Custom panels in Fireworks 8 allow you to unlock hidden functionality in the product, introduce new functionality to the product, or simply improve your workflow. In Part 1 of this series, I showed you how to make your own custom panels for Fireworks using Macromedia Flash.

Creating Fireworks Panels – Part 1: An Introduction to Custom Panels ›

In the custom panel examples in Part 1, I paid little attention to their interfaces—which consisted mainly of simple buttons within a relatively small, static work area. Although such panels are fully functional, more attention could be given to their interface design and usability.

I also covered only basic panel functionality. Both the Create Ellipse and Mirror panels did nothing more than call basic Fireworks JavaScript commands, which were initiated by interacting with the interface. Custom Fireworks panels, however, are capable of much more than that.

Part 2 covers more advanced panel development, including interface design, working with the exchange of information between a custom panel and Fireworks, and taking advantage of additional features, such as Fireworks events.

I address each of these topics by working through a single panel example: the Annotations panel.

Requirements

Macromedia Studio 8

• Try
• Buy

Tutorials and sample files:

• custom_fw_panels_pt2.zip (ZIP, 336K)

Prerequisite Knowledge

Flash ActionScript 1.0 and a basic understanding of the Fireworks DOM and working with Fireworks JavaScript.

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