Applying gradient and pattern fills
You can change fills to display a variety of solid, dithered, pattern, or gradient characteristics that range from solid colors to gradients. These characteristics resemble satin, ripples, folds, or gradients that conform to the contour of the object to which you apply them. Additionally, you can change various attributes of a fill, such as color, edge, texture, and transparency.
You can choose from a number of preset gradient and pattern fills, or you can create your own.
Note: A newly created fill assumes the current color displayed in the Fill Color box in the Tools panel.
Use the Fill options in the Property inspector or the Fill Options pop-up window to edit fill attributes.
Applying a pattern fill
You can fill a path object with a bitmap graphic, known as a pattern fill. Fireworks ships with more than a dozen pattern fills, including Berber, Leaves, and Wood.
To apply a pattern fill to a selected object:
1 Do one of the following:
■ Choose Pattern from the Fill Options pop-up menu in the Property inspector.
■ Click the Fill Color box in the Tools panel, click Fill Options, and choose Pattern from the Fill Options pop-up menu.
2 Choose a pattern from the Pattern Name pop-up menu.
The pattern fill appears in the selected object and becomes the active fill color.
Adding a custom pattern
You can set a bitmap file as a new pattern fill. You can use files with these formats as patterns:
PNG, GIF, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, and PICT (Macintosh only). When a pattern fill is a 32-bit transparent image, the transparency affects the fill when used in Fireworks. If an image is not 32-bit, it becomes opaque.
When you add a new pattern, its name appears in the Pattern Name pop-up menu of the Fill Options pop-up window.
To create a new pattern from an external file:
1 With vector object properties displayed in the Property inspector, choose Pattern from the Fill Options pop-up menu.
2 Click the Fill Color box and choose Other from the Pattern Name pop-up menu.
3 Navigate to the bitmap file you want to use as the new pattern, and click Open.
The new pattern is added to the Pattern Name list in alphabetical order.
Applying a gradient fill
Fill categories other than None, Solid, Pattern, and Web Dither are gradient fills. These fills blend colors to create various effects.
Objects with various gradient fills
To apply a gradient fill to a selected object:
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Choose a gradient from the Fill Options pop-up menu in the Property inspector. The fill appears in the selected object and becomes the active fill.Applying gradient and pattern fills 113
Editing a gradient fill
You can edit the current gradient fill by clicking any Fill Color box and then using the Edit Gradient pop-up window.
Edit Gradient pop-up window
To open the Edit Gradient pop-up window:
1 Select an object that has a gradient fill or choose a gradient fill from the Fill Options pop-up menu in the Property inspector.
2 Click the Fill Color box in the Property inspector or Tools panel to open the pop-up window.
The Edit Gradient pop-up window opens with the current gradient in the color ramp and preview.
To add a new color or opacity swatch to the gradient, do one of the following:
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To add a color swatch, click the area below the gradient color ramp.•
To add an opacity swatch, click the area above the gradient color ramp.To remove a color or opacity swatch from the gradient:
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Drag the swatch away from the Edit Gradient pop-up window.To set or change the color of a color swatch:
1 Click the color swatch.
2 Choose a color from the pop-up window.
To set or change the transparency of an opacity swatch:
1 Click the opacity swatch.
2 Do one of the following:
■ Drag the slider to the percentage of transparency, where 0 is completely transparent and 100 is completely opaque.
■ Enter a numeric value from 0 to 100 to set the opacity value.
Note: The transparency checkerboard shows through the gradient in transparent areas.
3 When you have finished editing the gradient, press Enter or click outside the Edit Gradient pop-up window. The gradient fill appears in any selected objects and becomes the active fill.
To adjust the transition between colors in the fill:
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Drag color swatches left or right.Color ramp
Preview
Creating fills with the Gradient tool
The Gradient tool is in the same tool group as the Paint Bucket tool. This new tool works much as the Paint Bucket tool does, but it fills an object with a gradient instead of a solid color. Like the Paint Bucket tool, it retains the properties of the last-used element.
To use the Gradient tool:
1 Click the Paint Bucket tool in the Tools panel and choose the Gradient tool from the pop-up menu.
2 Choose from the following attributes in the Property inspector:
Fill Options is a pop-up menu from which you can choose a gradient type.
Fill Color box, when clicked, displays the Edit Gradient pop-up window, from which you can set a variety of color and transparency options.
Edge determines if the gradient has a hard, anti-aliased, or feathered fill edge. If you choose a feathered edge, you can specify the amount of the feathering.
Texture gives you many options to choose from, including Grain, Metal, Hatch, Mesh, or Sandpaper.
3 Click and drag the pointer to establish a starting point of the gradient as well as the direction and length of the gradient area.
Transforming and distorting fills
You can move, rotate, skew, and change the width of an object’s pattern or gradient fill. When you use the Pointer or Gradient tools to select an object with a pattern or gradient fill, a set of handles appears on or near the object. You can drag these handles to adjust the object’s fill.
Use the fill handles to interactively adjust a pattern or gradient fill.
To move the fill within an object:
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Drag the round handle, or click in a new location in the fill using the Gradient tool.To rotate the fill:
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Drag the lines connecting the handles.To adjust the fill width and skew:
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Drag a square handle.Applying gradient and pattern fills 115
Setting hard-edged, anti-aliased, or feathered fill edges
In Fireworks, you can make the edge of a fill a regular hard line or soften the edge by anti-aliasing or feathering it. By default, edges are anti-aliased. Anti-aliasing smooths jagged edges that may occur on rounded objects, such as ellipses and circles, by subtly blending the edge into the background.
Feathering, however, produces a noticeable blending on either side of the edge. This softens the edge, creating an effect similar to a glow.
To change the edge of a selected object:
1 Do one of the following to display the Edge pop-up menu:
■ Click the Edge pop-up menu in the Property inspector.
■ Click the Fill Color box in the Tools panel, click Fill Options, and click the Edge pop-up menu.
2 Choose an edge option: Hard Edge, Anti-Alias, or Feather.
3 For a feathered edge, also choose the number of pixels on each side of the edge that are to be feathered.
The default is 10. You can choose from 0 to 100. The higher the level, the more feathering occurs.
About saving a custom gradient fill
To save the current gradient settings as a custom gradient for use across many documents, you must create a style. For more information, see “Creating and deleting styles” on page 156.
Removing a fill
You can easily remove fill attributes from selected objects.
To remove the fill from a selected object, do one of the following: