31–40 of 107 posts
I can't believe this. Photoshop is not meant for web design, we only have Fireworks for the task. A simple task like selecting a layer in Photoshop makes me want to cry.
What do people use Fireworks for?
Photoshop never felt right to me for doing prototypes that eventually iterate into an actual design spec. I need to crack open Photoshop a few times a year. I'm in Fireworks almost everyday. I'm sure a lot of it is my muscle memory, but for many of my graphic and photo editing tasks, Fireworks is so much faster.
Unfortunately, Fireworks has become less intuitive as its evolved and I suspect it's lost a lot of its luster to new users. Even though I'm only using Photoshop a few times a year, I still need to keep it around.
I suppose this change by Adobe will force me out of an old habit, but I'm looking forward to exploring some non-Adobe options.
I see more people writing about how they are using Illustrator to design sites now than Fireworks/Photoshop. Claiming that it helps design responsive sites better/more intuitively. I haven't used Fireworks for years. Once you are proficient in Photoshop, I rarely found a reason to open Fireworks even given all of its benefits.
Instead, graphics software should be used for elements in the layout rather than the layout itself.
It turns out that positioning is quite orthogonal to colour. Borders are orthogonal to textures. Sizes are orthogonal to form design. Not entirely, but that's, in the first instance, how they should be formalised before further dependencies.
It is in combining them that we find beauty. And CSS3 is a far more suitable way of doing just that in a considered fashion than Illustrator could ever be.
This doesn't mean the software cannot be used anymore, right?
It generates CSS, JavaScript+Canvas and SVG code from your drawings in real time and can also import PSD documents.
The generated code works great on both Retina and non-Retina displays. You can even preview how your drawings would look on Retina displays directly in WebCode. It inherited a lot of things from PaintCode (our app for Mac and iOS developers), which makes it very nice for user interface design.
Simple things like copy/paste work like they should, and whereas PS might be more robust, it takes 2-3x more clicks to achieve what FW can do in just a few.
Often times I feel like I'm in the minority, but I rarely use Fireworks for anything. Perhaps I'm just more comfortable in Photoshop, but I often found that Fireworks didn't fit my workflow. I've read a ton of articles on how/why I should use Fireworks for web design. Perhaps somebody could inform me on what I'm missing.
i get the sense that you can achieve very similar outcomes using either one, but just always preferred the way you do so with fireworks over photoshop and similar programs. i’m not too savvy in the design space, but would appreciate any insights into the differences between the two, particularly as it relates to workflow.
¹ should note that while i initially gained exposure to the program via less-than-legal ways, having since grown up i am now a happy paying customer. i imagine this experience is quite common and this type of exposure a net benefit to companies like adobe.
However, a colleague swears by it for designing and developing HTML email newsletters. The general state of support for HTML and CSS in email clients is extremely poor, so you have to use inline styles and table-based layouts. Fireworks is perfect for this.