Linux Web Development Software

Fireworks is designed from the ground up to be a Web graphics creation package. It is both a vector drawing tool and a bitmap graphics editor, and the different graphic types easily mix on any layer. All objects, whether shapes or text, are editable at any point of production, offering enormous design flexibility. Fireworks also supports layers for maintaining separate elements, and a history palette which can be used to undo numerous steps or to create replayable actions.

If creating art within Fireworks isn't appealing, or if you are given material from another designer, not to worry. Fireworks imports most popular formats (including layered native Photoshop files) and keeps layers intact. Fireworks also supports TWAIN-compliant scanners, making it easy to import material from the real world.

Most of the palettes and tools are similar to more popular packages, and most of the expected keyboard commands are present. But as one begins to use and explore Fireworks, the Web-specific features emerge. The slices tool is for specifying how an image will be broken down for use in building it in an HTML table matrix. The sweet feature here is that the slices can be exported automatically, and there is an option for generating the HTML code as well that assembles these slices in a table.

The software handles big features--like optimizing the file size of graphics--well. At any stage during creation, Fireworks shows dynamic previews of the original file, as well as how it will look compressed to JPEG format or dithered down to GIF format. A statistics bar at the bottom of the window lists the file size and the probable download time at a given connection speed.

The main working area of the program deliberately looks much like other Adobe applications, making it easy to move between them. The main editing windows float on the GoLive worktop, with palettes of functions controlling the tools. Users can now drag and stash palette tabs individually at the edge of the screen.

The key new features of GoLive 6.0 can be divided into three areas. Under the design-and-develop category comes greatly improved table handling, with new editing features--particularly selection--and increased control of HTML code. Adobe has also integrated GoLive more closely with Photoshop, Illustrator, and LiveMotion.

Manage functions govern how several people working on same aspect of a site handle different versions and revisions. The revision list is a good example, as it offers full details of who made certain changes to what, along with the time the changes were entered.

Finally, there's the deploy function, for when you finally launch your site. This feature offers new and improved support for WML authoring, writing for display on WAP devices, XML, QuickTime, and more of the growing family of Web standards.

• Director: integrates, controls, and delivers media created from the studio's content creation tools
• Fireworks: creates graphics in a robust design and production environment
• Sound editor BIAS Peak LE: creates and edits sound for use in Director
• Behavior libraries: quickly and easily creates interactivity in Director
• Shockwave Multiuser Server 2: delivers multiuser experiences and multiplayer games on the Internet

On the surface, Dreamweaver is an easy-to-use Web-page editor and site design tool, supporting all basic page elements. However, it has enough depth to build sophisticated sites with features such as forms, Flash files, frames, cascading style sheets, and ActiveX and Java controls, just to name a few. It offers WYSIWYG editing as well as access to HTML source code.

In version 3.0, editing HTML files has been improved with added support for styles, and an HTML source code inspector, which can be docked (like a Window palette). HTML code can be block-edited in this window as well, by selecting entire lines and dragging them to a new destination.

URLs in imported Flash movie files can now be edited in Dreamweaver 3.0, making it easier for a site administrator to change links in Flash files. Synchronizing local and remote site files works in both directions, ensuring that the latest version of a file is saved on both local hard drives and remote servers.

A history palette has been added as well, and all file editing is recorded and listed. Actions can be undone (like multiple undo) and saved as an action for reuse on other files.

In many ways, LiveMotion is a better tool for creating vector-based animation than Macromedia's Flash, its very popular competitor. Using a timeline/keyframe metaphor, LiveMotion makes it easy to animate the properties of an object over time. Position, scale, opacity, and rotation all can be controlled with relative ease. It's also painless to create HTML elements, such as animated rollovers for menus and graphics.

However, if you come from a Flash background, you might be a bit disappointed with LiveMotion. For starters, there are no scripting features. Also, LiveMotion's compression isn't quite as good as that of Flash. In a test in which the same animation was exported from both Flash and LiveMotion, the .swf file that was created by LiveMotion was about 15 percent larger. Because file size and download rates are so critical to Web-based graphic design, it's important to be aware of this type of issue.

Despite these shortcomings, we found it easier to draw and animate by using LiveMotion. Superior (in both form and function) Bezier drawing tools make it a snap to set up ready-to-animate graphics. Again, Adobe has kept LiveMotion's "feel" in the family by ensuring that the drawing functions are very similar to those of Illustrator.

The Web Workgroup Server site management and collaboration tool lets multiple users track changes--as well as share and manage files--with ease. It adds version control and side-by-side comparison capabilities, including the ability to roll back to previous versions. Designers will also find full support for any WebDAV-enabled application in GoLive 6.0, including support for programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Macromedia Dreamweaver.

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