Fireworks CS4 Photoshop Integration

metting of two titans one for web one for print

Pretty much, yes.

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These would be great features, if it weren’t for the fact that the redesigned type engine in Fireworks CS4 is fatally buggy. The type rendering issues in CS4 have kept me from upgrading from CS3. Ironically, better integration and conversion with Photoshop was the only reason I wanted to upgrade to CS4, especially the font rendering.

Thanks you Jim for your tutorials. A couple of questions: 1) If all the elements of a design can be created in Photoshop why use Fireworks at all? Is optimization of images the only reason?
2) If I want to create animation and interactivity in Flash, how far should I go in Fireworks?

Great concept, except that the font rendering still looks totally different in Fireworks CS4. When it’s not crashing.

@Alex:Sorry for the delay, Alex – but by now you should be aware of the patch offered by Adobe. It solves many of hte major text issues.

@Vik: Generally, I find it faster/easier to work in Fireworks for page development. The faster I can do things, the sooner I can move on to other projects. That said, if Photoshop is your tool of preference , then you will probably work faster there. The key is to work with the software, give yourself a little time to see the strengths of FW.

As for animation, FW has far better drawing/illustration tools that Flash, so if you have the need to do detailed illustration work, you might want to start in FW and then move to Flash.

@David:I assume you mean font rendering looks different than it did in CS3? You’re right. But prior to the introduction of the Adobe font engine in FW, there were many complaints that text was so different in AI and PS, when compared to PS. The introduction of this type engine hopefully will improve the integration between the products. I hope we see more of this (and improved stability) in the next release.