Subtitles of the Movie

Continuing my review of Working with Vector Graphics in Fireworks CS4 from the previous movie, Fireworks CS4 has many tools for drawing and editing vector objects using a variety of techniques with the basic Shape Tools here in the Vector Portion of the Tools Panel. You can quickly draw a straight line, circles and ellipses, squares and rectangle, starts and any equilateral polygon with three to 360 sides. Do that with the Polygon Tool. Notice that I can adjust the properties of that polygon here in the Property Inspector, including adding effects to the polygon. Let's go ahead and detach my Property Inspector, select the polygon and the effects or filters is what they're called in Fireworks. Go ahead and add a Drop Shadow to that polygon and then adjust the properties of that drop shadow. Those are all vector objects that I'm working with. You can also draw Freeform vector paths with the Vector Path and Pen Tools right here. This is probably the most sophisticated and complicated tool to really master. It's very similar to tools that you'll find in Illustrator and other vector programs but notice that you can draw straight line segments by simply clicking. Let's go ahead and delete some of these objects on the stage here. Notice how easy it is to delete the objects to select them with the Black Arrow Tool and Delete. So if I click, I'm creating straight-line segments. If I want to complete the object, I just end where I started and I notice that it adds the fill. It won't add the fill until I completely enclose the object like so. Now, if I click and drag my mouse, I'm creating curved line segments. Notice that I didn't completely fill in that object so I didn't get the fill but by clicking on the end point there I'm completing the object. I then get the radial gradient fill that I set up earlier. Fireworks provides several methods for editing the vector objects that you've drawn. You can change an object's shape by moving, adding or deleting points. You can point handles as I demonstrated earlier to change the shape of adjacent point segments. The Paths Panel that I introduced to you earlier also provides additional tools for modifying paths and points here. Notice that there's tools for combining paths, altering paths or working with the points. Remember that the paths are the line segments between the points. The points are the, let's go ahead and move this out of the way and zoom in. The points are the nodes there, the little squares. Notice that blue squares are unselected and the white squares there means you can then alter those points. Notice that also the points change color when I choose the Select Tool versus the Subselect Tool. Subselect Tool they change white. The Select Tool, they change blue meaning that I can just move the whole thing but I can't edit individual points there. There's actually quite a bit more here about working with vector objects. Let me now move on to the next movie and get deeper into this topic of creating vector shapes in Fireworks CS4 with a review of Auto Shapes, which are intelligent vector object groups that adhere to specialized rules to simplify the creation and editing of common visual elements.