Images > Using an external image editor

Using an external image editor

Dreamweaver makes it easy for you to design your HTML pages and work in an image editor to edit your graphics. While in Dreamweaver, you can open a selected image in an external image editor; when you return to Dreamweaver after saving the image file, any changes you made to the image are visible in the Document window.

You can use Macromedia Fireworks as your external image editor. Fireworks 3 and Fireworks 4 use Design Notes to track where the original PNG file is stored on your local hard disk.

Fireworks 2 doesn't use Design Notes, but will prompt you to locate the original PNG file. Fireworks 1 automatically searches the folder that contains the selected file for a PNG file with the same name. For example, if you select an image whose source file is images/myPhoto.gif and the images folder also contains a file called myPhoto.png, Fireworks opens the PNG file.

For more information, see Dreamweaver and Fireworks overview.

If you set any other image-editing application as the external image editor and launch the editor from within Dreamweaver, the application launches and opens the selected image (for example, images/myPhoto.gif). Use the image editor to modify the image, save your changes, and then view the updated changed image in Dreamweaver.

If you prefer, you can manually open the original file from which the GIF was generated (for example, mylogo.png might be the original Fireworks file), make changes, and save the changed image. Dreamweaver still updates the image in the Document window when you return.

If you don't see an updated image after returning to the Dreamweaver window, select the image and then click the Refresh button in the Property inspector.