The Property inspector in Java

Maker USS Code 128 in Java The Property inspector

The Property inspector is docked to the bottom of the Document window This panel changes automatically to reflect the settings for the currently selected tool or object The Property inspector allows you to see and adjust the parameters of whatever object or tool you select If you re working on a text layer, for example, the Property inspector gives you immediate access to and complete control over the font, size, color, and other attributes of the text When you select a shape, on the other hand, the Property inspector offers you easy access to controls over the shape s size, position on the canvas, color, texture, and more If you ever want to hide all the panels temporarily, press F4 or the Tab key To make the panels visible, press F4 or the Tab key again

While you work, you view the canvas with Original view selected The other three view options at the top of the canvas allow you to preview what your optimized images will look like as follows:

Original: This is the default view in which you create and edit your design Preview: This view shows you what the page will look like when it is optimized for the Web, based on your current image optimization settings 2-Up: This view offers previews of what optimized images will look like, but with a little something extra: a side-by-side comparison of the original image and an optimized version of the image, or two optimization settings 4-Up: By selecting the 4-Up view, you can preview the original image and three different optimization settings at the same time You can compare how they look and how big the resulting image file would be at each setting, as well as how long the image would take to download at a particular modem speed Because every image compresses a little differently, you can never predict exactly what an image might look like after it is optimized The longer you work with Fireworks, the better you get at narrowing the optimization options before you preview; nevertheless, you may find it more efficient to preview before you export For more information about the purpose and art of image optimization, see Book III, 6 At the top right of the canvas is a feature introduced in the original Fireworks: a Quick Export button The Quick Export button allows you to export files to, and even launch, other applications, such as Dreamweaver MX 2004, Macromedia Flash MX 2004, and FreeHand MX Export options for Macromedia Director Shockwave Studio, Adobe Photoshop, and other programs are also available from the Quick Export button

During different phases of the design process, you may find that you refer to some panels constantly but other panels not at all Unless you have a gigantic monitor set to a high resolution, you ll need to collapse some less-frequently used panels to make room for more-frequently used ones

Every panel s name is displayed at the left on the top title bar in the panel To the left of the name sits a handy little arrow that points down to indicate the panel is expanded and points to the panel name if the panel is collapsed You can expand or collapse a panel in two ways: Click the name of the panel Click the arrow to the left of the panel name

When the panel expands, it makes room for itself by forcing the panels below it down unless it s a panel on the bottom, in which case it forces the panels above it up If there s not enough room on your monitor to show all the panels open at once, Fireworks collapses the panel directly beneath or above the one you expanded If you have a panel expanded but still can t see quite enough of it, you can drag the panel open wider or longer by clicking on the left or bottom edge of the panel and dragging it In addition to collapsing and expanding panels, you can also open and close panels Check out Table 1-1, which includes the key commands for closing and opening panels

Table 1-1