[Xenonsoft]

Hi all,

I've recently purchased Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium CS4 and have been developing my photoshop, illustrator and dreamweaver skills. However I've only ventured onto fireworks once or twice just in curiosity and wondered which people use it, what it's good at and in which ways is it better then photoshop/illustrator?

If it's a useful alternative tool with different features, then I'll learn it, but if it's just a combination of photoshop and illustrator I think I'll probably pass.

[Boss Hog]

Don't use it myself, however found this...

What is Fireworks CS4 and who is it for?
Adobe Fireworks CS4 software is used to rapidly prototype websites and application interfaces and to create and optimise images for the web more quickly and accurately. It is ideal for web designers, web developers, and visual designers.

What is the difference between Fireworks and Adobe Photoshop®?
Adobe Photoshop software is the industry standard for digital imaging, with a broad array of features and functionality used by photographers, graphic designers, web designers, and many other creative professionals. Fireworks is a much more focused tool with features for prototyping vectors and bitmaps for the web and application interfaces.

What is the difference between Fireworks and Adobe Dreamweaver®?
Adobe Dreamweaver software is the industry standard for web design and production, with a broad array of features and functionality used by web designers and developers and many other creative professionals. Fireworks is a much more focused tool with features for creating click-through mock-up web pages and quickly updating fills, borders, textures, and text flow on web page designs.

Read more here: Adobe - Adobe Fireworks CS4: FAQ

Hope that helps.

[Pixels Ink]

I don't use fireworks either, I just use Photoshop and Illustrator save for web option. I also use the animation window in Photoshop for animated banners.

[Xenonsoft]

Cheers Boss.

RE: Pixels, I do exactly the same. Still yet to be convinced about Fireworks though.

[Pixels Ink]

To be honest, just ignore fireworks.

In the past I used Image Ready, but that's now been pretty much integrated into Photoshop so that should suit pretty much all your needs. I think fireworks may be good for image maps, but how many folk use those nowadays!

[Xenonsoft]

I guess that's what I was thinking, but not hoping to hear. I was hoping it would be an amazing program to discover! Ah well, I'll leave it for now.