If you want to punch up a dull image, but you don't have a lot of time, try adding a light source with Fireworks. The difference the illusion of visible light creates will amaze you. You can shine a light in Fireworks in a few quick steps.
Instructions
1. Load your photo into Fireworks. Mask out any extreme lighting artifacts, such as light reflections or strong shadows on a wall. Select the areas you want to fix and paint them with the "Rubber Stamp" or "Replace Color" tools.
2. Imagine your light source. A bare bulb will shine a bright light in an ellipse. A lamp will cast light in two directions, a larger cone from beneath the lampshade and a much smaller bubble at the top. A window or light off stage will expand across the image plane from the near to far sides.
3. Create a selection shape resembling the cone cast by your imaginary light source. Extend the selection past the borders of your image. Click on the "New Bitmap Image" button in the layers palette then click on the "Add Mask" button to create a new, masked layer.
4. Click on the new bitmap layer and select all. Make sure layer thumbnail is highlighted (not the mask thumbnail) and use the paint bucket to fill the layer with white. Change the layer's blend mode to "Soft Light" or "Overlay" (soft light will produce a more solid light, overlay will mix the light more into the background) and lower the layer opacity to dim the effect.
5. Select the layer in the layers palette and choose "Gaussian Blur" from the properties palette filters options. Set a higher radius to create a more diffused light or a lower radius to create a more intense light. If you want to color your light use the "Color Fill" filter style and reduce the color opacity.
6. Use the dodge and burn tools to paint reflections and shadows on the image layer with the. Use a soft-edged brush and small strokes to build up the effects.
