working with text and gradients

[Fred Kunst]

Hello Fireworkers,

I am relatively new to Fireworks MX and working with text and gradients. I
have been trying to create a text logo on top of a two-colour gradient
(200px wide by 100px high).

I encountered the following problems :

1. The text is fuzzy; I am using Dom Casual at 36 and 24px and tried the
four anti-aliasing options available (none, crisp, strong and smooth). None
of these options creates really sharp text. Especially the round characters
(like C, O and S) show jagged edges.

2. The gradient looks OK in Fireworks MX but when sliced and exported
(grouped with the text) as GIF the gradient clearly shows different vertical
bands of colour and not a smooth gradient at all.

I am in the middle of a domain transfer so I cannot upload any examples at
this time.

My questions are :
1. Can someone point me in the direction of a tutorial that addresses these
problems;
2. Or show me how create the effect I am after;
3. Or are there other programs out there that are better at creating the
thing I am after.

Regards,

Fred Kunst

+++++ fk

[Sam Poikail]

Hi Fred:

Anti-aliasing works by smoothly transitioning from the font (in this case)
color to the color of the background. When you export the to a GIF,
selecting the Matte color lets Fireworks know what the target background
color is going to be. The border pixels are then adjusted to give the
appearance of being smooth by transitioning from one color to the other. By
trying to place anti-aliased text on a gradient background, you would be
trying to match multiple background colors which is either going to be
difficult or impossible depending on how much of a shift there is in the
gradient.

The gradient looks smooth in Fireworks because of the number of colors is
only limited by your video settings. If you export to GIF you will be
limited to 256 colors, which is why you are seeing the banding. Gradients
are are generally better served by being exported as JPGs which offer a
smoother gradients by virtue of their greater color depth.

If you want me to take a look at the PNG, feel free to send it to me
offlist.

Cheers,
Sam

"Fred Kunst" <fk22@NOSPAMoptonline.net> wrote in message
news:bhka1e$a38$1@forums.macromedia.com...

>
> Hello Fireworkers,
>
> I am relatively new to Fireworks MX and working with text and gradients. I
> have been trying to create a text logo on top of a two-colour gradient
> (200px wide by 100px high).
>
> I encountered the following problems :
>
> 1. The text is fuzzy; I am using Dom Casual at 36 and 24px and tried the
> four anti-aliasing options available (none, crisp, strong and smooth).

None

> of these options creates really sharp text. Especially the round

characters

> (like C, O and S) show jagged edges.
>
> 2. The gradient looks OK in Fireworks MX but when sliced and exported
> (grouped with the text) as GIF the gradient clearly shows different

vertical

> bands of colour and not a smooth gradient at all.
>
> I am in the middle of a domain transfer so I cannot upload any examples at
> this time.
>
> My questions are :
> 1. Can someone point me in the direction of a tutorial that addresses

these

> problems;
> 2. Or show me how create the effect I am after;
> 3. Or are there other programs out there that are better at creating the
> thing I am after.
>
> Regards,
>
> Fred Kunst
>
> +++++ fk
>
>
>
>