ok.
in my web design class, they are teaching us how to use Fireworks MX 2004. however, i have been saving up for photoshop 7. is it worth it to get PS7 rather than Fireworks if i only know how to use Fireworks?
PS is the industry standard, you should definitely learn it if you’re going into graphic business…
Photoshop is better for photography, Fireworks is better for design (namely web design).
Photoshop has features Fireworks doesn’t and Fireworks has features Photoshop doesn’t, so it’s hard to compare the two directly, though, on average Photoshop is superior. I, however, rarely use it. I use Fireworks for most everything I do. Of course everything I do is screen res and either for web or interactive CDs etc., so Fireworks suits itself better for my needs. Other circumstances would favor Photoshop.
You just need to figure out what you need and whether Fireworks or Photoshop satisfies your needs better.
Fireworks is mainly a vector based program. PS7 is a raster (bitmap) based program. You can’t really compare the two. A better Comparison would be between Fireworks and Illustrator. I use all of these programs and I would say that yes it is worth saving for PS7. Actually, save up again and buy the other two as well. If you can’t afford all of 'em, go with Sen’s advice.
you cannot compare the 2. Get em both and learn em both.
You are more likely to run into PS than Fireworks and most tuts + plug-ins will be for PS. It’s a personal choice, but if you are a student and can get your paws on the Education version of Illustrator CS will take care of your vector anxiety to couple with the raster of PS. I would go with PS, but again it has a lot to do with preferences.
Fireworks isnt mainly vector, its vector and raster - it supports both.
Actually, for anyone interested in the two (PS and FW), and this means you, benjah, search the forums. This topic has been covered before in detail.
As a gainfully employed graphic designer I’d suggest Illustrator/Photoshop (they have a creative suite that’s cheaper than buying just one, but includes both – I think)
It’s not often when we outsource our printing that a client asks for a Fireworks file for pre-press. Illustrator is commonly requested BY NAME, even more so than Photoshop.
If you’re looking at design it’s great to know both, but your focus should be Illustrator. You may need Photoshop at times, but by creating everything in Illustrator you’re making life easier in the future: vectors scale up/down in size much easier than bitmaps – and they’re reusable because they’re so scaleable.
Just my two cents.
EXACTLY!!!
Originally Posted by senocular
Photoshop is better for photography, Fireworks is better for design (namely web design).
Web design is just fine in Photoshop.
I think it probably depends on your needs and preference. I have tried to do web design layouts several times in Photoshop, but always end up going back to Fireworks for it, because it seems more fitted for my needs. However, I still use Photoshop for other things like editing photos or creating graphics. I suggest getting both if you can afford it.
also note that most PS plugins work just fine in FW. And you can point firework to your photoshop plugins folder. I find myself lucky having both and normally use them all in a project. FW compression is much better than PS’s as well. So what I would suggest is try them both out. Both have hidden gems and one may fit better than one in your pipeline. Hell I uses PSP for a long time before switching to PS and made out just as fine. And PSP cost 49 bucks.
What I find taboo about ps is the ability to save out layers or copy out layers. ANd no dotted line tool.
Totally different. I use Fireworks, and I am able to do everything Photoshop users do, just faster. However, it took me many years and endless hours to get to know the program this well. If you’re more of an artistic type who will be using it for artwork (vector), then I suggest getting Fireworks. If not, I suggest learning Photoshop rather than doing all that I had to do.
Fireworks: Vector Art
Photoshop: Photo Shop
But Fireworks really suffers from not having custom brushes :-/ Thats my biggest complaint with FW. Well, you have procedural brushes, but not bitmap. Eh, oh well. I still adore non-destructive pluggins. All they need now is to manage order of line and fill (with respect to effects) like in Freehand. That would be swell (the effects list could use an update or its own panel as well).
