Rumors of Fireworks' demise should finally be put to rest with the release of Fireworks CS4. It is apparent Adobe has been listening to users and has spent considerable resources overhauling Fireworks. With the adoption of the common interface shared by other Creative Suite applications, and the addition of new tools and enhanced features, Fireworks no longer feels like the forgotten child.

Updated interface

Fireworks' new interface is clean, uncluttered, and for the most part, intuitive. The new workspace switcher is a pop-up menu conveniently located at the top of the canvas that allows you to switch between the three default preset workspace layouts: Expanded Mode, Iconic Mode, and Iconic Mode with Panel Names. If none of the presets fit your workflow you can rearrange panels and save their locations by choosing Save Current from the workspace switcher or from the Window > Workspace Layouts menu. Your new custom layout will be added to the workspace presets.

The new Smart Guides and Tooltips make precisely placing or aligning objects on the canvas a snap. With Smart Guides enabled, Fireworks displays dynamic snapping vertical and horizontal guides that appear as you drag objects on the canvas. If you need to place objects at exact X and Y locations, you'll love Tooltips. To see how Tooltips work, turn them on by choosing View > Tooltips. Then choose View > Rulers, drag a couple of guides onto the canvas, then hold the Shift key down as you drag one of the guides to a different location. Fireworks dynamically displays the distance between the guides and the distance of the selected guide from the edge of the canvas.

While we're talking about spacing and aligning objects, let's not overlook a new feature in the Align panel. This feature allows you to enter the distance you want between selected objects. For example, if I have three objects selected and I want them spaced exactly 15 pixels apart, all I have to do is enter the value and click the appropriate Distribute button in the new Space control in the Align panel. It can't get much easier than that!

The new and improved Property inspector is located at the bottom of the workspace. If you're a Flash user you'll immediately feel comfortable with its new design. The Inspector contains two tabs by default: Properties and Symbol Properties. Being able to toggle between these two panels when you are working with component symbols from the Common Library panel is very convenient.

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