Photographs can be very useful for conveying a visual message that complements the written content of your site.  Pictures, however, can sometimes be distracting if they don’t fit in with the overall design of your website. A traditional photograph developed from a negative is square. To simply scan it and place it in your web page isn’t sufficient, especially if your site has a distinctive appearance.  Imagine a layout that depends on organic, rounded shapes and a square photograph sitting there in the middle of it.  It doesn’t work.  You can resize your photographs and modify the colors if you wish but that might only take you half way.  Masking photographs with vector shapes allows you to maintain a consistent "look and feel" site wide and break free of the traditional photo album appearance of the average web site.

We can’t do anything with Masks until we know how to combine and manipulate vector content.  Fireworks allows you to create composite objects by combining paths and shapes. You can join or split shapes, unify them, intersect them, punch them out, or crop them.   In order for the combinations to work your two or more vector shapes must overlap and be selected. To multiple select you simply select one object and [SHIFT] {Click} any additional shapes that you want to add to your selection.

Create a new document and place a few vector objects in your Document Window. Make each object a different color and vary their shape.

(Figure 10.1)

All of the options for modifying vector content can be found under Modify on your Menu bar.

(Figure 10.2)

Use your Pointer Tool to move your vector objects so they overlap each other. Multiple select two of them.  We want to try joining them so select Modify/Join on your Menu bar.  Joining two shapes will fill any overlapping material with the background color or make it transparent depending on your document settings.

            
(Figure 10.3 (a)Two selected circles) 

 (Figuree 10.3 (b) The circles joined)

Your two shapes are now connected into one. You can return them to their original state if you select "Split" from the Modify Menu.