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I often have to make designs for internet-use. I have had Fireworks for years and it suits my purpose. These are the details I like in it:

  • Good tools for moderate image manipulation (cutting, cropping, color changes, overlaying one image with another, blurring, etc.)
  • Possibilities to draw other objects easily (squares, lines, circles, shapes)
  • Easy options to apply textures, shadows, gradients, and other effects.
  • Preview of JPG / GIF / PNG export, easy quality settings -> useful when exporting for the web.
  • Ease of dragging, resizing, and moving objects (images, shapes, text) around on a canvas
  • Ease of working with vectors and bitmaps at the same time

So I guess those are the main qualities I like a lot in Fireworks. Now that I use Ubuntu I've tried Gimp and Inkscape, and some others, but I can not find all of the aforementioned qualities. Maybe it's me, but Fireworks still rules when it comes to these things, IMHO. So I run it under Wine. But that's really a pain... it's slow and behaves erratically.

Is there anybody who has found a good replacement for Fireworks? Or knows a program that might fit my needs? Thanks!

Zanna
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3 Answers3

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Pencil Project (Download Link)

Despite the similar names this is different from Pencil.

enter image description here

The Pencil Project's unique mission is to build a free and opensource tool for making diagrams and GUI prototyping that everyone can use.

Eliah Kagan
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Lincity
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Ok. The software suggestions posted are OK, but none touch Fireworks.

Good news is that Fireworks does work GREAT on Linux and it's easy to install. Literally double clicking the .exe file.

Get and install Macromedia Fireworks 8. I've switched back to Ubuntu Linux full time from Windows and coming from Fireworks CS 6, Macromedia Fireworks 8 has all the things I need.

I even create web browser themes and more with it.

Macromedia Fireworks 8

Enjoy :)

yanike
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  • Doesn't this require using Wine? If so, The OP mentioned in the question that the performance was too slow. – Kevin Bowen Jan 17 '13 at 04:32
  • The performance isn't slow at all. It's very fast! I graphic design for a living and use both Macromedia Fireworks 8 and Adobe Photoshop CS 5 on Linux. The speed of the apps are just as fast and even faster than the programs mentioned that run native. Also, it matters what version of wine apps the user is using. – yanike Jan 17 '13 at 04:34
  • This doesn't answer the original question. – Kevin Bowen Jan 17 '13 at 04:35
  • It gives the original question a better answer. Use what you want to use. Either go pro or go home. It's up to you ;) I'm just mentioning a way to get what you truly need and not some terrible alternative. I've used all the mentioned and they don't hold a candle to Fireworks. – yanike Jan 17 '13 at 04:36
  • @maggotbrain Anyone interested in this question would potentially be interested in this answer. It may not meed the needs of the OP but it will likely help others. – Eliah Kagan Jan 17 '13 at 08:38
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Pencil (Click to install)

While mainly made for animation purpose it can be used for drawing and supports bitmap and vector graphics .

enter image description here

Pencil is an animation/drawing software for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. It lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil is free and open source.

animuson
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Lincity
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  • Thanks, the interface is nice and it works fast. However, it lacks options like effects (shadow, blur, fade, etc), and I also do not see any option to easily draw shapes (squares, circles, arrows), or to apply texture, for instance. –  Apr 03 '11 at 14:43