Quick Start Guide to Macromedia's Fireworks

Adding and modifying text

Adding text couldn't be more straightforward in Fireworks. Click the text tool, select the starting location for the text and begin to type.

The Text Editor will appear as you begin. Within the text editor you can manipulate your text quickly and easily. To see the results in your document, click Apply. To return to the document, select OK.

You can manipulate the size and color of the text, in much the same way you changed the rectangle and circle. Double-clicking the text will bring back the text editor.

Use the transform tool to manipulate the size and orientation of your text.

Colors

We've touched on how you can manipulate the colors of objects. In this section we will describe how you can take this a step further.

Select the circle you made earlier. Next select the fill color from the toolbox. The color Swatch will appear. All of the colors shown in this swatch are deemed Web safe. In other words, these colors should appear just as they do here when viewed on the Web.

This area also show the hexadecimal equivalent of the color select. Hexadecimal is the numbering system used by Web pages to describe colors. The hexadecimal equivalent can be useful when you are attempting to match colors found on your Web site. Another way to choose the fill color is to select the eyedropper in the top right corner of the screen. This functions just like the dropper found on the tool box. Selecting the color symbol on the far top-right will allow you to select even more colors, however, these aren't necessarily Web safe.

Textures

Now we'll add some texture to the circle fill color. We'll also add our first tool window to our workspace. From the menu select Windows-Fill. The Object tool will appear with the Fill tab selected. Other parameters we can manipulate here include the Stroke and Effect parameters.

Note that my window has a preview area - if yours doesn't, select the expand button on the bottom right corner of the tool window. Change the fill from Solid to Linear. Select Grain from the Texture window and move the percent slider up near 100 percent. You should see the changes reflect in your circle. If not, make certain the circle is selected.

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