Optimizing and Exporting

The ultimate goal in web graphic design is to create great-looking images that download as fast as possible. To do that, you must select a file format with the best compression for your image while maintaining as much quality as possible. This balancing act is optimization--finding the right mix of color, compression, and quality.

Exporting graphics from Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 is a two-step process:

First, you prepare a document or individual sliced graphics for export by choosing optimization settings and comparing previews to determine an acceptable balance between quality and file size.
Second, you export (or in some cases, save) the document or individual sliced graphics using export settings suitable for their destination on the web or elsewhere.

If you are new to optimizing and exporting web graphics, you can use the Export Wizard. The wizard guides you through the export process and suggests settings. It also displays the Export Preview, where you can optimize a document as part of the export process.

If you are comfortable with the tasks of optimizing and exporting graphics, you’ll want to use the other tools available in Fireworks for optimizing and exporting. For optimizing, you use the Optimize panel and the preview buttons in the Document window. They offer you greater control over the optimization process. For exporting, you use the Export dialog box or the Quick Export button. In some cases, you can simply save the graphic without exporting. For more information, see Saving documents in other formats.

The Quick Export button makes exporting graphics for use in other applications easy by automatically setting the appropriate options in the Export dialog box for you. If you use Fireworks with other applications, the Quick Export button can simplify your design workflow.