designing the buttons, borders, etc. for my site. But, I don't want to find out a few months down the road that I can't do something that I want to with it.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,


Jenny May

 

[Foamcow]

It's good for making graphics. Though I find it "clunkier" than Photoshop.

I don't think there is anything graphically that it can't do. I don't believe there is much that any "pro" graphics app can't do if you put your mind to it.

The code it produces is OK, though I do not use it beyond creating initial layouts.

I do tend to favour Photoshop, but that is mainly due to the clunkiness of Fireworks. And I certainly wouldn't advise it, or any graphics app for making entire, finished websites.

 

[deecee]

best program for graphics -- photoshop

fireworks does what you want but program power wise it is like a honda civic comapred to a ferrari (PS).

zzzzzz

 

[glenmac]

I agree PS is the way to go (if you can afford it). I just finished doing a page entirely in PS as a learning process for a future employment prospect and it didn't turn out too bad. Although I'm not going to change from my favorite, good old notepad.

Glen

http://lantzvillecomputers.ca

 

[BabyJeffy]

I prefer Fireworks. I use it on the Mac and on Windows... and unlike many other cross platform programs, this one is consistently usable across all.

Photoshop is great for editing and managing photos (something that Fireworks is not designed to manage to the same degree)... but when it comes to creating gifs and web graphics I *have* to disagree with all these sentiments I'm hearing in this thread.

Sure you can do these tasks in PS, but Fireworks actually makes it easy. The most convincing argument (that convinced me to switch to Fireworks initially) involved the classic scenario where button names were changed at the last minute and maybe a minor colour change. Common occurances in every single site (intranet as well as external) I have worked on.

In Fireworks you build your graphics, set the web slices for each distinct element, and name the slices (which will then defualt name the exported gifs etc). When you export the page, in one swift action you export every image that you have slices for, they are all exported with the correct filename, and they are exported in the correct file type.

Make a copy change? One action... and all the images are exported again. No file renaming, no worries.

Photoshop is arguably as quick to create the initial imagework for your website, but when it comes to the changes, Fireworks leaves Photoshop in the dust. Why do you think Adobe brought out ImageReady? It's to compete head-to-head with Fireworks.

If you were to investigate any serious alternative to Fireworks, the product to investigate is Adobe ImageReady. It comes bundled with Photoshop. It may be available as a stand-alone product (I have never bothered to look).

Go with Fireworks. You will not be disappointed. If you need a program to do Photo manipulation, then maybe you could investigate PaintshopPro -- it's shareware and (almost) as feature-rich as Photoshop (but only availabe for Windows).

Now you know my opinion
Jeff

 

[Foamcow]

To clarify.. I consider ImageReady as part of Photoshop since it ships with it.
But you are right. Fireworks is excellent for doing those changes.
Button creation in Fireworks is also excellent.

As for creation of web graphics the "Save for Web" option in photoshop is just as easy to use as Fireworks.

 

[jenmay]

Thanks for all of your replies.
The company already owns a copy of Photo Shop, so I think I might play around on it for a few days to see what I can do with that. I have only used it a few times, and I was not aware that you could make gifs, etc in it as well. I was under the impression that it was for photo manipulation only. So, I'll have to test it out.
At least now I know that I can use either, so maybe I will go ahead and get Fireworks too. That way I have the best of both worlds, based on the comments all of you have made.
Thanks again.

Jenny May