FIREWORKS: Some activities to get your feet wet.

activity one: bloom on a snowy branch

1. Get images from the wiki

A. Create a folder on your desktop named “images.” In that folder, create a sub-folder named “pngs.”

B. Go to our class wiki

C. In the box on the left, click on the “images” link

D. For each of the three images, click and drag them to your desktop in your “images” folder.

2. Open Fireworks

A. The first page you get will ask you if you want to open an existing image or if you want to start a new Fireworks document. You want to open an existing image, so click on the folder labeled “open”

B. Find your “images” folder and open both “a1bloom” and “a3snowfilledbranch”

C. Bring “bloom” to the front. Click on the image; make sure a thin blue line appears around the image.

D. On the left you should have a toolbar. If you do not, across the top click on “windows” then on “tools.” On the toolbar, under “bitmap,” select the “polygon lasso tool.” The bottom tip of the lasso is the point you want to have on the edge of the flower. Click on a point around the edge of the flower; when you move your cursor, you will have a blue line attached to it. Drag the blue line to the next point on the image—essentially you are going to draw a blue line all the way around the bloom to make it a “cutout”. Continue all the way around the bloom until you end where you began. When you click on your beginning point, the blue line should automatically change to a moving dashed line.

E. Mouse over the bloom, right click (control/click on a MAC) on the bloom and choose “edit” then “copy” from the pop-up menu

F. Bring your snowfilledbranch to the front. Right-click and paste your bloom onto the picture. From the Tools bar, choose the top left black arrow. Move your bloom wherever you feel works for you. From the “file” menu, choose “export” and “save” as “Yourlastname_Image1.jpg” to your images folder.

activity two: playing with color

1. Open “colored pencils.” Click to be sure you have the blue line.

2. Again choose your polygon lasso tool

3. Draw around one of the pencils.

4. From the bar at the top, choose “Select” then “Select Inverse.” The moving line should shift and be around everything outside the pencil.

5. While your moving line is still intact and moving, go to “Filters” across the top, then choose “hue and saturation.” Move the setting in “saturation” all the way to the left, to “0”. Your pencil should remain in color while the rest of the picture turns gray.

6. Under “colors” in your toolbar (near the bottom), the top box lets you choose your paint color. Click on the box and choose a color. From the toolbar, choose “paintbrush” under “bitmap.” At the bottom of your screen, a new box should appear. There choose “preserve opacity” and set the number above it somewhere between 20 and 40. Next to the color box (it should be the color you chose) is the number that indicates the size (number of pixels) of your brush. Adjust to your liking.

7. Experiment coloring the pencils or parts of them. (Note: be sure to click and hold as you paint; if you unclick and reclick, you will double coat your paint). Be sure your opacity is light enough that the details show through. Be sure to leave some parts of the image in grayscale.

8. Export as “yourlastname_image2.jpg” to your images folder.

activity three: working with screen captures (on a MAC)

Screen captures are critical for a range of documents. Imagine, for instance, completing this module without any image, examples, or screen captures to guide you through the steps. For this activity, you will embed an appropriate screen capture into a Word document.

1. Choose one item from the list below to explain and create a screen capture for:

A. How to insert an image into Word

B. How create a chart or diagram in word

C. How to embed a sound clip into a Word document

D. How to change the background color in Fireworks

E. Some other small technical instruction you think of and want to write up dealing with software we’re familiar with.

2. Write the instructions in a Word document. Be descriptive and clear

3. Go through the steps for which you are creating instructions. At a point where you believe an image would aid in the instructions, take a screenshot

A. To capture the entire desktop, press Command-Shift-3. The screen shot will be automatically saved as a PNG file on your desktop.

B. To copy the entire desktop, press Command-Control-Shift-3. The screen shot will be placed on your clipboard for you to paste into another program.

C. To capture a portion of the desktop, press Command-Shift-4. A cross-hair cursor will appear and you can click and drag to select the area you wish to capture. When you release the mouse button, the screen shot will be automatically saved as a PNG file on your desktop. (The file is saved as PDF in Mac OS 10.3 and earlier.)

4. Open the screenshot in Fireworks and edit as needed (trim, crop, etc). Export this image to your “images” folder and save.

5. Toggle back to your instructions in the Word document. Go to “insert” and “image” from folder. Find your saved screenshot and insert. Double-click on the image and a box will appear. Under “format” choose “text-wrapping” and then “tight”. This will keep your image from moving the text willy-nilly. Adjust the size of your image to fit the instructions well.

6. Save your document as “yourlastname_activity5.doc”