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Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by derefr on Thursday September 15, 2022 @12:06PM (#32854107)
Always wondered why an indie app developer hasn't just decided to work their image-editor app up as "the new Fireworks."

Many other image-editor apps do now take Fireworks' same non-destructive hybrid editing approach... kind of. But they're always missing one thing or another. Either:

1. they aren't multiplatform (can't get "standard" adoption like Fireworks if you're macOS-only)

2. they don't go far enough with the vector editing capabilities (e.g. Fireworks allows you to apply arbitrary gradients/textures/other image assets as the stroke and fill of vector shapes)

3. they don't go far enough with the non-destructiveness (e.g. Fireworks applies filter-effects to both vector and raster layers, as non-destructive "filter layers" bound to a parent layer — effectively "functional lenses" for images; can edit the base layer "underneath" these transformation layers, and see the transformed output change as a result. Of course, you can always "flatten" the transformations into the layer, to then edit the post-transformed version of the layer. Though IMHO this could be taken even further, with "brush modifications" being just another kind of transformation layer!)

4. they use project file formats that consist of entire directory bundles, or file formats opaque to the OS preview mechanism. Fireworks just stored projects as an extension chunk of a PNG file; and every OS knows how to preview PNG files. (And, if you didn't care about the project, you could just treat the PNG file as a PNG file, putting it through ImageMagick or MSPaint or whatever, which would strip the optional chunks, thus "exporting" the project to PNG without needing the program that created it!)

Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by Tagbert on Thursday September 15, 2022 @01:42PM (#32855707)
Affinity Designer is a good vector/bitmap combo app. It closely parallels Illustrator features but adds in basic bitmap editing. If you pair it with Affinity Photo you get most of the Photoshop features. The same files can be shared with both without any loss of fidelity.
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by girvo on Thursday September 15, 2022 @05:41PM (#32858828)
I adore Affinity’s tools, but none of them are a replacement for Fireworks.
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by filmgirlcw on Thursday September 15, 2022 @12:27PM (#32854417)
I’ve had the same question for years! There are a few tools that have tried over the years, but nothing that has stuck around.

And I get that the pixel-perfect design and slicing from the Fireworks era isn’t as useful in today’s world of responsive design and multiple screen sizes and variable screen densities, where CSS and JavaScript plays a much larger role, but I still wish we had a successor.

Because as you said, although most apps now do the hybrid vector/faster thing, nothing really matches what we had with Fireworks.

RIP Macromedia.

Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by chipotle_coyote on Thursday September 15, 2022 @04:52PM (#32858295)
The only program I ever used that felt like it was really gunning for Fireworks was, weirdly, a BeOS-exclusive app called e-Picture. It was a little buggy, but still terrific. (That last sentence sums up the entire BeOS ecosystem circa 1999, granted, which was tiny yet still bigger than I suspect most people know.)
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by Lorin on Thursday September 15, 2022 @12:14PM (#32854224)
I think the next big thing will be SVG tooling - so much untapped power.
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by alluro2 on Thursday September 15, 2022 @09:48PM (#32861048)
I feel the same way too, but on the other hand, been waiting on it for 10+ years now...
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by droidist2 on Friday September 16, 2022 @05:15AM (#32863914)
Inkscape has actually gotten really good since version 1.2 this year.
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by alcover on Thursday September 15, 2022 @12:33PM (#32854522)
Very interesting. I also regret FW fondly. Your post scratches an itch in me and I may be tempted to work on that.

Sorry for my laziness to look it up but could you explain "Fireworks just stored projects as an extension chunk of a PNG file" ?

Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by nicoburns on Thursday September 15, 2022 @02:09PM (#32856090)
PNG format has a space for arbitrary metadata. Fireworks stored their proprietary save format inside this, and also rendered the file to flat PNG on save, meaning that you could preview fireworks files in anything that could read PNGs (although the file size would be huge).
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by Lorin on Thursday September 15, 2022 @11:09PM (#32861631)
I'd be interesting in testing it and providing early feedback.
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by Andrew_nenakhov on Thursday September 15, 2022 @04:23PM (#32857977)
Sketch is the new Fireworks.
Re:Adobe to acquire Figma for $20B by alluro2 on Thursday September 15, 2022 @09:51PM (#32861073)
Unfortunately not...For one, combining bitmap and vector editing is just not there...Also, while I like Sketch and have used it extensively, I haven't missed anything of it with Figma.