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NZ Macguide Issue 5
Well, it's about time we had the publishing industry software head-to-head, so here it is. We've covered a lot of Adobe product lately - it's time to look hard at the other heavyweight contender, a suite offering from Macromedia - Studio MX, an OS X (and 9.1) powerhouse which comprises FreeHand, Flash, Dreamweaver and Fireworks. We've covered this latest version of Flash before, so I'll concentrate on the other aps, and needless to say, after all my Adobe reviews, I won't be able to help comparing the packages with their direct competitors.The whole package installed in minutes and no restart was required so I was off and running in no time.  | All of the MX Studio applications hand-hold users through the opening stages | Opening the package
The Macromedia MX suite is aimed squarely at answering a web developer's needs all in the one integrated, data-linked package, and with this in mind, the clear and concise manual is laid out to facilitate just that, even explaining the basics of web terminology. After that, there's a handy run through of web development workflow, including the basics of defining a site in Dreamweaver, establishing Cold Fusion (web server) data sources, creating mock-ups in FreeHand and Flash, creating layouts in Dreamweaver etcetera - it's pretty hard to argue with such a comprehensive approach (if only I'd had this all two years ago!). Then it's into Dreamweaver, so we may as well begin there too. Taking you through the night ...
I built a site in Dreamweaver a couple of years ago and was immediately impressed with its ease of use. However, I've since made the switch to OS X, so I was interested to see how the OS X version cut it. Crikey, there's not much floundering around with new and unfamiliar software - you get your hand 'virtually' held from the moment you open the first application. A godsend for complete novices, this is simplistic for experienced users. Dreamweaver MX has new features, of course: better panel management, more predesigned web components and Javascript function libraries, enhanced templates, the Site Definition Wizard for site set-up, code hints, customisable Insert bar, customisable Document toolbar, file browser in the Site panel to save all those trips to the finder, instant access to online Macromedia resources via the 'Answers' panel, enhanced table manipulations, cascading Javascript pop-up menus, customisable syntax colouring and there's now an option to print out the source code of web pages. MX has support for all the latest server technologies with code libraries for ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP and more. Of course there's also XML editing and validation, enhanced Cascading Style Sheet support, XHTML etcetera. And there's a lot of etcetera, believe me, not to mention a multitude of web resources users can access. Dreamweaver MX is fast to use - unlike GoLive, which has processor intensive bits of software built into it like Photoshop's Save For Web, Dreamweaver is lean and quick, assuming you know what you're doing and you have your images ready for web use before you attempt to put them up. Putting Macromedia's showpiece an increment ahead of GoLive is seamless database integration, allowing you to build strong dynamic content to respond to viewers' input. Adobe's GoLive might be more powerful after deep digging, but Dreamweaver's intuitive interface is as elegant and fast as ever and hides a surprising amount of depth. While Dreamweaver MX is too much for hobbyist site builders, it forms excellent value-for-money as part of this powerful all-in-one suite. If you're a Dreamweaver user and/or a code-head in the making, you can't go wrong with this powerful new version. (We've covered Flash MX in Macguide before, so note it's inclusion but we'll move on to the next Studio component.)  | Many of the attributes of Fireworks mirror those of Photoshop | Fireworks MX
This is image manipulation software Macromedia developed expressly for internet use (first released in 1998) - and yes, word is that workers who slave exclusively over internet media can now do without Photoshop, although they'll miss the History palette (those who still do print work will want to keep Photoshop). Fireworks MX can create and edit both vector and bitmap graphics and it has automation features for repetitive tasks. Results can be exported web-ready and with HTML and JavaScript code customised to your HTML editor of choice. Note: Fireworks can handle layers made in Photoshop. It's native file format is PNG, but Fireworks is comfortable opening and saving the formats you'd expect. This new version sports a streamlined user interface and more powerful button and menu creation tools, and JavaScript commands created in Flash can now be displayed in Fireworks as dialogue boxes or panels. Like the other MX aps, Fireworks now has its own Property Inspector. Also likewise, panels are dockable and further customisable. (There are tonnes of new features, actually, but I only have space here for an overview.) The cornerstone of the Fireworks experience, apart from the seamless editing of both vector and bitmap graphics (which Photoshop still struggles with a little), is the so-called Live Effects, essentially a collection of filters available for use on any picture element. However, filters applied to bitmap graphics are slow compared to Photoshop.  | The Effects palette in Fireworks comes straight from the Property Inspector, and works just as well on vector objects | A feature I particularly like is that you can change formats of an image as you work, seeing immediately how it looks, and keep working - none of the 'Save As' palaver - plus you can work with Windows gamma to visually optimise your work for all those PC-based browsers, as well as preview in different browsers on the fly. Cool. (However, changing the colour space from RGB to CMYK didn't seem to be an option. Where's that manual?) Besides all this, Fireworks simplifies the task of creating drag-and-drop rollovers, a variety of buttons - either singly or in navigation bars and with URLs attached - pop-up menus and handles slices with ease. Freehand vector graphics can be imported directly into Fireworks. FreeHand
After the sometimes overwhelming array of palette mess in a typical Adobe workspace, FreeHand's work space is very clean and uncluttered.  | Vector objects are handled with aplomb in Freehand | Freehand is every bit as powerful as Illustrator and it often comes down to pure preference as to which drawing programme you might use - in other words, not many people would choose to own both. The multipage feature of Freehand sets it apart from Illustrator, giving it basic small document creation possibilities, and its operability with the whole MX bundle and its pure uncluttered speed are both definite pluses. New for Freehand MX: Navigation panel for assigning URL links and Flash actions to objects, and Master Pages like those in page layout programmes. Enhancements include the Pen tool, which has come in for major revision, and the Brush Stroke feature. The usability of the Tools panel has been extended, the Symbols panel has been renamed Library (and its symbols are now editable like those in Illustrator), there is now two-dimensional contour grading, users can define print areas and there's a revision tracker for unsaved documents. As a straight-up drawing tool, Freehand lives up to its name - it's elegant and fast in use, allowing the flexibility to, for example, rapidly track blended objects to paths and then add effects to them for stunning and complex results.  | Freehand offers lots of typeface control | At such a quick glance, a feature I really liked was the way typefaces in font menus displayed samples as pop-outs, and I liked the way you can use paths by marrying custom sprayed objects or blends to them. While you're at it, don't forget to explore the Xtras menu - it's chock full of extra stuff including transparency, path intersection tools, fractals ... As part of Macromedia Studio's web focus, you can make Flash movies and preview them right then and there inside Freehand MX, exporting an SWF file when you're happy. This way you can animate text (once converted to paths) and and objects directly using the Release To Layers Xtra, add Flash MX actions to artwork and export whole Freehand docs as Flash MX movies. Finally ...
There's no doubt this is one hell of a package. Considering that Fireworks covers some of the most used bases of Photoshop and excels it in web applications (discounting that ImageReady ships with Photoshop 7, anyhow), and you can build sites and their content then dive into FreeHand for real creative punch, it's pretty comprehensive for the web, and serviceable enough for a little print work. If you're building your creative portfolio around web development, you get a lot of usable, elegant power with this package and there's plenty of depth for you to grow into. Throw in the hefty package of free, professional fonts and other goodies like the trial version of BBEdit and the latest Apple Macintosh Runtime for Java (MRJ), plus the extra graphics punch that applications optimised for OS X offer you, and it's hard to argue with Macromedia's sensibility in assembling this suite. © Parkside Media 2002
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