Take it from me, Fireworks MX 2004 is the best tool on the market for developers who need to create graphics for front-end or back-end applications. Whether you're an SQL guru or a serious back-end applications coder who hates to ask the graphics guy to create images, you owe it to yourself to try Fireworks.

As a jack-of-all-trades production guy, I once used Adobe Photoshop to create web graphics (before Image Ready came along). But over time, so many features were pushed into the application that it became bloated. I simply needed to create and optimize web-ready graphics. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Well, I found what I was looking for and never looked back: I have been using Fireworks since version 1. Last year, when I upgraded to Fireworks MX, I was psyched to discover the Data-Driven Graphics Wizard, which pretty much automated my web graphics production process.

Recently, I've been hammer-testing the Fireworks MX 2004 alpha and beta, and let me tell you, there are a bunch of new features and performance boosts — well worth the upgrade.

Fireworks MX 2004
Within the first few minutes of opening Fireworks MX 2004, I noticed performance enhancements for every feature I use — freakin' amazing!

And there are lots of new features. One of my favorites, the motion blur Live Effects, lets me create the illusion of motion with an animated GIF. With it, I can create linear, radial, and zoom blur effects, and more easily touch up or add texture to photos. Effects are completely editable: If you change an object, the effect automatically updates.

Best of all, I can create motion blurs in Fireworks and then paste the objects directly into Flash MX for adding motion effects to Flash objects. Of course, you can always do this with other graphics apps, but more steps are involved. With Fireworks, it takes two steps: copy from Fireworks, paste into Flash.

And then there's the new Auto Shapes feature — talk about flexibility. Auto Shapes are extensible tools with which you can manipulate images beyond drag, rotate, and resize. For example, the Bent Arrow Auto Shape lets you adjust the curve of the bend and the shape of the arrowhead. You can use Auto Shapes to create map outlines, flowcharts, coupons — you name it. If you want, you can even use JavaScript to write your own Auto Shape, or download an Auto Shapes extension from the Fireworks Exchange.

Integration
The MX family (which consists of Flash, Dreamweaver, FreeHand, and Fireworks) allows me to integrate multiple mediums into the same website. With MX 2004, integration between the products is tighter than ever before, especially the roundtrip editing process. It's super easy.

With roundtrip editing, I can select an HTML table or graphic in Dreamweaver and make edits in Fireworks MX, without ever leaving the Dreamweaver authoring environment.

Plus, I can now upload files directly from Fireworks without having to use the Dreamweaver FTP tool, which saves me from having to jump from program to program just to upload slices and test in a web browser. And that's just the beginning. The ability to access different Macromedia applications simultaneously will make any developer salivate. It's pretty cool.

Easy to Learn
Another neat thing about Fireworks MX 2004 is that I can teach it to anyone in less than a few minutes — which means you can probably learn it on your own pretty quickly.

In my experience, once a back-end developer understands the workflow, they never go back to other products. After I show them how to use such an intuitive graphics program, I get nothing but compliments — and they get more money in their pockets, since they no longer have to rely on a graphics wizard to generate time-consuming, repetitive images.

I guess it's obvious... I'm a true Fireworks believer. I've thought about growing out my hair again and walking the earth with my trusty wooden cane just to teach those cave-dwelling developers how simple Fireworks 2004 MX is to use for their projects. Sure, finding them could be hard, but the process would fun.

Alan Musselman has been developing sites for the past eight years and works full time as a web developer for Davaco / Davaco Sourcing. Someday, he hopes to save enough money to uncover a Mayan ruin and stream it all with Flash Communication Server.