Firework Alternative
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- nylon
God I fucking miss Fireworks. It is no longer available to download.
What would you recommend as an alternative?
I hate designing for web in Photoshop. Illustrator isnt ideal and I just don't think Sketch or XD are that good - ie just not FW :(
You guys using any random software that is 'kind of' like FW?
Thanks
- dpi0
Why do you think Sketch or XD are not good? Too old to learn new stuff? Change is normal. Try both of them. Do 2-3 projects or smaller projects and then see what works for you the best.
I have used Fireworks in the past however I didn't use it much and can't remember any good tricks. As far as I remember save quality vs file size was good.
However.
Sketch:
Not hard to learn. Symbols and libraries are good if you like to organise things and work with bigger projects.
Does weird things sometimes. Specially when you try to build complex nested symbols and use auto-layout plugin.XD
Auto animate is great specially if you work with mobile apps. Haven't checked last versions however symbols weren't as advanced as in Sketch. Otherwise for landing pages or smaller mobile applications I liked it a lot.Invision studio - don't know much. I had high hopes however first version was slow and buggy. Didn't see why I should choose this instead of Sketch so I give it a year and if they are still live check it again.
Figma - lots of guys like it. It is strong option.
Framer - some nice things there. Haven't checked new versions yet however I am planing to do if I find proper project.
Adiniti
Anyhow I don't understand about the whining what is happening. Adobe is expensive - not. You pay like 0.5 of your hourly rate and get full list of programs. Each program has its positive and negative sides. Same time I believe it is pretty much impossible to build perfect design software.
And to finish it off. I am not sure maybe I am the only one however my workflow is pretty much like this.
Background photos, hero images, product photos etc = Photoshop
Vector icons, background patterns etc = Illustrator
Build final UI views = Sketch/XD
Prototype = AE, Invision, XD, Principle
- imbecile0
Buy CS6 and power through...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adobe-F…
- spot131
@nylon - I'm totally with you on this, I still use Fireworks regularly (have a CS6 CD) but I feel like I need to move on. I've been using Sketch a bit but I really liked the control you had over the details in FW for both vector and raster all in one place.
I'm test driving Affinity Designer as it's rumoured to behave more like FW and so far I'm liking it.
- grafician0
@dpi use Affinity Designer/Photo for vector/raster stuff then use Figma for UI stuff...
No more Sketch for me - true story: got a new UI project, we agreed with the client to use Figma, created an account, booted the app in under 10 mins...after 20 hours had a full app done, small changes and final delivery in a few days, no glitches, on THE FIRST USE OF THIS TOOL!
Figma has great simple easy to use UI + libraries + symbols/components (you can customize a component without changing the master!!) + Prototyping + very good export - also fastest design tool I've used since ever (you know, that "snappy" feeling you get from using a tool with 32GB of RAM but WITHOUT actually having a machine like that) - runs in the cloud at 60fps while using it in the browser (also has a desktop client) + teams collaboration (any number of team members can design at the same time in the same file - no need for versions support tools like Abstract) + comments in app for clients + cheap af tool...
They also have great support, reply on twitter pretty fast, can give them feedback and they respond (gave them an idea for a new feature on twitter a few days ago and they replied today that will add it to the list of features to implement next - first time someone from a design tool dev team replied directly and acknowledged they'll do my bidding buhahhaa!)
Anyway, no other design tool will come close to Fireworks, but my workflow today is Affinity + Figma and I can't recommend these f tools enough!