Here’s the cool stuff up front. The optimization palette is far superior to other applications by virtue of its ability to select from a wide range of pre-set color palettes without having to load something via the custom option (can you say, "time saver"?), and there are several different transparency options vs. simply "transparent."

For those, like me, who like to compress the heck out of their JPEG files, Fireworks 4 now offers best-in-class "selective JPEG compression" features.

Fireworks 4 also supports the Wireless Bitmap (WBMP) file format for those cutting edge developers already working with content for the wireless Web.

The new stuff comprises better integration with other applications, like importing Photoshop layers, complete with drop shadows and other elements. This worked well for the most part, although in one of my Photoshop 5 files, the text came into FireWorks 4 a little mis-aligned upward about 10 pixels for all text blocks. Still, it’s pretty neat to see your drop shadows and text still fully editable, and all your layer names imported just as they were in Photoshop.

Fireworks 4 also supports object masks for both bitmap and vector elements, which is a much requested feature for those who prefer masks to layer-copy-delete methods.

Drag-and-drop rollovers will be a time saver for those who do a lot of on/off Web site menus, or who got confused with the previous method of using the behaviors panel. The new method allows you to click on a button in your layout, then onto another image, then select what you want to have happen to that second image (or image area) when the mouse touches the button. What makes this powerful is when you combine it with the roundtrip tables layout feature of Dreamweaver 4. You can easily modify multiple images in the same space, which change based on the button(s) selected, move and preview in Dreamweaver, then bounce back to Fireworks to refine the rollovers. A visual cue shows a path between the related elements whenever one of them is selected. This combination radically reduces the time it takes to make associated images change in layouts based on where the mouse is.

The new "pop-up menu creator" helps create one of the most popular menu systems being used on new Web sites. This type of menu might show a button like "services" that when clicked, will "pop-up" a list of services, like "painting" or "landscaping." This branching "pop-up" menu works the same way that branching menus work in the MacOS, or Windows, but on a Web page. Very slick, and it hides the normal complexity of creating these types of menus with JavaScript and/or DHTML layers.

I would have preferred this ability be available within Dreamweaver 4 also, perhaps only with text DHTML buttons (no graphics), but that's me.

Finally, enhanced export controls give you complete control over naming of files and child files when doing slicing functions. The value of this is tremendous for those of us who build sites around filenames other than .htm or .html — like: .shtml, .asp, .php, or custom extensions.

Over all, this is a superior product that is way ahead of the prior edition. Further, the 413-page printed manual and copious electronic support (no Web connection needed) display Macromedia’s renewed commitment to proper documentation. The new version of Fireworks is one of the best, if not the best, Web imaging application on the block, and the new standard for overall features.

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