About resampling

Fireworks resamples images differently than most image-editing applications do. Fireworks contains pixel-based bitmap image objects and path-based vector objects.

• When a bitmap object is resampled, pixels are added to or removed from the image to make it larger or smaller.
• When a vector object is resampled, little quality loss occurs because the path is redrawn mathematically at a larger or smaller size.

Because the attributes of vector objects in Fireworks are visible as pixels, some strokes or fills may appear slightly different after resampling because the pixels that compose the stroke or fill must be redrawn.

Resizing bitmap objects always presents a unique problem--do you add or remove pixels to resize the image, or do you change the number of pixels per inch or centimeter?

You can alter the size of a bitmap image by adjusting the resolution or by resampling the image. When adjusting the resolution, you change the size of the pixels in the image so that more or fewer pixels fit in a given space. Adjusting the resolution without resampling does not result in data loss.

Resampling up, or adding pixels to make the image larger, may result in quality loss because the pixels being added do not always correspond to the original image.

Downsampling, or removing pixels to make the image smaller, always causes quality loss because pixels are discarded to resize the image. Data loss in the image is another side effect of downsampling.