Applying Textures in Fireworks MX
Since the release of my Texture Packs on the Macromedia Exchange I have been asked by a few users to explain how to utilize them. Thankfully it is a very easy process which can yield some great results. Textures really help to provide depth and relief to what would otherwise be a flat colored image.
Textures can be applied in three ways to Fireworks documents. First, they can be applied to Vector-based objects. Second, they can be applied to Text objects. Third, they can be applied to the Strokes of either Vector or Text objects.
In each of these cases, textures can only be applied via the Property Inspector. If your Property Inspector is not visible, go to click on Window > Properties from the text menu at the top of your Fireworks work area.
I will demonstrate the application of each of these now.
Vector-Based Objects
Vector-based objects are any objects that you create in Fireworks using the native drawing tools (rectangle, rounded rectangle, oval, polygon, and pen). The vector property inspector looks like the image below (I have added the orange square to highlight the Texture tools).
In applying a texture to any object you have three basic choices.
- Choose the texture you want to apply (in the case above MB-Grid_30 px from MB Texture Pack 1).
- Choose the level of intensity of the texture which I call Alpha Level (in the case above this is set to 100). When you first choose a texture to apply, Fireworks automatically sets the alpha level to 50. Setting to 0 totally turns off any texture applied. From 0 to 50 the texture is more subtle and hidden. From 50 to 100 the texture is predominant and any lines or other pixels in the texture take on the fill color and the rest of the object is white.
- Select transparency. If you click transparency on (as shown above) the object becomes transparent to the level of alpha you have chosen, with the exception of the textured areas. This is very popular for layering effects in images such as applying an over layed grid to an image.
Text Objects
To apply a texture effect to a Text object you must follow the same 3 steps outlined above. However, the only tricky part (with the advent of Fireworks MX) is knowing how to access the Texture Tools for fill. To access these tools you must click on the fill color picker (dark blue below) and then click on Fill Options which will bring up the dialog box to the right where you apply your texture effects following the same 3 instructions above.
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Stroke Textures
In my opinion these are the least used texture effects in Fireworks, but can yield some of the coolest effects with some experimentation as demonstrated in a cool tutorial for creating buttons by Linda Rathgeber for Fireworks 4. I think recent changes brought by MX to the Fireworks Interface made adding textures — to strokes particularly — a little bit harder.
Again, the basic steps for adding a texture to a stroke follows the same 3 steps shown above. The only real trick here is getting to the interface.
For vector objects you must click on the combo box to the right of the stroke color picker (in the Vector property inspector shown above it is currently set to None). From that pop up list, choose Stroke Options… at the bottom of the list. This will take you into the texture interface for strokes on vectors.
To apply a stroke to a text object you must click directly on the stroke color picker. Once the color palette pop up appears, click on Stroke Options… at the bottom and this will take you to the texture interface for strokes on text objects.
The simplest method for applying stroke textures is on a single line or path that is not an enclosed object. Stroke textures can be applied directly via the Property inspector and requires no special path to find the interface.
Conclusion
Hopefully this tutorial is detailed enough so that you can apply these simple but effective techniques to your own work. If you have suggestions to make this tutorial better please leave your comments on the Fireworks Forum under the Texture Tutorial string. Thanks.
admin | 
February 27, 2010 8:41 am