Very often you will work with images that have already been created, such as images of company logos, scanned images, and images taken with a digital camera. Furthermore, you might need to make further changes to an image you have already created and edited. To import or load existing images into Fireworks {Click} "File/Open."  The "Open" Dialog box pops up.

Open Dialog Box

The "Open" Dialog Box contains standard file opening options such as controls to navigate to particular directories, create new directories, etc. We’ll try opening a file so navigate your way to the location where you saved your document. It should be in the "unit003" folder.

For "Files of type:" with Windows, or "Format" with Macintosh select "All Formats" to make the Open Dialog Box show files of all types. {Click} the drop-down arrow and have a look at the list of file types or formats Fireworks supports.  Recall that file types are different kinds of bitmap or vector files that have developed and evolved since the birth of digital imaging. Because Fireworks supports so many file formats your editing options are almost limitless.

{Double-Click} "diana.png" or {Click} "diana.png" once and then {Click} "Open." A Document Window opens with a picture of a boat in it.

You now have an open image file. Lets examine some of the things we can do and certain things that happen when you create or import an image into Fireworks.

Import Photoshop Files

In addition to standard graphic file formats Fireworks also allows you to import Photoshop (.psd) files and maintain their layer, text and effect information. Fireworks also gives you the option of distributing the layer information to frames if you wish to create animated graphics.

Opening a Photoshop file is no different than opening any other graphic with one exception. When you {Click} the "Open" button for a .psd, a dialog box appears.

(Figure 3.4)

You are presented with a number of file conversion options. You can select "Maintain Layers" and import the .psd file as it was originally saved. The Photoshop layers will appear in the Fireworks layer panel in exactly the same order that they were created.  If you {Click}on the "Make Shared Layers" button, all of the layer content will appear on all the frames you have created in your Fireworks document. If you {Click} on the "Convert to Frames" button, the file’s layer content will be placed across separate frames. These frames can then be animated using Fireworks’ Frames Panel.

You also have two options for the importation of text. If you {Click} on the "Editable" button the text is imported as a text block allowing you to use the text tool to change your written content. This option will only work if you have the font used in the Photoshop file installed on your system, otherwise your text will not appear as it should. If you would like the text to appear exactly as it does in the Photoshop file but don’t have the required fonts installed on your system, you can {Click}on the "Maintain Appearance" button and Fireworks will rasterize the text on import and place it in your document as a bitmap. You have lost the ability to edit the text but have maintained the appearance of the text as it was originally composed.

Importing Images

If you want to insert images into your document choose "File/Import" and navigate your way to the document you need by way of the "Import" dialog box. Place your cursor in your Document Window (your cursor’s appearance will have changed) and {Click} where you want to place your image. Note that the cursors position when you {Click} will be where the top left hand corner of your image is positioned in your document.