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Comment by jvzr | Hacker News Reader

I've been using Fireworks for years, back to Macromedia Fireworks 4. It's much better/faster than Photoshop for web design (rounded square corners come to mind).

If you work on a Mac, consider Sketch by Bohemian Coding : http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketch/ It's a great app, is updated very frequently and has come a very long way and could almost be seen as already superior to Fireworks CS6 in most ways.

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Sketch looks nice, but seems like more of an Illustrator competitor than a Fireworks or PS replacement. Also, how does it handle PSD import. PSD is pretty much the standard for layered image sharing and FW opens PSD's near-perfectly.

I think the OP was talking about replacing Fireworks' excellent vector editing abilities.

It's definitely a Fireworks replacement: slices export, CSS export, etc. It functions like Illustrator in the way that it uses a board (group of assets) rather than a limited canvas (a single asset), but it is not a software for doing illustrations or whatever you call what Illustrator does (not native speaker here, obv).

Edit: it does @2x automated exports too, for instance. Quite handy for iOS coding or responsive design.

I've never had to open PSDs with Sketch, so I can't tell. If you have any question, feel free to tweet their account on twitter: I hear they are reactive and very friendly. And definitely close to developers and designers: a lot of the features added this year have come from user suggestions. Can't tell the same story with Adobe...

Sketch doesn't yet support PSD. PSD format is a little bit of a complex format to support. However they have made it clear that it is a very high priority on their list several times. So it will come eventually.

It's more of a Fireworks or Illustrator replacement then a PS replacement. It doesn't come with all the lovely filters and stuff PS has. It also doesn't have the complexities of Illustrator. But if you are a web developer, it has some of the best tools for that specific development. Icon design, web design, buttons, etc. are all a snap to create.

Old now, but in 2010 Jon Hicks reviewed a bunch of Fireworks alternatives: http://hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/fireworks-alternatives-on-t... Well worth a read. It reignited on Twitter last week:

https://twitter.com/Hicksdesign/status/329882707507154944 https://twitter.com/Hicksdesign/status/329882861337464832

Just use a plugin to enable round corner editing, like http://photoshopscripts.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/corner-edit...

The best way I've found to make rounded corners in Photoshop is by using the round rectangle vector tool. It's relatively new, so you may not have tried it.

Indeed. For years we had to use workarounds and various cheats. Having different radii was a pain in the ass in PS, but a breeze in FW.

It's a breeze in PS now too.

Well, that's if you fork for the latest Creative Cloud subscription, or wait for the next boxed version.

The upcoming Creative Cloud version, called Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud), finally offers re-adjustable radii (for all corners).

See more here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B...!

"now" is decidedly premature. Adobe's announcement yesterday happened after this conversation, and I don't recall them making the new Photoshop available right now. And, seriously, if they have to make it one of the primary features highlighted during their keynote, it's only telling that it's coming very, very late.

I can't tell if you're being snarky, or just don't have experience.

It's not the creation of rounded rectangles. It's being able to change the radius afterwards (which Photoshop can't do). Also, if you want to change the size of the rectangle later in Photoshop, without distorting the corners, it's not easy -- you have to subselect specific control points, and then move them.

It's not impossible in Photoshop, it's just that modifying rounded rectangles is a huge pain.

I'm not being snarky. Sorry of if it came out that way. You're right, changing the radius is too difficult; I'm just remembering back when creating rounded rectangles was itself a multistep process.

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