I was experimenting today with working in Fireworks CS4 and adding symbols to the Custom Symbols area. As I attempted to save a symbol I created, I realized that the correct path to save the symbols to was not set to the default location. Once I have a symbol created in Fireworks, I can then use that in the workflow down the line in Flash or Flash Catalyst.
The process for creating and saving a symbol in Fireworks is as follows. I create my graphic and select it, then go to Modify/Symbol or just hit F8 on my keyboard. The following dialog comes up:
I insure that the “Save to Common Library” option is checked. A save dialog will come up asking where you want to save your symbol. The option to have symbols available within Fireworks is handy so that your graphics or artwork can be reused again easily.
Within Fireworks, I found that the default location for saving to the Common Library wasn’t set correctly. The default location for saving symbols is the following path: (Note: This is true for Windows 7, I imagine the path is the same for Windows XP as well.)
C:\Users\MyUserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Fireworks cs4\Common Library\Custom Symbols.
At first, I couldn’t locate this path, then I realized I had hidden files set in Windows 7. With this setting, the Appdata folder is hidden, so you need to show hidden folders in order to see it. To show hidden folders in Windows 7, do the following:
1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Click on Organize.
3. Click Folder and Search Options.
Once that was completed, I could save my symbols to the correct location and then retrieve them in Fireworks under the Common Library Panel.