fireworks

The Adobe Fireworks commands collected here are mainly productivity enhancement tools. They won't help you make better looking pictures; rather, they'll help you use Fireworks more efficiently. And if you're an extension developer yourself, some of them will help you build your own extensions.

Questions or comments? Ping me at fw at johndunning dot com. Or follow me on Twitter.

Note to Vista and Windows 7 Users: If you have User Account Control on (which it is by default) and launch Extension Manager from the Commands menu, it will not successfully install the .mxp files. Instead, you will need to right-click the EM application and select "Run as Administrator".

  • Smart Resize  Download 0.3.2 (2010-02-06)

    The Smart Resize auto shape helps you automatically adjust the layout of grouped elements to a new size without distorting the elements in the process. This makes it easy to quickly resize a mock up of a dialog box, for instance. Just drag the shape's yellow handles to move the grouped elements around to match the new size. See the screencast for an example of how the auto shape works. more...

  • Adjustments Panel  Download 0.2.1 (2010-01-05)

    If you want to make the fill color of an element darker, you can select it, open the Mixer panel, switch to HSB mode, and then drag the brightness slider. But what if you have two differently colored elements and want to make them both slightly darker? You can't use the Mixer panel because it will set both elements to the same color. The Adjustments panel makes this and other tasks easier. more...

  • Custom Nudge  Download 0.4.1 (2009-10-11)

    These commands let you nudge the selection by custom amounts, rather than just 1 or 10 pixels. You can even nudge elements by less than a whole pixel, like .25, in order to tweak an element's anti-aliasing. more...

  • Keyboard Resize  Download 1.2.2 (2009-10-11)

    This extension makes it easy to resize selected elements in any direction using just the keyboard, which can be much more convenient than dragging the Scale tool with the mouse. And unlike the Scale tool, text blocks are resized without being distorted. more...

  • Smart Punch  Download 0.3.1 (2009-09-26)

    The "Smart Punch" command goes far beyond Fireworks' basic punch functionality, letting you punch vector or bitmap objects out of another vector or bitmap. Even text blocks can be used as the "puncher" or the "punchee". The possibilities for punching mayhem are endless. more...

  • Fix Rounded Rect Corners  Download 1.0.2 (2009-09-26)

    After you create a rectangle, adjust the Roundness value to set the corners to the desired pixel radius. Then use the Scale tool to freely resize the rectangle, or use the Info panel to change the size numerically. Finally, run the Fix Rounded Rect Corners command to fix the corner distortion introduced by the Scale tool.
    more...

  • JSON Panel  Download 0.1.0 (2009-09-14)

    For you Fireworks developers out there who like to sling JavaScript but aren't down with Flash, or just don't want to deal with the overhead of building a SWF for a simple panel, the JSON Panel library can help. It's a combination of JS and Flex 3 that lets you create a Flash panel using just JavaScript, so you can build a fully functional Fireworks panel with nothing more than a text editor. For non-developers, this extension won't be very useful. more...

  • Command Dialog  Download 0.1.0 (2009-08-17)

    For you Fireworks command developers out there who like to sling JavaScript but aren't down with Flash, or just don't want to deal with the overhead of building a SWF for a simple command, the Command Dialog library can help. It's a combination of JS and Flex 3 that lets you create a SWF dialog using just JavaScript, so you can add a complex UI to your commands without any additional tools. For non-developers, this extension won't be very useful, though it does include an implementation of a Move Selection dialog similar to the one in Illustrator. more...

  • Copy Paste WHXY  Download 1.1.0 (2009-07-26)

    The Paste Attributes command is handy for quickly giving the same appearance to a bunch of objects. But it would also be helpful to give objects the same size or position. You can use the Properties panel to do that, but then you have to type in the size or position values each time you want to apply them, and you have to select each element one at a time. The commands in this extension make that process much more convenient. more...

  • Smart Knife  Download 0.2.0 (2009-07-21)

    The Smart Knife command lets you split one or more shapes in half using an open path. The built-in knife tool lets you split a path, but only in a straight line, and it doesn't work with text, auto shapes or bitmaps. Smart Knife lets you cut across multiple paths, bitmaps, auto shapes and text blocks with an arbitrarily complex open path. more...

  • QuickFire  Download 0.5.0 (2009-06-03)

    QuickFire is essentially Quicksilver for Fireworks. While it's easy to add a keyboard shortcut for your most-used commands, accessing the others still requires clicking through the Commands menu. QuickFire makes accessing these commands much easier: just launch QuickFire (with a keyboard shortcut, of course), start typing part of the command's name, then hit enter to run the matched command. Quick 'n' easy. You can even type the names of auto shapes or symbols from the Common Library to quickly insert them into your document. more...

  • Favicon  Download 0.9.0 (2009-05-07)

    The "Export as Favicon" command creates a favicon file from the current document, which must be 16px by 16px. If you're using Fireworks CS3 or later, the favicon can also include a 32px version of the icon. Currently this command works only on Windows. more...

  • Greeked Text  Download 1.0.0 (2009-04-28)

    When creating wireframes, it's often useful to suggest the presence of text without using actual words, which can distract the viewer from the overall layout. Even "lorem ipsum" dummy text requires the selection of a typeface and size, which may be too much detail for the mockup. In hand-drawn mockups (does anyone still draw by hand?) you could use a marker to draw lines of different lengths to suggest text, but this effect has always been a pain to create with software. The Greeked Text auto shape makes it easy. more...

  • Copy Merged  Download 1.4.0 (2009-03-22)

    With just one step, the "Copy Merged" command copies onto the clipboard the entire document as a flattened image. It even copies the objects on locked layers, without affecting their locked state. "Copy Merged into New Document" does the same thing but pastes the flattened image into a new document. "Copy Merged into Selection" copies the merged pixels into the selected objects while respecting their alpha channels. more...

  • Group Commands  Download 0.1.2 (2009-03-01)

    The commands in this extension make it a little easier to manipulate groups, including the ability to paste elements into a group or ungroup and regroup it without losing any effects that had been applied to it. And the "Group Attributes - Copy/Paste" commands let you copy the styles of all the sub-elements of one group to another. more...

  • Select Points  Download 1.1.0 (2009-02-27)

    To manipulate vectors with a high degree of control it's often necessary to subselect individual points on the path. But selecting lots of individual points on a complicated path can be awkward, especially if it's hard to use a rectangular marquee to select them. The commands in this extension can reduce the amount of clicking required to select those points. more...

  • Page Commands  Download 0.2.2 (2009-02-22)

    The commands in this extension perform some common tasks when working with pages in Fireworks CS3. The "Distribute Frames to Pages" command moves the content from each frame in a document to a new page. The "Import Files into Pages" command is useful for combining several existing files as pages in a new document. The "Apply Export Settings to All Pages" command takes the export settings on the current page and applies them to all pages in the document. more...

  • Fake Underline  Download 0.1.1 (2009-02-22)

    The commands in this extension help make it a little easier to create styled underlines like those available in web browsers. The standard underline style in Fireworks always draws the line in the same color as the text, which may not always be what you want. The Fake Underline commands will automatically draw an underline for you, creating a line that can be styled like any other. more...

  • Frame and Layer Utilities  Download 1.1.1 (2009-02-22)

    Working with lots of frames and layers can be tedious, because many frame and layer menu commands that you perform over and over again don't have keyboard shortcuts. And other actions, like hiding a layer on every frame, aren't supported at all by Fireworks' built-in tools. The scripts in this extension are intended to remedy this situation. They've been updated to support the layer changes in Fireworks CS3. more...

  • Solo Command  Download 0.1.1 (2007-10-16)

    The "Solo Selection" command hides everything except the currently selected elements. If all of the visible elements are selected, running the command displays everything. This lets you quickly toggle the solo effect on and off: select one or more elements, run the command, look at the elements by themselves, then run it again to make everything visible. more...

  • Insert Copies Between Selection  Download 0.1.0 (2007-09-30)

    The "Insert Copies Between Selection" command takes 2 selected, identical objects and inserts evenly-spaced copies between them. This can be quite handy when you need to insert a row or column of repeating elements without having to create each one manually. more...

  • Level Horizon  Download 1.0.0 (2007-08-31)

    The "Level Horizon" command helps you, um, level the horizon in crooked photos. Simply open the photo, draw a straight line along a part of the image that should be perfectly horizontal, and run the command. The photo will be rotated so that the line is horizontal and the now crooked corners of the image will be cropped to keep it rectangular. more...

  • Toggle Opacity  Download 0.1.0 (2007-08-31)

    The "Toggle Opacity" commands simply toggle the selected objects between 50% and 100% opacity, or between 0% and 100%. If you assign a keyboard shortcut to the commands, you'll have a handy way of quickly seeing behind the selected objects. more...

  • Document Templates  Download 0.1.0 (2007-08-27)

    This command lets you quickly turn an existing document into a template, which then serves as a starting point for new, untitled documents. Run "Document Templates - New" and enter a name for the template. A copy of the current file will be saved out and will then be available in the Commands > Document Templates menu. You can then make as many copies as you like. more...

  • Document Commands  Download 1.0.1 (2007-08-26)

    The "New Document from Clipboard" command simply creates a new document the same size as the clipboard contents and then pastes in those contents, saving a step. The "Close All/Other Documents" commands help you quickly get rid of open documents you no longer need. more...

  • Paste In Place  Download 1.2.1 (2007-08-25)

    "Paste In Place" is an update to a classic Kleanthis Economou command. It lets you quickly replace a bunch of existing elements with a different element, without having to carefully position each one. Simply copy the replacement to the clipboard, select the elements you want to replace, and run this command. The clipboard contents will be inserted at the same XY position, layer, and group level as the selected elements. more...

  • QuickClips  Download 0.2.0 (2007-03-25)

    The "QuickClips" extension makes it easy to quickly insert frequently used elements into your document, such as icons, background graphics, blocks of text, etc. When you save a new clip, it will become available from the Commands > QuickClips submenu. Selecting a saved clip will insert it into the current layer of the current document. more...

  • Update Symbols  Download 1.0.0 (2003-03-16)

    Importing symbols from another file is one of Fireworks' most powerful functions. But if you have a lot of files that use imported symbols, it can be a hassle to update them in every file. The Update Symbols extension lets you batch-update the imported symbols in multiple files with just one step. more...

  • Fill and Stroke  Download 1.0.0 (2002-09-02)

    Have you ever wanted to select several objects, each with a different stroke color, and change all of their stroke widths to a new value? If you try this with the Properties panel, you'll find that all of the selected objects get the same stroke width, but also that their other stroke properties are changed to identical values as well. The commands in this extension help you avoid this problem. more...

  • Wedgie  Download 1.0.0 (2002-09-02)

    The (perhaps unfortunately named) Wedgie command breaks the selected object into 2 or more wedges. more...

  • Change Text Size  Download 1.0.1 (2002-06-28)

    This package consists of two commands for increasing or decreasing the font size of the selected text block(s). more...

johndunning.com/

Twitter Updates

    More great extensions:

     
    /

    panels

    		  
    /
    commands

    Are you tired of selecting your favorite commands from the Commands menu? Don't want to create a keyboard shortcut for each one? Well, then, the Commands panel is for you. It's a toolbar that provides one-click access to your commands. Switch to the "All" tab to find a list of all of your installed commands. Click a command to run it, or add it to your favorites list by clicking its star icon. Then switch to the favorites tab, where you'll find a shorter list of starred commands. Pretty simple, but pretty convenient, too.

    Download 1.2.1

    		  
    /
    fileexplorer

    Envious of Dreamweaver's Site panel? Wish Fireworks MX had something like Photoshop 7's image browser? While far from complete, this panel is a step in that direction. File Explorer offers a view of your files that's similar to Dreamweaver MX's Site panel. When you've found a file you want to open, just double-click it, select it and click the Open button, or press return.

    This command panel is still very much a work-in-progress (as denoted by its 0.6 version number). Its biggest current limitation is that there's no way to refresh the file view—you have to close and reopen the panel. It also works only on Windows, but Mac support is coming.

    Download 0.6.0

    		  
    /
    resizeselectedobjects

    This panel ships with Fireworks MX, so you should already have it. If I create new versions, though, I'll make them available here. Resize Selected Objects lets you make precise, single-pixel adjustments to the size of a selected object without using the Scale tool. It resizes each selected object independently, which the Scale tool cannot do.

    Download 1.0.0

    		  
     
    /

    developertools

    		  
    /
    fireworkslog

    If you're developing Fireworks command panels in Flash, you should find this tool very useful. A common Flash debugging technique is to stick trace() function calls in your code, and then see what gets printed to the Output window. But Fireworks has lacked an output window for displaying messages from Flash movies—until now.

    The Fireworks Log is basically a console window to which your Flash movie can print messages. To do this, you include the fwlog.as ActionScript file in your movie. Then you can print strings and variable values to the Log by passing them to fwlog(). To get you started, the source files for the sample "Log Test" movie are included as well.

    Download 1.0.0

    		  
    /
    fireworksconsole

    Fireworks has a dauntingly powerful JavaScript API, and and understanding it all can take quite a lot of work. To try out a new function, you have to write a little command script that uses it, put the script in the Commands folder, run it, tweak it, run it again, etc. I used to find myself writing a lot of commands in the form of "alert(Files.getDirectory(dom.filePathForSave))" to see what kind of data these functions would return.

    Well, the Fireworks Console simplifies this process considerably. Instead of writing and running an entire command, you can simply type code snippets into a Fireworks panel and immediately see the output. It's a little like having a command line prompt for Fireworks. You could even ignore the GUI altogether and create your web graphics via JavaScript (not that I'd recommend it).

    Using the console is straightforward. Type JavaScript in the Code field, press Execute or type ctrl-Enter, and the code's return value is displayed in the Results field. Pretty much any JavaScript is valid, including comments, if-then's, for-loops, etc. Two variables have already been defined for you: "dom" is equivalent to "fw.getDocumentDOM()" and "sel" is equivalent to "fw.selection".

    Be careful not to write code that might return a lot of information, such as simply entering "dom". It may take several seconds to transfer all the data from Fireworks to the Flash panel. And don't do something silly like writing an infinite loop. You'll have to force-quit Fireworks if you do.

    The Fireworks Console is still very much a work in progress, hence the 0.1.0 version number. But I hope you find it useful nonetheless.

    Download 0.1.0