Subtitles of the Movie

Fireworks offers several methods for editing your Vector objects. You can change an object's shape by moving, adding, or deleting points. You'll use the Subselection Tool to do this. Notice I can click on that point and drag it down there to drastically modify the shape of this Vector object. You could also mov point handles to change the shape of adjacent path segments. The Free Form Tools let you alter the shape of objects by editing the paths directly rather than messing with the points. The Free Form Tools are down here in the Vector section. There's a Free Form Tool, the Reshape Areas Tool, and then two Path Scrubber Tools Ð Additive and Subtractive. The Free Form Tool, you need to select the object first using the Selection Tool, and now if I click on the Free Form Tool I can just go ahead and modify this shape by changing the paths directly, not messing with the points. Likewise, this line here I can free form and change the shape of that line, no fill involved here like I had over there in that shape. Let's go ahead and undo all these changes and come back with my original shapes. Now you can also use Path operations to create new shapes by combining or altering existing paths, but let's now focus on modifying Vector graphics by editing their paths directly. Now in addition to dragging points and point handles you can use several Fireworks tools to edit Vector points directly rather than manipulating them with tools. You can use Path operations in the Modify menu to create new shapes by combining or altering existing paths. Let me demonstrate that by selecting this Vector shape and then choosing from the Main Menu Modify, and there's a variety of tools here, Menu Options for modifying your paths. I can do the Free Transform Tool, and that gives me this box where I can move, rotate, and scale in both the X and the Y directions, these objects. Let's undo that. And now let's continue here, the Modify, Transform Scale. I can skew these objects, as well as rotate them. Notice that I can take these points now and skew the object: Modify, Transform, Distort, as well. Let's go ahead and distort this. Notice that these handles behave differently depending on which tool you're using. That's kind of an interesting effect there. Somewhat similar to the Free Form Tool that I used before, now I'm freely distorting this object by changing these control points here. And last, I can also Modify, Transform, Numeric Transform, I can rotate things 180 degrees, 90 degrees, counterclockwise, I can flip horizontal and flip vertical. You can also edit paths using a specialized Path Panel. The Path Panel provides quick access to a number of path-related commands. You can use the tools on this Panel to speed up path editing tasks. Access this Panel Ð it's a bit hidden Ð Window, Others down here at the bottom, and then right there at the bottom is Path, and that'll bring up this Panel where you have tools for Combining paths, Altering paths, Working with Edit Points, and then Select Points. Let me go ahead and select using the Selection Tool here, both of these objects, and let's combine these together. Notice that it changes the color so that now they're combined together. I could also Split the Paths, like so, or Union Paths, Intersect Paths, Punch Paths Ð that's an interesting one. Let me demonstrate that by moving this path inside of the other and now let's select both Paths and then click on the Punch Paths Tool. You can see that it punched out a hole in the path underneath. I can divide paths, exclude paths, trim paths, as well as crop paths. I recommend that you practice these various tools here in the Path Panel by creating some shapes and then applying these various combined path tools. There's also Alter Path Tools. Let's undo some of those changes that I made, like so. Let's take this path right here and let's Smooth it, which is the first option, or simplify it, I should say. I can simplify this by 10 points there, I can Expand the Stroke, and I can also Convert strokes to fills, Inset expand the paths; here it's going to take the direction, the width, the corners, all this, and then you can change these values there, so there's really quite a number of ways to change these. You can also Reverse Gradients, Open Closed Paths, Reverse Contours, and then some of these more esoteric ones: Extrude Paths, Blend Paths, Fisheye Paths, Deform the Path, as well as these options here: Path States and Fill Rule. These require specific kinds of objects here. This command requires at least one selected path to be deformed and a top path to deform, too. I don't have time to demonstrate all of these. The Fisheye command requires at least one selected path to be deformed and the top ellipse to determine the fisheye area.