Fireworks has always, in my view, been a bit of an unsung hero. Overshadowed by Photoshop (am I the only person who loathes Photoshop for its complete impenetrability?) it has, nevertheless, been a crucial tool in my box when it comes to designing websites, buttons, elearning interfaces, logos etc. It clearly isn’t as capable as Photoshop when it comes to the printed medium but for developing graphics for electronic use it is unrivalled.

And with CS4, Fireworks looks as though it’s truly come of age. Hop along to Adobe Labs to download the Beta but only if you have a serial number from Fireworks CS3 or various versions of the CS3 suite. This is because the Beta will expire after two days unless it is unlocked with a serial number that itself can only be acquired by using your existing serial. If you do have a CS3 serial number, you can use the Beta until after the launch of the final product.

The first and most obvious change is to the interface. Fireworks has been upgraded to the black-dominated look and feel of the other key elements of CS3 and, if nothing else, this demonstrates Adobe’s renewed commitment to the product.

Most exciting, and the impetus for this post, is CSS output. This means that you can create a website design entirely within the Fireworks interface, slice it up and Fireworks will generate not only the HTML for displaying the page but also a separate CSS file. Cleverly, Fireworks is able to distinguish between those areas that should obviously be text and those that must be graphics. A rounded rectangle, for example, will be output as two graphics (top and bottom) but the rectangle between them is created as CSS and any text there will be true text, not graphics.

This is a real leap forward and whilst it doesn’t work perfectly (as I’ve discovered) and you’d be well advised to optimise the CSS produced yourself, it represents a real timesaver and something genuinely new and useful. I’m the first to criticise Adobe when they (in my view) get it wrong (eg Director 11) and I don’t like all their products (eg Photoshop) but Fireworks has always been a cracking product and the new features in this next release are a clear and significant upgrade that will improve my workflow, enable me to get work done more quickly and earn more money. Fireworks CS4 looks like being the defining release for this product. Well done Adobe.