MACROMEDIA ANNOUNCES FIREWORKS MX 2004
New version boosts performance, adds new creative tools, and deepens cross-product integration for web professionals
San Francisco, CA—August 25, 2003—Macromedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: MACR) today announced Fireworks MX 2004, a new release of the complete solution for designing, optimizing, and integrating great-looking web graphics. Fireworks MX 2004 runs faster, delivers a broad array of new design tools and effects, and promotes collaboration through expanded integration with other products in the Macromedia MX family.
Fireworks MX 2004 gives web developers the tools they need to quickly create web graphics and interactivity, from simple graphical buttons to sophisticated rollover effects and pop-up menus. Fireworks offers the flexibility to import files from all major graphics formats and allows users to integrate and edit both vector and bitmap images. Designers and developers can easily export Fireworks images to Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver, and third-party applications. Fireworks joins other products announced today in the MX 2004 family (see separate release),which share core new features including site definitions, file management, and Property Inspectors. For more information on Fireworks MX 2004, which is expected to ship in September, visit www.macromedia.com/go/fwmx2004/.
"Fireworks was the first tool dedicated specifically to web graphics, and it continues to define that market segment," said Sho Kuwamoto, vice president of product development, Macromedia. "Because Fireworks MX 2004 is so well integrated with Dreamweaver and Flash, it streamlines graphics design and optimization for a wide range of web development projects. We can't wait to see what amazing graphics our developers create now.”
To increase team development productivity, Fireworks MX 2004 supports a seamless cross-product workflow across Macromedia and third-party tools. Fireworks MX 2004 provides the same check-in/check-out functionality as Dreamweaver. The product's roundtrip editing support now handles server-side code, as well as nested tables. Built-in FTP can transfer files to and from remote servers from within Fireworks MX 2004, or the product can automatically compress and e-mail files to team members with a single click.
"Fireworks MX 2004 enables our creative department to move vector and bitmap files
between other graphic programs and prepare optimized artwork for Flash,
which expedites a lot of production time," said Cyril Lemaire, consulting director, Euro RSCG Circle, a Macromedia Alliance
partner. "Impressive new features will especially appeal to interactive designers, such
as the custom anti-alias settings in the text palette, offering unconditional
control over legibility with screen-based typography."
New drawing tools provide extensive control over bitmap and vector
images. Auto Shapes respond intelligently to offer image manipulation
options beyond drag, rotate, and resize. Contour Gradients, a popular
feature from Macromedia FreeHand MX, enable Fireworks users to create
multicolor gradients that follow a shape's outline path. Motion Blur
effects create the illusion of movement, and photo tools enable quick
touch-ups and red eye removal. New anti-aliasing options deliver more
readable text, which is especially important with the push to deliver
more content to devices. Full Unicode support enables users to create
double-byte graphical and alt text for localized sites.
Fireworks MX 2004 demonstrates the effect of significant performance tuning, with large image manipulation and other processor-intensive tasks now running as much as 85 percent faster. The product also includes tighter integration with Flash MX 2004, Dreamweaver MX 2004, and other design and development tools in Macromedia Studio MX 2004 (announced today, see separate releases). Fireworks MX 2004 is "Designed for Windows XP" and "Built for Mac OS X." For more information on new features in Fireworks MX 2004, visit www.macromedia.com/go/fwmx2004new/.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Fireworks MX 2004, available for Mac OS X v10.2.6 and Windows, is expected
to ship in September. Pricing is $299 for new users, $149 for upgrades
from Fireworks MX and Fireworks 4, and $99 for education customers.
The product will be available as part of Studio MX 2004, which costs
$899 for new users, $399 for upgrades from Studio MX, $499 for upgrades
from any eligible product, and $199 for education customers. Macromedia
DevNet Professional members will receive Fireworks MX 2004 automatically
as part of their annual subscription. Education, corporate, and government
volume licensing will also be available. The product is expected
to be available in English in September, with Traditional Chinese,
French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish expected to
ship shortly thereafter.
ABOUT MACROMEDIA
Experience matters. Macromedia is motivated by the belief that great
experiences build great businesses. Our software empowers millions
of business users, developers, and designers to create and deliver
effective, compelling, and memorable experiences - on the Internet,
on fixed media, on wireless, and on digital devices.
