- Choose your design application
- Use a single artboard with multiple layers
- Group complex objects
- Flatten artwork with filters and effects
- Name everything
- Embed images in the design document
- Manage fonts when sharing files
- Set component properties in Flash catalyst
- Create sample artwork for a list of images or text
- Hide, show, and lock layers
- Exporting an FXg file from adobe Fireworks
From the book
Flatten artwork with filters and effects
In Illustrator, Photoshop, and Fireworks, you can use layers to apply a large selection of filters and effects to artwork and text. Some examples include drop shadows, opacity masks, and blends. In Photoshop these are called Adjustment layers. By placing the effect or filter in a separate layer, you preserve the original artwork or text. Unfortunately, layered filters and effects don’t import correctly into Flash Catalyst. To preserve the appearance of the effect or filter, you’ll need to flatten those layers or convert them to bitmap (raster) images. Flattening combines all levels of a multilayered image into one image on a single layer. If your design includes text on a path, you’ll need to flatten it, or convert the text to outlines before importing to Flash Catalyst.