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     1. How can I select an area of a multilayered fireworks image and export just that?
    2. How do I export the JavaScript rollovers and images to an image subdirectory.
    3. When exporting slices in version 1, there was a selection to place images in a subfolder, the default being images. How do I do it in FW2?
    4. Why the pixel border on FW to Dreamweaver export?
     5. Any tips on optimization?

Q. How can I select an area of a multilayered fireworks image and export just that?
     A. There are a few ways to do this:
      1 - By using the Export Area tool. This tool is in the flyout under the pointer tool in the top left of the document, and has the icon that looks like a little 35mm camera. Select the tool, drag out and adjust the area you want to export, and then doubleclick, hit enter, or hit the button in the tool options panel.
      2 - By using the crop tool in the export preview dialog. Basically, the Export area tool is a way to "pre-set" the crop area in the export preview dialog.
      3 - If the area is a slice, you can select the slice, go to the object inspector, and click on the [...] button next to the export settings, and you'll go to the export dialog for that slice area.
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    Q. I am a seasoned user of FW 1 and I have no trouble exporting the JavaScript rollovers and images to an image sub directory. In fact it gives you an option in FW 1. How can I do this in FW 2? What am I missing?
     A. In Fireworks 2, we changed this in order to allow you more control of where the html is generated in relation to the images. Now the images and rollovers go to the directory you select in export, and the html is targeted in the bottom section.
      You can put the html in the same directory as the images (default), or put the html one level up in the directory structure, or you can browse and put the html anywhere you want. As long as you put the html and images on the same volume, fw will correctly generate the image and rollover links.
      That said, the way to do what you did in FW1 is: In the Export dialog, select the images folder for export. In the HTML section, under the Location popup, select "One level up" This will automatically put the html in the parent directory. This will give you the same result as FW1 did. As noted before, you can browse and locate your html 2 levels up, or two up, one over and one down. More flexibility.
John Alquist

Q. When exporting slices in version 1, there was a selection to place images in a subfolder, the default being images. I cannot find this selection or its functional equivalent in version 2.
A. We changed the format for the export dialog. When you get to the export preview window, just navigate to the folder you want your images to save in or click on the new folder icon at the top of the window to create the new folder and name it. The images will be saved there and you can designate the type and location of the HTML document Fireworks generates at the bottom of the window. I'm writing a technote.. it will be up at:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/fireworks/ts/documents/export_changes.htm

enthusiastically, mark haynes macromedia tech support

Q. After creating all the slices needed for use in dreamweaver 2, I export the slices. The HTML style chosen for export is dreamweaver 2. Upon opening the HTML file in dreamweaver 2, I find that there is a 1 pixel cell surrounding the entire perimeter of the table. This is a problem because I want to tuck the top cell in the table against the top and left of the browser window. This cannot be accomplished with that extra cell along the top.
A. The one pixel border was introduced in FW1, as in many cases it is necessary to get proper table layout. In FW2 you can turn off this border by going to Document Properties and change Table Shims to No Shims. Note that this may cause your table to separate, depending on how you have laid out your slices. You can also try Shims From Image. This will attemp to create the border when needed inside the image, so you can butt the table to the top and right.
enthusiastically,
John Alquist
macromedia tech support

     Q. Any tips on optimization?
     A. The best way to optimize a picture always depends on the sort of graphics. If the graphics you created contain a lot of different colors, gradients or are generally rather photographic then JPG would be the file type of desire. However I see you want to create an animated GIF. Couple of things to consider:
- Reduce colors (you might check what the lowest number of colors is you can still live with, btw. besides choosing one of the pre-fab numbers you can always type in the exact number of colors you want)
- Turn off interlace (this will gain a few kB at a file this large, but the pic will only show up if it was downloaded completely)
- Turn off dithering (see if this is suitable for this type of graphic, but what dithering does is add extra pixels of a different color to "fool your eyes". GIFs get quite large because there's so much different color information to be stored)
- Remove frames (you won't need necessarily to still ensure a smooth movement. It's incredible what a low rate of fps the eye can take and still identify it as smooth animation. After all, people are not expecting technorama quality here)
- Finally, don't forget to check the Optimize checkbox.
Image quality is best if you choose an adaptive palette, rather than the web safe palette. People with 256 colors will get a dithered image, which won't look as great as on your machine, but then, as this one guy wrote on his web site: The web site looks best on the machines of the webmasters. We'll have to live with that, I guess. Oh, one more thought: If nothing else helps, make the image smaller! ;-)
Bernd IDEE Berlin Germany http://www.idee.net

     A(2). In animated GIFs it is always good to keep the Auto Crop and Auto Difference options checked when exporting files to be used on the Web. If you plan to open the file in any other application, these options should be turned off. This is true of animations to be brought into Direcotor. See the following technote: http://www.macromedia.com/support/fireworks/ts/documents/animation_shot.htm Leaving the disposal method set to none or unspecified might buy you some file size. Restore to previous or background seems to enlarge the filesize for me, but then everybody's GIF is different. Play around with these settings to see what is optimal.
enthusiastically, mark haynes macromedia tech support