PDF (adobe.com)

Make areas transparent

Transparent areas in GIF and 8-bit PNG files allow the background of a web page to show through those areas. In Fireworks, a gray-and-white checkerboard in the document window identifies transparent areas.

Optimized image preview in Fireworks; image exported with transparency and placed on a web page with a colored background

Note: Although 32-bit PNG files contain transparency, the Optimize panel does not have a transparency option for them.

For GIF images, use index transparency, which turns on or turns off pixels with specific color values.

GIF images are exported without transparency by default. Even if the canvas behind an image or object appears transparent in Original view in Fireworks, the background for that image may not be transparent unless you select Index Transparency before export.

For PNG files, you can use alpha transparency, which is often used in exported graphics that contain gradient transparency and semi-opaque pixels. Although the transparency is not very useful for export to the web (because most web browsers do not support PNG format), it is useful for export to Flash or Adobe Director, because both applications support this type of transparency.

Note: Setting colors to transparent affects only the exported version of the image, not the actual image. To see what the exported image will look like, use a preview.