Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Classroom in a Book (Paperback)

~ Adobe Creative Team (Author)
Key Phrases: selector name, selector type, smart object, Choose File, Save All, Code Navigator (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe Dreamweaver CS4

Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Classroom in a Book contains 11 lessons. The book covers the basics of learning Adobe Dreamweaver and provides countless tips and techniques to help you become more productive with the program. You can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest you.

Learn how to create and manage web sites, build rich interactive interfaces, incorporate graphics, text, and video, and use Photoshop Smart Objects.

“The Classroom in a Book series is by far the best training material on the market. Everything you need to master the software is included: clear explanations of each lesson, step-by-step instructions, and the project files for the students.” —Barbara Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor, Rocky Mountain Training

Classroom in a Book®, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program does—an official training series from Adobe Systems incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts.

---

About the Author

The Adobe Creative Team of designers, writers, and editors has extensive, real world knowledge of Adobe products. They work closely with the Adobe product development teams and Adobe's Instructional Communications team to come up with creative, challenging, and visually appealing projects to help both new and experienced users get up to speed quickly on Adobe software products.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Adobe Press; 1 Pap/Cdr edition (November 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321573811
• ISBN-13: 978-0321573810
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > Web Design > Dreamweaver
  #10 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Graphics & Multimedia
  #13 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Programming

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book if you already are familar with the program, December 26, 2008

By	Gwen Kramer "gwenhwyvar" (Tehachapi, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This is one of those books that can be very useful for some readers and over the heads of others. I had a little (very little) knowledge of HTML, nothing of CSS and some experience with amateur-level web design programs when I got this book.
While the lessons were well-planned and informative, they did not feature the depth of information that a beginner like me needed. I learned features and techniques but not what made them work. Also, many of the more basic program features are vaguely mentioned in passing. Other information was simply over my head as a newcomer to the program.

I can see that this book would be extremely valuable to someone who has used Dreamweaver before and wants to get up to date on the latest changes in the program. I think that someone with HTML and CSS experience under his or her belt could also get a lot of good information.

As for me, I bought Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML and Dreamweaver CS4 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)). The former filled some gaps in my coding knowledge and the latter provided a rather thorough tour through the program designed with the newbie in mind. (It should be noted that knowing how to code is not essential for using Dreamweaver but it sure makes things easier.) Once I finish these titles, I will probably return to Classroom in a Book.

This title is good for: People with HTML and CSS experience or with Dreamweaver experience.

This title is not good for: Complete newcomers to web design. Try one of the books listed above instead.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well written, not for a beginner, January 12, 2009

By	G. Silberberg "goldie" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book teaches a lot, but if you are coming into dreamweaver with no background in web design, or dreamweaver's specific tools, it is very hard to use. He teaches you HOW to use things but not WHY and what they are. Its very hard to apply the lessons elsewhere. On the other hand, I used the CS4 Dummies book which explained why of everything, and then went back into this book to go further.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick way to learn how to use the new features, January 5, 2009

By	C. Thien (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have used Dreamweaver a LOT since version 3, and I always love to have the newest version. For the last few releases, Adobe/Macromedia have worked hard to keep a consistent UI, so it has been necessary to find out what is new and how to best use it from some other source. I prefer books to online tutorials, as I look at the screen too many hours a day already, and find reading to be relaxing.

I use Dreamweaver exclusively in the code view, and love the code completion and find and replace features. This book helped me find out about the new split code feature, which allows you to see different parts of the same file simultaneously, a feature I have always been jealous of Emacs and Vim users for. This version also incorporates Subversion, which is a HUGE improvement (sadly, version control is not covered in this book). Previously you would have to use Eclipse if you wanted source control in your editor.

I particularly liked the Spry coverage. I prefer jQuery, but Spry is great for someone sticking to the design view of Dreamweaver who wants to add modern js to their screens. I also liked the Photoshop Smart Objects coverage, and the fact that all the layouts they cover are CSS based, even the forms.

As usual in a cover-it-all intro book, I have some issues, such as the authors not pushing you to use the title attribute in your links, but all in all, I think this is a really useful book that can appeal to many different level Dreamweaver users. At 270 pages it is nice and thin too - a quick read.