I have to begin this month's article with a confession. Each year, because of my articles and books, software publishers send me piles of free software with the hope that I will do an article about their product. I use the software and then, at some point, start feeling guilty. So, in that light, this is my periodic attempt at assuaging my conscience; hopefully, I'll give you some good advice.

Fireworks MX is a great program that can do a lot. But in today's "job must be done by yesterday" world, the concept of object-oriented programming is here to stay. The whole philosophy behind OOP is that you use a prebuilt solution and just plug in the information. This saves hours of potential trial-and-error development.

The software tools I discuss here are both relatively inexpensive and compatible (directly or indirectly) with the MX environment.

Alien Skin Software
This company has had a strong association with Fireworks for quite some time now. As a matter of fact, a "lite" version of its products, Eye Candy 4000 and Alien Skin Splat, ships with Fireworks MX 2004. These are filter programs that will allow you to create special effects quickly.

The full version of Eye Candy 4000 comes with 23 easy-to-use filters. As an example, you could apply the melt filter to a photograph and end up with something like Image I. This could be the easy road to becoming the next Salvador Dali in melting time.

How many hours have you spent trying to get that glass button effect? The glass filter will give you the effect shown in Image II, among others, quickly and easily. The interface will allow you to change color, shading, transparency, etc.

The full version of the Splat program will give you some great frame and edging effects.

As an example, the cameo shown in Image III was created with just a few clicks.

I could have achieved the same effect by using a masking technique. However, this image was created within seconds with just a few simple clicks.

Xenofex 2 offers 14 additional filters for such exotic effects as electricity, smoke, crumpled paper, jigsaw puzzle, etc.

Image Doctor will allow you to repair damaged images by removing scratches, spots, and various compression errors.

Why reinvent the wheel? It took me a considerable amount of time to recreate what these filters did with a few simple keystrokes in an easy-to-use interface.

You can purchase these filters, and download demo versions, at www.alienskin.com. They also have special package pricing.

Auto FX
This series of filters are available in two versions: stand alone and plug-in. However, as of this writing, the plug-in versions are not available directly for Fireworks. The plug-in versions are available only for Photoshop, Corel Photo Paint, and Jasc Paint Shop Pro.

I happen to be a user of Paint Shop Pro, and as a result I was able to install these filters as a plug-in. Once I did that, I was able to access the plug-ins with Fireworks.

These filter packages offer some very sophisticated effects. As an example, the Mystical Lighting package gives you ways to play with an image's lighting. Image IV offers an example.

As an experiment, I found the graphic in Image IV on their Web site. I was able to reproduce the results within about 15 minutes. Unfortunately, space does not permit me to show you many of the interesting variations I was able to create.

As a designer, I'm always looking for interesting things to do with text. One of the filters of the Dreamsuite Series of filters will allow you to turn ordinary text into something like Image V.

The Mystical Tint package will allow you to work some magic with the image's colors. This is shown in Image VI.

Again, I was able to create a number of variations that I do not have room to reproduce here. Experimenting with the interface of these filter packages opened up a number of fascinating possibilities.

Demo versions, a number of examples, and pricing are available at www.autofx.com. As I stated at the outset, you can use this as a freestanding program and then export into Fireworks.

You will be amazed.

WildForm
Not all the samples were for Fireworks. As you may know, there are a number of programs to augment Flash MX. Among the best programs I have seen is Wildfx. This simple, and inexpensive, package will give you an unbelievable 400 text effects. You open it up, type the text, pick the effect, and the job is done.

The interface is shown in Image VII.

I can easily export the SWF file and then incorporate it into a Flash movie. If 400 text effects are not enough, you can get a low cost supplemental package that will give you an additional 200 effects.

If you want to put a Flash movie together, using multiple SWF files, quickly, you can use the companion product called Linx. This will allow you to easily take SWF files and just dropping them onto a timeline.

The interface is shown in Image VIII.

Please remember that I am not using Linx as a substitute for Flash MX. However, it helped me speed up some of the more routine tasks.

I am finding the Wildform programs increasingly important to help speed up my workflow. Information about these programs can be found at www.wildform.com.

Conclusion
This is only a small sampling of the third-party market building around Macromedia's MX line. Each of these programs can speed up the workflow process by offering specialized functionality and reducing graphics process down to a few simple keystrokes.

Are they worth the investment?

Only you can decide that. However, in my practice, each of these programs has saved me hours and, in one case, days of work. This translates out to profitability that could outweigh the initial cost.

Give the demos a try. I don't think you will be disappointed.