Wellesley College Information Services - Fireworks MX Help Resources

Fireworks MX
Macintosh and Windows

This page provides information and links to resources, both at Wellesley and elsewhere, that can provide assistance with using Fireworks MX.

Wellesley College Resources

Macromedia Resources for Fireworks MX

Macromedia Fireworks Support Center
Fireworks Help files: From the Help menu choose Using Fireworks.
Answers panel in Fireworks: tutorials, articles and other information. (If the Answers panel is blank, refresh it from the Commands menu by choosing Panel Layout Sets and your screen resolution. If you are not sure of your screen resolution, choose 1024 X 768.)

Other Resources on the web

Solutions to common Fireworks problems

If you press the TAB key (unless you are doing an action where you need to type) all panels will be hidden until you press TAB again.
If you make a mistake, Edit > Undo. Fireworks is usually set to undo up to 20 steps.
If you try to change the color or effect of an object but it doesn't seem to work, be sure that you first select the object.
If you draw something or enter some text but it doesn't show, be sure your color choice is not the same as the background.
The Pencil and Brush tools are hard to control because your hand on the mouse creates the path. If you are trying to draw something that needs to be exact but have trouble with the bitmap tools, undo or delete and try again. You can also try to redesign your graphic so that you use only vector tools.
If you choose a tool but the Properties panel does not show you properties for that tool, you probably have an object selected in the workspace. Edit > Deselect and try again. Or, if you want, ignore the Properties and just use the tool. The properties will then change to the object you just made with the tool and you will be able to edit them.
If the panels change or accidentally close, you can reset the panels - Commands > Panel Layout Sets > 1024 X 768 . If this doesn't work, save your work then close Fireworks and launch it again.
If you don't see all of the menus and tools that you need, check the View group in the toolbox. The selected view should be standard screen mode (left).