Fireworks Features and Terms

 

Anti-Alias
Smooths edges of objects by blending the edges into the background. Used mostly in circular objects.
Behaviors
Adds different kinds of interactivity to slices.
Bitmap Images
Image that stores different "dots" of colors in a grid. Appears jagged when zoomed in.
Button Symbol
A symbol that is usually used for navigation, and can have different states that make it interactive.
Clone
Making an exact copy of an object, the copied version appears on top of the old version.
Disjoint Rollover
Swaps an image when the user points to a different object somewhere in the web page.
Duplicate
Makes a copy of the object, the new object is positioned 10 pixels down and to the right of the old one.
Export Graphic
Saves an image in a web-friendly format to make it usable in web pages.
Fireworks Canvas
Area where all objects are shown on the screen.
Frames
Area where time or rollover related actions are shown. Used in animations.
Instance of a symbol
An instance of symbol, like a button, are copies of an original. When the original is edited, these instances also change with respect to the original.
Interactivity
The user can change how a web page is displayed because of interactivity. Slices and Hotspots are used in interactive images. They are used for different forms of animations, such as rollover graphics and navigation bars.
Layers
Different portions of a file can be layered on top of each other, so one image can overlay a part of another image.
Library
Used to create and edit instances of symbols
Masks
A mask can show or hide part of an image, or can be used to partially mask out an image with a gradient fill.
Optimize the Graphic
Changing the properties, file type, and quality of an image or part of an image to make it look good while not taking an obscene amount of time to download.
PNG file format
Portable Networks Graphic format, used by Fireworks. It can store information like layers and slices that a more conventional format (i.e. JPEG) cannot.
Simple Rollover
Swaps an image when the user points over that same image.
Slicing
Cuts up a file into smaller pieces that can be individually edited.
Source File
File that contains the original object to be edited.
States for a Button
A button can have up to four states: Up, Over, Down, and Over-While-Down. These states can have different colors/text that make the image interactive.
Symbol
A symbol can be a button, graphic, or animation.
Vector Object
An object that is drawn using mathmatical lines, good for images that have lots of straight lines, not good for photos.
Web Layer
Top layer in each document, displays hotspots and slices used for interactivity.