Subtitles of the Movie

In this movie I review Fireworks Filters. Fireworks CS4 Filters that were known as Live Effects in previous versions of Fireworks are enhancements that you can apply to vector objects, bitmap images and text. But let me take this opportunity to demonstrate them here while we're focusing on bitmaps. Filters include Bevels and Embossing, Solid Shadows, Drop Shadows, Image Correction and Blurring and Sharpening. You can apply Live Filters from the Property Inspector. Open up the Properties Inspector here and notice that there is a Filters Category. You can also apply them from the Main Menu, Filters, Adjust Color, Blur, Noise, Other, Sharpen and so on. Notice if I click on the little Plus Button right there I have Adjust Color, Bevel, Emboss, Blur, Noise, Other, as well as Photoshop Live Effects. Let me move this over here. So I have more options from the Properties Inspector. This is one reason why I require all my Fireworks students to leave the Properties Inspector open. That way they learn a lot about these techniques and tools that I'm demonstrating in this tutorial. Fireworks automatically updates Filters when you edit objects that have filters applied to them. For example, here in my Drop Shadow, if I add an S at the end it filters the S. Likewise, if I add an S after the Noise here, it adds the filter to the S. After you apply a filter you can change its options any time or rearrange the order of the filters to experiment with a combined filter. Do that again from the Properties Inspector. So here in the Filters, Text right here I have applied several filters and I can see those filters in the Properties Inspector. Let's go ahead and click on the Arrow Tool and then select the text and you can see the filters that I've applied here. And I can modify those at any time. I'm going to double click on the filter and for that Drop Shadow let's change the color to black. Let's increase the distance of the throw and the blur like so. The combo down here has a variety of filters applied and notice that I can change the order that these filters are applied; Outer Bevel is first and then Invert and then Add Noise. Let's drag Add Noise to the top and notice that it's making subtle changes there to the filter. If I take the Outer Bevel and put it at the bottom, it looks different than if I drag it to the top. You could also turn Live Filters on or off or different combinations on or off by clicking on the little checkmark up there. Let's go up here and turn off the Photoshop Live Effects for my Filters, Text there. Let's turn off the Drop Shadow. To remove a filter permanently, just click on the Remove or Delete the Current Selected Live Filter Button right there. When you do Remove a filter the object or image returns to its previous appearance. Let me now move to this plain file with no filters applied. This is called Filter Start in the Work Files Folder. I can apply one or more filters to selected objects using the Properties Inspector. I can apply these filters to bitmap objects, vectors or text. Let's start with this vector object and let's flatten it by choosing Modify, Flatten Selection. That converts it into a bitmap. Here let's apply a Drop Shadow to that bitmap object. Here's some text. I can also apply a Drop Shadow to it and then modify that Drop Shadow. I can add additional filters. Again, here in the Properties Inspector let's do a Bevel and Emboss, Inner Bevel and apply another bevel to this vector object here. Let's do an Inset Emboss Bevel for that one. Applying a beveled edge to an object notice gives it a raised look. You can create both Inner Bevels and Outer Bevels. Embossing is a little bit different. Let's go ahead and do an Embossing to some text right here. Emboss, select the text, choose from the Filters Drop-Down Menu, Bevel and Emboss, Raised Emboss. This makes an image or object or text appear inset into or raised from the canvas. Let's increase the amount of Emboss. That's probably exaggerated there but you get the idea. Sometimes it's helpful to exaggerate the effects to see how they differ from other effects. Using the Drop Shadow Tool, which by the way, I like better than the Drop Shadow Tool for Fireworks. This Drop Shadow Tool makes it easy to apply solid shadows, drop shadows, inner shadows and glows to object. Let's go here to Glow and apply Shadow and Glow, an Inner Glow like so. I don't see much change there. Let's change the color of the glow to bright red. Again, sometimes I exaggerate these effects when demonstrating them to students so they get an idea of what they do. Let's double click on this and modify it some more and then let's go ahead and delete it and apply a different glow. Let's do just a Glow. That's probably a little bit easier to understand and let's change the color and reduce this. Again, I generally when using these go easy with them. They're easy to overdo. Noise is another one that I frequently use. Add Noise and then I can determine the amount of noise here with the slider. Notice that I have a preview to show me the effect here. Now let me demonstrate Blur; the Blur Filter. Let me go ahead and move this Properties Inspector over so you can read these. But Blur includes Blur, Blur More, Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur and then a slider for dictating the amount of blur. Remember that some of these filters are also found up here in the Filters Menu, including the blurs. And then the last filter, which probably deserves its own movie is the Photoshop Live Effects Option. That brings up this dialog in which you can apply multiple effects all at the same time; Inner, Outer Glows, Color Overlays, Bevel and Emboss and so on to get a combo effect like I have here. If you're familiar with Photoshop, you're probably familiar with these Live Effects. If you'd like to learn more about all of these Live Effects and the various properties and settings over here, check your Photoshop documentation. That'll wrap up then this section of the tutorial on creating bitmap graphics. Let me now move on to the next section: Selecting, Transforming and Organizing Object in Fireworks CS4.