Symbol Editing Window

Take a look at the item listing in your Library Panel and you will notice that Symbols are categorized and sorted by Name, Kind, and Date Modified. Under Name you will see an icon indicating whether or not the item is a graphic or a button followed by the Name you gave the symbol.

The Date Modified column lets us know the last time the Symbol was edited. This can be useful if many people are working on the same project and using the same graphics.

To insert a Library Symbol into a document all you have to do is select it from either the preview window or the item list and drag and drop it in the Document Window.

A Symbol can be differentiated from other types of content in your Document Window by the type of border around it. If you select a Symbol with your Pointer Tool it’s border will consist of a square, black and white, dashed line with small blue squares at each corner. It will also contain a blue crosshair at it’s center and a small arrow icon in the bottom left hand corner that, if {Clicked} on, will allow you to edit the Symbol.

A library item that has been inserted into a document is known as an "Instance" of a Symbol. An "Instance" is different from a copy in that it will always adopt the characteristics of the original Symbol from which it was derived. A good analogy would be to think of the Symbol as the parent and the Instance as the child. If you change the color of your original symbol from blue to red, every single instance of that symbol in every document in which it is used will also become red. This has its advantages and disadvantages. It makes it easy to change items site wide but it can pose problems if, for instance, you want to keep one of your circles green instead of red. In that case you would have to create a separate "Green Circle" Symbol.

You can modify Instances in a number of different ways. They can be scaled, rotated, skewed, distorted, and transformed. You can access these options by {Right-Clicking} on the Instance in the Document Window or selecting Modify/Transform from the Menu Bar. You cannot change an Instance’s color or augment it in any way. If you wish to do this you have to edit the Symbol from which it originated or create a new Symbol based on the Instance.

Editing Symbols is fairly straightforward. You can select Modify/Symbol/Edit Symbol from your Menu Bar or select the Symbol in your Library Panel and "Edit Symbol" from the Panel’s Pop Out Menu or {Click}on the small arrow icon in the bottom left hand corner of the selected Symbol. The Symbol Editing Window will appear and you can make any changes to it that you wish. To complete the changes close the Symbol Editing Window. You will notice that every Instance of the Symbol in your Document Window has changed to reflect the edits that you have made.

If you would like to utilize Symbols you have stored in your Library in other Documents you must first export them. To do this you select the Pop Out Menu at the top, right hand corner of your Library Panel and {Click}"Export Symbol". 

The Export Symbol Dialog box will appear with a listing of all of the Symbols you have in your document. Select the Symbol that you wish to Export and {Click} on the Export button. You can export more than one Symbol at a time by holding down the [CTRL] key and making multiple selections or clicking on the "Select All" button. A generic "Save As" Dialog Box will appear prompting you to give your Symbol a name and locate a folder in which to you want it to reside.

Fireworks saves exported Symbols as .png files which can be opened and edited independent of the documents in which they are used. 

You can add exported Symbols to your Library by selecting "Import Symbols" from its Pop Out Menu. A generic "Open" dialog box will appear prompting you to navigate your way to the file that you want to incorporate into your Library. You can import any number of different graphic file formats to your Library; however, if you wish to export them they will be converted to a .png. Try importing a number of different graphics into your Library.

The beauty of using imported symbols is the ease with which they can be updated throughout every document in which they are used. You can open exported Symbol files in Fireworks and edit them in any way you wish.  Instead of re-importing the edited Symbol into a document that makes use of it, you simply select "Update" from the Library Pop Out Menu and the job is done for you automatically. A dialog box should appear telling you that the process has been completed. Updating in this manner allows you to choose which documents receive the modified Symbol and which ones retain the original.

It is a good idea to import every graphic you are going to use into your document before you start working on it. You can only update Symbols that you’ve imported so don’t create content in a single document that you feel you are going to use repeatedly. Create all of your symbols first, export them, and then import them into your documents as you create them.  That way you know that you’ll only have to edit Symbols once and be able to update them in any or every document that uses them.

The Library, if used effectively, can save the designer a great deal of time and keep important graphic content organized.