Applying Color, Strokes, and Fills

Adobe FireWorks has a wide range of panels, tools, and options for organizing and selecting colors, and applying colors to bitmap images and vector objects.

In the Swatches panel, you can select a preset swatch group such as Color Cubes, Continuous Tone, or Grayscale, or you can create custom swatch groups that include your favorite colors or colors approved by your client. In the Color Mixer, you can select a color model such as Hexadecimal, RGB, or Grayscale, and then select stroke and fill colors directly from the color bar or by entering specific color values.

Throughout the Fireworks workspace you will find color boxes that show the current color choices for options and object characteristics. When you click a color box, you see a color pop-up window from which you can select a color for the color box. Move the pointer away from an open color pop-up window, and you can click any color on your screen to apply it to the color box.

The Colors section of the Tools panel contains stroke and fill color controls and other color options. The Bitmap section contains the Paint Bucket, Gradient Fill, and Eyedropper tools, which you can use to apply color to bitmap selections, areas of similar color, and vector objects. For information on these bitmap tools, see Working with Bitmaps.

This chapter contains the following topics:

Using the Colors section of the Tools panel

Organizing swatch groups and color models

Using color boxes and color pop-up windows

Working with strokes

Working with fills

Applying gradient and pattern fills

Adding texture to strokes and fills