Adobe Fireworks Team

Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard has been in the market for almost 2 months now, so it is time for a follow-up on our compatibility. The good news is that we haven't found anything yet that should prevent you from using Fireworks CS4 with Snow Leopard. There are three known issues that we'll discuss in this post.

First, if you haven't already, you should update to the latest version of Fireworks CS4 by using our 10.0.3 Updater. It is available via the Adobe Update Manager and on http://www.adobe.com/support/fireworks/downloads_updaters.html.

Crash on Quit issue
There's only one issue that we're seeing reported broadly and consistently, and that is that Fireworks CS4 may crash when you select File > Quit or Command-Q. Thanks to crash reports submitted by users, we have an idea of how common this is, and also, what the problem is. This crash only happens on some Snow Leopard installations where Fireworks CS4 is running.

If you are one of the people experiencing this issue, then we want to reassure you that it is not a harmful crash. Our engineers have found the offending code, and determined that all unsaved documents can be safely saved before the code that causes the crash executes.

The code that is causing this crash has been in the product since we first released Fireworks CS3, and did not cause crashes until it was executed on (some, but not all) Snow Leopard installations. It is conceivable that if you're using Fireworks CS3 on Snow Leopard that you may also experience this crash, although we have not been able to cause that to happen in our tests.

We'll continue to monitor these crash reports to determine if we can find a workaround, and to understand how common the crash is for our customers [edit: as Snow Leopard continues to proliferate]. At this time, we have no planned update release to fix this since it is harmless and causes no data loss. We regret any inconvenience this causes.

"Fireworks cannot run......" error message on launch
If you are one of the few people that are experiencing this problem, search your system using Spotlight for a file named "Song.dfont". If you have this font, then temporarily remove it from the "/Library/Fonts/" folder and launch Fireworks CS4. If the problem goes away, then your font may have become corrupted.

Hang when selecting the Text tool
This issue is happening less frequently than the crash on quit issue above, but also seems new and unique to customers using Fireworks CS4 on Snow Leopard. On some Snow Leopard installations, customers may experience a hang (a spinning beachball cursor that goes forever) when selecting the Text tool and manipulating text. Fortunately we have determined that this is caused by a corrupted GlobalResources file, and we have a simple fix for this issue. Follow these steps to resolve the problem:

• Quit all running applications. A restart is not a bad idea, but may not be necessary.


• Navigate to "/Applications/Adobe Fireworks CS4/Required/" folder.


• Rename the file, "GlobalResources" to something like "GlobalResources_original".


• Now download a new version of this file and place it in the same location.


• You should now be able to use Fireworks CS4 without experiencing this problem.

CAUTION: This solution needs to be used ONLY when you are experiencing the beachball cursor hangs when selecting the text tool. The other issue of crash on exit will not be solved by this file replacement technique.

A TechNote about this issue can be found at: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/519/cpsid_51981.html

If you are experiencing other problems using Fireworks CS4 on Snow Leopard, please let us know. Be sure to submit any Crash Reports because we look at everyone of these and they're very valuable in helping us find the issues and to understand how common an issue is. Also, please report your issue using our online Bug and Feature Request form.

Thanks!
Bruce

Bruce Bowman
Fireworks product manager
twitter: @brucebowman

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

We received some feedback on text tool hanging when used inside Fireworks CS4 version. Any extensions which are manipulating text objects are also reporting such a hang or an error message.

The team has investigated the issue and the resolution steps are mentioned below:

• Quit all the applications that are running.
• Navigate to “/Applications/Adobe Fireworks CS4/Required/” folder.
• Rename the file, “GlobalResources” to something like “GlobalResources_original”.
• Now copy the file from this link at the same location. (essentially we are replacing the old globalresources file with the one I have attached with this mail above)
• Launch Fireworks CS4 and select the text tool to type something on canvas.

The file to be replaced is hosted here http://sarthak.adobe.com/files/GlobalResources

Posted by Sarthak Singhal at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've launched a brand new Adobe TV website today which has been built with some of our newest technologies, including our Adobe Open Source Media Framework (aka Strobe), and ColdFusion 9.

The site has a brand-new look & feel, and many new features including:
• User-customizable homepage
• Vastly improved navigation & search
• Save your favorite episodes to "My Library"
• Share videos on social networking sites such as Facebook, Digg, and StumbleUpon
• Subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite shows
• Pop-out video player to view videos at any size
• Commenting & Rating
• Tags

Bruce

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Apple has announced that they will be shipping Snow Leopard, a.k.a. Mac OS X 10.6 beginning today, and we're getting a lot of questions about whether Adobe products will be compatible. We've prepared a FAQ document on this subject, but the short answer for Fireworks CS4 and the other CS4 products is that they're compatible with Snow Leopard.

For the CS3, CS2, etc users out there that are considering upgrading to Snow Leopard, I advise you to wait a while and see whether other more adventurous folks can confirm compatibility. Adobe's official stance is that we have not tested older versions of our software on Snow Leopard, and since those older products were not designed for newer operating systems, there may be some significant incompatibilities. We are not planning to create any patches for Fireworks CS3 or earlier versions if incompatibilities with Snow Leopard arise.

Please don't confuse this stance with support for CS3 in general. Adobe still supports CS3 in the configurations recommended in our CS3 System Requirements.

If you're a Fireworks CS3 user, and have Snow Leopard, please share your experiences here in the Comments.

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Fireworks CS4 will be featured in several sessions at MAX this year. Whether you're already a Fireworks user, or someone who's just curious about it, come learn from some leading experts how you can be more efficient and get your work done faster using Adobe Fireworks CS4.

update: We're also going to be using some twitter hashtags for MAX. For anything general purpose about MAX, use #adobemax. For Fireworks at MAX, use #maxfw. For general tweeting on Fireworks, #Fireworks is the hashtag that is in popular use.

From Sketch to Click-Through HTML Prototype with Fireworks
Presenter: David Hogue, twitter: @DaveHogue
Learn a straightforward process for developing prototypes. Starting with a whiteboard sketch, learn how Fireworks can take a design from concept to wireframe. Then create a functional, click-through prototype from the wireframes to simulate the online experience.

How to Visually Design and Prototype Websites (Bring Your Own Laptop Lab)
Presenter: David Hogue, twitter: @DaveHogue
Learn how to plan a web page structure and think deliberately about the design and layout of the content. This lab will teach you how to use Fireworks to plan, organize, and visually design web pages that can be exported as CSS and HTML for your developer. You'll be able to define the design of your site in much more detail, and the fidelity of your work will be maintained once you hand it off to your developer.

Efficient Web Design Using Adobe Fireworks
Presenter: Jim Babbage, twitter: @JimBabbage
Learn the techniques employed by advanced Fireworks users to quickly design and mock up web pages or complete websites. This hands-on lab is presented by Jim Babbage, author of "Adobe Fireworks CS4 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques" and "Adobe Fireworks CS4 Classroom in a Book."

Repurpose Assets to Mock Up a Standards-Based Website with Fireworks
Presenter: Jim Babbage, twitter: @JimBabbage
Learn to leverage existing Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator assets in Fireworks to mock up web pages or complete websites. Optimize images for the web and export a design as CSS. This session is for print designers who want to take their design skills to the web.

Design for More Media with Creative Suite 4 Design Premium
Presenter: Patti Sokol
Learn how to prepare content for a wide variety of media -- print, web, interactive, and mobile -- using Creative Suite 4 Design Premium. Polish your Illustrator CS4 and Photoshop CS4 skills with practical techniques that will save time and enhance your creative work. Discover tips for designing professional pages more efficiently in InDesign CS4; working in Fireworks CS4, Dreamweaver CS4, and Flash CS4 Professional; and incorporating Acrobat 9 Pro. Learn how to move content across media more efficiently. Requires a working knowledge of InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Familiarity with Dreamweaver and Flash a plus.

Creating Rich Media Websites with Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium
Presenter: Chris Converse
Expand your web design skills with Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium. Learn valuable techniques for preparing web graphics in Photoshop and Illustrator, prototyping websites in Fireworks, and building standards-based dynamic websites in Dreamweaver using Spry. Enhance video with Photoshop Extended, design and heal audio with Soundbooth, and animate Illustrator assets with Flash Professional. Learn to add sound and video to your Flash projects, and test content for mobile devices with Adobe Device Central. By the end of this session, you'll know dozens of usable, practical techniques.

About Jim Babbage: Jim Babbage has written two books Fireworks CS4: Fireworks CS4 How-To's and the Fireworks CS4 Classroom in a book. He teaches imaging, Web design, and photography in Toronto at Centennial College's Centre for Communication, Media, and Design and at Humber College's Digital Imaging Training Centre. He is also a creative partner/co-owner of NewMedia Services, a communications company. Jim is a frequent contributor of articles on Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and other general web topics to the Community MX Web site and has presented at Adobe MAX as well as several other conferences.

About Chris Converse: Chris Converse is a graphic designer and multimedia developer specializing in web design and development, interactive media, print, motion graphics, and CD-ROMs. Chris is cofounder of Codify Design Studio, which specializes in both graphic design and the technologies that make the design happen across media. Codify standardizes on many Adobe technologies, from developing rich-media PDF files that leverage dynamic Flash applications, to Ajax-based web solutions built on Adobe's Spry framework.

About David Hogue: Dave Hogue is director of information design and usability at Fluid in San Francisco. With 12 years experience in interface design, he combines his skills as an information designer and applied psychologist to bring insight into user behavior and expectations. Clients include Design Within Reach, The North Face, Reebok, Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, Timberland, and Sanrio. Dave has faculty appointments at San Francisco State University (Multimedia Studies) and Golden Gate University (Psychology.) He is also a co-manager of Fire On The Bay, the largest Fireworks User Group, is active in Adobe communities, and is regularly invited to speak at or conduct seminars and training sessions.

About Patty Sokol: Patti D. Sokol is the president and chief instructor of Sokol Consulting, Inc. An Adobe Certified Instructor for Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, she spends most of her time teaching people how to use Adobe's coolest products. Experienced at working with everyone from novices to experts, Patti's clear explanations make it easy for you to learn the skills you need to get the job done!

See you at MAX!
Bruce
twitter: @brucebowman

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Are you a Fireworks Extension developer who is looking for work? I know of some opportunities, so please get in touch.

You can learn more about developing Fireworks Extensions in the Fireworks Help and on the Fireworks Developers Center.

Another good resource comes from Grant Hinkson, who has provided a sample chapter of his new book on the topic.

And even if you're not a developer, you can find lots of useful extensions to use in Fireworks on the Adobe Exchange.

Here is a (far from complete) list of links to other Fireworks Extension Developers:
John Dunning
Aaron Beall
Phireworks
Senocular
FWKit
Fireworks Zone

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Adobe MAX is now open for Registration, and will be held in Los Angeles, California USA from Oct 4-7, 2009.

I wanted to tell you about a few Fireworks sessions that we’re planning to hold at MAX with some powerhouse speakers:

SESSION: From Sketch to Click-Through HTML Prototype with Fireworks
Learn a straightforward process for developing prototypes. Starting with a whiteboard sketch, learn how Fireworks can take a design from concept to wireframe. Then create a functional, click-through prototype from the wireframes to simulate the online experience. (w/ David Hogue)

SESSION: Repurpose Assets to Mock Up a Standards-Based Website with Fireworks
Learn to leverage existing Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator assets in Fireworks to mock up web pages or complete websites. Optimize images for the web and export a design as CSS. This session is for print designers who want to take their design skills to the web. (w/ Jim Babbage)

Bring Your Own Laptop LAB: Efficient Web Design Using Adobe Fireworks
Learn the techniques employed by advanced Fireworks users to quickly design and mock up web pages or complete websites. This hands-on lab is presented by Jim Babbage, author of "Adobe Fireworks CS4 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques” and "Adobe Fireworks CS4 Classroom in a Book." (w/ Jim Babbage)

Bring Your Own Laptop LAB: How to Visually Design and Prototype Websites
Learn how to plan a web page structure and think deliberately about the design and layout of the content. This lab will teach you how to use Fireworks to plan, organize, and visually design web pages that can be exported as CSS and HTML for your developer. You'll be able to define the design of your site in much more detail, and the fidelity of your work will be maintained once you hand it off to your developer. (w/ David Hogue)

Key links and facts about MAX 2009:

• MAX homepage: www.MAX.adobe.com
  
• MAX will run from Oct. 4-7 at the Los Angeles Convention Center
  
• Register before Aug. 31, 2009 to qualify for the early bird discount.
  
• MAX 2009 will feature keynotes from Shantanu Narayen and Kevin Lynch and other industry luminaries (which will be announced later in the summer), as well as technology sneak-peeks, technical sessions, hands-on labs and exhibits
  
• MAX 2009 offers three tracks of more than 200 sessions and 100 hands-on labs.
  
  Back by popular demand:
  
  • BYOL (bring your own laptop) labs -- deep dives into using Adobe software
    
  • Unconference discussions -- attendee-driven presentations
    
  • RussellBrown@MAX -- Photoshop Master Class, LiveCycle@MAX
    
  
  

We hope to see you there!

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Flash authoring team has released an update for Adobe Flash Professional CS4. The Flash product manager, Richard Galvan, has a detailed post on his blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/rgalvan/

The Fireworks CS4 10.0.3, and the Flash Professional CS4 10.0.2 updaters are both available from http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/.

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There have been some recent changes in the product management team for Fireworks. Rick Jones has moved into the Fireworks Product Marketing Manager role, and I am now the Fireworks Product Manager.

It is my pleasure, as my first of what I hope will be many Fireworks blog posts, to share some really good news – we have the Fireworks CS4 10.0.3 Updater ready and we’re targeting May 6 as our go live date. Once live, it will be available via the Adobe Update Manager and on http://www.adobe.com/support/fireworks/downloads_updaters.html where you will also find release notes with details on the bugs that this updater fixes.

This updater fixes the most common bugs that we know about in Fireworks CS4, including numerous text shifting problems, stability issues on Mac and Windows, and bugs related to pasting text from Microsoft Office applications. The team would like to thank you for your patience as we developed this updater.

I’m very excited to get started in my new role, and look forward to interacting with you in the Fireworks community.

Bruce Bowman
Fireworks Product Manager

Posted by Bruce Bowman at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

The Fireworks team is actively working on a fix for the text-shifting bug and other bugs we know are causing real pain for Fireworks CS4 users. An update will be made available when we are confident that we have corrected the problems. I'll update this post when we're closer to having the updater available!

Posted by Rick Jones at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (35)

There are a lot of sessions at MAX that may overwhelm you when deciding which ones to attend. Below is a list of sessions revolving around Fireworks except Jeffery Alqhuist's Flash session. I encourage you to attend Jeff's session as he played a big role in Fireworks engineering in the past. Give him a nudge and say "I know who you really are Jeff give us the skinny on Fireworks". :) Nah in all seriousness if you use Fireworks you are probably also working in Flash too which is why I'm pointing his session out. He's a great guy and mentor at heart!

Posted by at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's the date we've all been waiting for!! Save some time on September 23rd to join Adobe for the announcement of Creative Suite 4. Hear Adobe executives and customers talk about some of the exciting new features of Fireworks CS4 and the entire Creative Suite. Register for the event here.

Posted by Rick Jones at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Fireworks team is starting this new blog to share all the exciting activities building up to the next version of Fireworks. From covering events like IxDA-San Francisco on June 25 to offering perspectives on global trends, look for regular posts from Fireworks marketing, product management, and engineering. And definitely share with us your ideas of topics you’d be interested in us exploring further.

Posted by Rick Jones at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)