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Where is extending fireworks documentation

New Here ,
May 25, 2018 May 25, 2018

it was on its place few days ago - now i see only 404 error

P.S.

what about open sourcing FW? or you still  afraid that it may kill Illustrator

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New Here ,
May 28, 2018 May 28, 2018

so disappointing, i'm really starting to hate adobe

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Mentor ,
May 28, 2018 May 28, 2018

Fireworks was discontinued back in May 2013. I just checked, and you are correct: all the extending FW documentation is taken offline.

But what do you expect? Development stopped 5 years ago. Adobe cleaned up redundant pages on their servers after five years. If this documentation was important to you, why didn't you create a local copy these past 5 years? The signs were on the wall that Adobe would take these offline at some point. It is a wonder they left the page alone for 5 years.

It is what it is. Move on to other products. Fireworks is dead, dead, dead. Gone and over with.

That said, Wayback Machine is your best friend:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160412184435/http://help.adobe.com/en_US/fireworks/cs/extend/fireworks...

The FW API documentation is still available via Wayback Machine:

Adobe Fireworks * Extending Adobe Fireworks

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New Here ,
May 29, 2018 May 29, 2018

no development for  years, but this is a commercial product that is for sale, it is still available for purchase

if you buy it now and press F1 after install you'll see a 404 error

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New Here ,
May 29, 2018 May 29, 2018

> Move on to other products. Fireworks is dead, dead, dead. Gone and over with.

unfortunately there is no real alternative for my needs

i'm developing a pixelperfect gui half raster / half vector, plus i'm extensively using scripting to automate lots of routines, i'm using symbols, styles, liveffects, slices, custom self written extensions

i'm in constant search for alternative but there is no real alternative that fits my needs

here is a list of alternatives i've considered:

illustrator - probably the way i'll have to go after fireworks stop running, but in general illustrator is so old that it has to be rewritten completely, there is so many legacy problems, every time i'm opening it i have a filling that i'm back to 90th, it makes me cry when i see an outline preview while dragging an object instead of object itself in 2018, on my high end 8core cpu and monster gpu, this is ridiculous, another real pain are pop-ups that block gui - i hate it so much for 20 years already, i'm going to cry now
corel - same problem, feature rich, but old monster have to die already
xara - lack of features that i'm using each day

sketchapp - lack of features that i'm using each day

affinity - lack of features that i'm using each day

inkscape - lack of features that i'm using each day

gravit - lack of features that i'm using each day

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Mentor ,
May 29, 2018 May 29, 2018

Just out of curiosity, what are the essential features you are missing in other applications compared to Fireworks? What is your daily workflow?

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New Here ,
May 29, 2018 May 29, 2018

my secret is that i'm not an average designer, i'm an experienced programmer with degree in visual arts

1) probably most important feature for me is possibility to extend and customize editor with my own panels and scripts

2) i'm using instancing alot (symbols)

3) non-destructive (when both operands remain editable) boolean path operations (crop, intersect  and so on)

4) non-destructive filters

5) possibility to do simple raster work without living vector editor (including tracing)

6) 9-slice resizing

7) sub pixel vector editing

8) slices or artboards to export document regions

9) smart shapes like doughnut or star or gear

10) i love procedural workflow like Houdini has (fireworks don't have it as well)

11) sprite sheet generation  (fireworks don't have it)

12) css code generation

13) good svg export

14) animation with onionskin

for example recent task:  i had a list of 120 icon names in csv format, with fireworks i was able write a script that configured a document for me, where each icon is a symbol with placeholder inside, placed on canvas in few different sizes, with text labels and with slices for each icon, all perfectly aligned and with good naming, scripting saved me 4-8 hours of boring clicking

example 2: task was to make lots of icons again, but each icon had to have 12 variants: 6 different sizes in two color schemes each (orange + black and white + orange 😞 i've made a script that walks all symbols, and all groups inside, and replaces color set A to color set B, so i did all swap colors work with one click

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Mentor ,
Jun 03, 2018 Jun 03, 2018

I use PhotoLine with various tools. The latest betas of PhotoLine add scripting support (vbs and C# with DLL compilation) which expands the scope a LOT.

PhotoLine and your list:

1) probably most important feature for me is possibility to extend and customize editor with my own panels and scripts

Yes, latest betas support scripting via VBS and C# visual studio projects. DLLs can be compiled as well.

I hope the devs will add custom dialogs as well.

2) i'm using instancing alot (symbols)

While PhotoLine doesn't have symbols, it offers Virtual Layers instead. Pretty much the same thing. A virtual layer is an instance/clone of another layer, and it updates in real-time when the source is being edited. Very powerful concept, because even adjustment layers and filter layers can be instanced and recycled - unlike symbols, which are limited to (collections of) objects only.

3) non-destructive (when both operands remain editable) boolean path operations (crop, intersect  and so on)

Nah, unfortunately booleans are destructive in PhotoLine. Most other things are non-destrutive, though.

4) non-destructive filters

Most filters are non-destructive by default. No need to convert to a smart object to apply a Gaussian blur effect, for example. Those effects that are destructive can be applied non-destructively by converting the target layer(s) to a so-called placeholder layer (which are PhotoLine's "smart objects".

Boon: classic Photoshop compatible filters are also non-destructively applied to placeholder, just like Photoshop. No other design app, outside of Photoshop, is capable of doing this.

5) possibility to do simple raster work without leaving vector editor (including tracing)

PhotoLine absolutely obliterates Fireworks here. Bitmap editing is comparable to Photoshop. The beauty of PL: each bitmap layer can have its own image mode, bit-depth (8, 16, 32) and pixel dimensions. So feel free to combine Lab, monochrome, RGB and CMYK layers in the same layer stack!

PhotoLine offers quite nice vector editing tools as well. And treats vector layers as real vectors, outputting at max resolution if required, unlike Fireworks. Turn pixel view on or off. Turn anti-aliasing on or off.

PhotoLine combines image editing and vector editing in one app. Oh, and it supports bitmap to vector tracing as well (just convert a bitmap layer to a vector layer). Vector or bitmap patterns are possible too (or combinations).

6) 9-slice resizing

No, sadly not (yet). I am hoping the devs will implement this. I miss this option myself.

7) sub pixel vector editing

Yes, with the choice of snapping vectors to the pixel grid or not, and the option on a per-layer basis to turn off anti-aliasing as well.

8) slices or artboards to export document regions

No, no slicing. I dislike the slicing method myself, and prefer layer/layer group based export options. PhotoLine is already able to export multiple selected layers as individual files, and the latest betas include a Photoshop Generator script with layer names deciding how each asset is exported.

PhotoLine does support pages just like Fireworks, though. Each page may have custom dimensions, and all pages can be saved separately in one go.

The newest betas are expanding this functionality a lot (spreads support, for example) so it is possible to have three or more "artboards" side by side. Also true threaded text boxes!

9) smart shapes like doughnut or star or gear

Yes, various objects with live parameters. To access the live parameters you do need to activate the correct shape tool again, though. A bit clunky, but it works.

10) i love procedural workflow like Houdini has (fireworks don't have it as well)

Yeah, a nodal workflow would be nice 😉 No, while PhotoLine's workflow is mostly non-destructive, a procedural workflow is only possible via scripting.

11) sprite sheet generation  (fireworks don't have it)

I use TexturePacker. Nothing else comes close, so why bother with anything else? Export my layers to a folder, and activate TexturePacker. Add more layers and assets, and TexturePacker watches the changes in the folder, and updates the spritesheet. Includes automatic @2x and more multiple resolution packing. Brilliant little app.

12) css code generation

No, not (yet) available in PhotoLine. I plan to write my own script to do this for me now that PL has script support. All properties of a layer can be read, so... Isn't hard to do.

13) good svg export

Yes, definitely. Good import and export. Also a really nice live link with Inkscape if required.

14) animation with onionskin

PhotoLine has a simple timeline that is detached from the main canvas or can animate the layers (use groups to manage each animation part). No onionskinning.

I never animate in PhotoLine. Nor do I touch the animation in Photoshop or Fireworks, because those are far too basic for my taste. Instead, I use proper animation tools such as OpenToonz, Moho, Blender, ClipStudio, even Krita. Depends on the type of animation. For simple hovers and related stuff I will just use multiple layer groups, and export those.

Anyway, I really like working in PhotoLine. I am a game and web developer myself, and PL ticks most of the boxes for me. It works wonderfully well with other apps with its external app-link: just send layers to another app from within PL.

Your scripting examples would be easy to pull off in PhotoLine as well.

Get the trial here: www.pl32.com

A portable version is also available! The beta version with scripting is available in the forum.

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Guide ,
Sep 07, 2018 Sep 07, 2018
LATEST

Fireworks is NOT dead so don't stop using it if its your best option....  There is still NO viable replacement in the marketplace for Fireworks IMO. My advise keep using it if it meets your needs. Its the best and only complete vector/bitmap/ui/web/prototyping all in one software solutions by a mile.

Photoshop is too clunky and most other UI design tools have none or very little bitmap capabilities meaning you have to switch between different programs which is a total joke. Mac users have been moving to Sketch but it still lacks a  lot of the bitmap capabilities of Fireworks and who cares about Artboards or if it is the trendy software of the moment ... Pages in Fireworks work just fine for me

There are also plenty of extensions out there for Fireworks to extend it and bring up to date, adding features like SVG support, cleaner CSS output/extraction etc etc .... The batch features in Fireworks are brilliant also and you'll find it supports a lot of older Photoshop Plugins which can be quite useful.

I found this link if its any use: https://help.adobe.com/archive/en_US/fireworks/cs5/fireworks_cs5_extending.pdf

Paul-M - Community Expert
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