I’ve been working on a custom Gradient Panel for Fireworks off and on for a while and wanted to go ahead and get it posted. It’s not in a final state, but it’s definitely usable as is. Having worked with XAML for quite a while now, I’ve grown to expect the ability to hand-tweak the offset values of GradientStops. Now I can do the same thing in Fireworks, all from the comfort of a panel!

I’m providing two ways to edit with precision: a zooming gradient stop interface and a grid of values. The attached photos show the Gradient Panel in action.

Download Fireworks Gradient Panel Extension

A minor update of the Fireworks to XAML Exporter has been posted on the Infragistics Visual Design Group site. This post addresses a gradient conversion issue that occurred under certain circumstances.

Fireworks gradient fills consist of a collection of color nodes and a collection of opacity nodes. Because an object can also have an opacity mask applied separately from the collection of opacity nodes, I am merging the opacity nodes with the color nodes into a single GradientStopCollection. Each gradient stop is of the format #AARRGGBB, which results in the same effect. This allows me to apply a separate opacity mask and maintain the Fireworks visual. This issue occurred during the node merge process.

I’ve posted the lastest version of the Fireworks to XAML Exporter on the Infragistics Visual Design Group site. Lots of significant changes are included in this release. You’ve asked for the ability to save directly to a xaml file, it’s there. You’ve asked for image support – included. Lots of other quality improvements have been included as well, so the translation should be much more accurate now. Keep those comments and suggestions rolling in and watch for updates in the future.

In light of Mike Swanson‘s latest contest announcement, I thought it would be appropriate to post a status update on the Fireworks to XAML Exporter. The Fireworks PNG format isn’t included in the contest, but just knowing that other file format converters are being worked on encourages me to release the latest version of this converter. I plan on posting an updated panel within the next week that supports saving directly to .xaml files instead of just providing clipboard support. I really like the clipboard feature, but I think file support is definitely expected, especially for heavier files. I have updated the path logic so that paths now behave like paths natively drawn in EID. Also, instead of just exporting selected items, you can now choose to export the current frame in its entirety (layer support included). I’ll put together a comprehensive list of changes in the coming week, just wanted to keep those of you who are currently using this informed.

Stay tuned — it should prove to be a nice update!