Learning Web Design – A Beginners Guide to HTML, Graphics & Beyond +CD 2e: A Beginners Guide to HTML, Graphics and Beyond - Softcover

Niederst, Jennifer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0596004842 ISBN 13: 9780596004842

Publisher: O′Reilly, 2003

Synopsis

In Learning Web Design, author Jennifer Niederst shares the knowledge she's gained from years of web design experience, both as a designer and a teacher. This book starts from the beginning-- defining the Internet, the Web, browsers, and URLs -- so you don't need to have any previous knowledge about how the Web works. After reading this book, you'll have a solid foundation in HTML, graphics, and design principles that you can immediately put to use in creating effective web pages.

In the second edition, Jennifer has updated the book to cover style sheets and reflect current web standards. She has also added exercises that help you to learn various techniques and short quizzes that make sure you're up to speed with key concepts. The companion CD-ROM contains material for all the exercises in the book, as well as trial versions of Fireworks® MX, and HomeSite™ 5; Adobe ® Photoshop® 7, ImageReady® 7, and BBEdit 7.

Learning Web Design, 2nd Edition:

• Covers the nuts and bolts of basic HTML and style sheets, with detailed examples of formatting text, adding graphic elements, making links, creating tables and frames, and using color on the Web.
• Explains whether to use GIFs or JPEGs for different types of images, and includes important tips on optimizing graphics for web delivery.
• Provides dozens of web design do and don'ts, to help you make good web design decisions and avoid common beginner traps.
• Contains hands-on exercises throughout the book that allow you to try out new techniques along the way.

Unlike other beginner books, Learning Web Design leaves no holes in your education. It gives you everything you need to create basic web sites and will prepare you for more advanced web work. If you are interested in web design, this book is the place to start. After finishing it, you'll be ready for the author's bestselling companion reference, Web Design in a Nutshell.

Fireworks and HomeSite are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Adobe, ImageReady, and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

About this title

Review

In Learning Web Design, the author of a top-rated web authoring guide (Web Design in a Nutshell) now turns her hand to a beginner's tutorial. The result is a foundation course in HTML, and an ideal starting point for learning how to build web pages.

The book does not attempt to cover every aspect of web authoring, and you should look elsewhere for coverage of technologies like Flash multimedia, Javascript or XML. Instead, Learning Web Design offers sound and thorough coverage of the fundamentals, presented in a friendly and informal style, and underpinned by the author's in-depth knowledge and professionalism.

Some Web authors use design tools, while others prefer to work directly with HTML code. This title takes a balanced view, with how-to explanations for Dreamweaver, GoLive and FrontPage, along with the equivalent HTML. For graphics, Photoshop, Fireworks and Paint Shop Pro are specifically covered.

The book is structured as four parts. The first is an overview, explaining the Web design process. Next comes an HTML tutorial, tackling page formatting, how to include graphics, tables, frames and colours. The third part is a detailed guide to Web graphics, showing how to optimise both appearance and performance. The final section is about usability and design, showing how to create pages to professional standards. There is also a peek at more advanced techniques, showing where to go for more information. The wide-margin layout gives plenty of space for illustrations, some in colour, and there are plentiful tips and references in side-panels. --Tim Anderson

Review

"I do like this book. I liked the first edition, and I liked the author's other books. They are models of what textbooks should be: clear, concise, nice to look at, useful and correct. ... If you know someone who wants to get started with designing websites and wants to progress quickly and reasonable far, this title is definitely for them. Get people who design bad websites to read it to, we can hope." - Lindsay Marshall, news@UK, December 2003

Edition details

• Publisher: O′Reilly
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0596004842
• ISBN 13: 9780596004842
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 454