Fireworks vs. ImageReady
By Lynda Weinman
If you've been keeping up to date on developments in Web graphics, chances are you've heard about two new tools: Adobe's ImageReady (see "Visual Designer," Web Techniques, July 1998) and Macromedia's Fireworks (see "News & Notes" in the same issue). Both products claim to be all-in-one Web graphics solutions that will allow you to accomplish all your Web graphics tasks without looking to outside plug-ins, utilities, or applications. I know a lot of designers will be questioning these claims, and will also be looking to make a choice between the two products.
It will be a hard choice. Funny, but what Adobe and Macromedia set out to do was to provide a simpler and more complete solution for Web graphics. By achieving their goals, they've presented Web designers with a difficult new problem: Which is the best one to buy, and what are the trade-offs? I'll take the challenge of addressing some of the issues, but it won't make your decision that much easier because the products are equally impressive.
The Fireworks package takes a completely different tack from ImageReady, which is part of what makes it so difficult to choose between the two products. While Adobe focused heavily on a Photoshop look-and-feel, Macromedia created something entirely new. This makes Fireworks a lot more difficult to learn to use than ImageReady, but the curve is worth it once you taste the program's innovative features.
Fireworks was created by a similar group of people to those who made Freehand, and those roots show.
