Customer Reviews

Creative HTML Design with CDROM

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was very through and easy to understand. I didn't know anything about HTML before reading this book, and now I am working professionally as a web programmer.

After reading advanced HTML books, I still prefer to use this book for general reference.

Now that I have mastered HTML and have been learning other programming languages, I have not found another book that is as easy to understand as this one.

I highly recommend it!

While useful in parts, I'm surprised at what this book lacks. After you buy this book, and do a little reading, you'll be shocked that it says nothing about tables--which is one of the most important html skills to learn. Quite simply, you just can't do any serious Web design without knowing tables quite well. The book does cover using tables for tiling graphics, but there's much more to tables than merely placing graphics on a page.

I'm rather surprised that three (3!) book editors let this glaring omission get by. Perhaps here's a case where the editors don't know much about the subject matter--an example for the buyer to beware. I liked Weinman's book "Designing Web Graphics"--It's a great intro to how art is used in the Web medium, but now I have doubts that she can teach html effectively. Sure, it's fun to learn a few tricks in html, but it's much more useful to know enough html to do what your Web project needs.

There's too many html books and tutorials that attempt to teach html in little bits and pieces. I feel that the best way to learn html is to do an actual web design project, test its effectiveness, and learn from your mistakes. Learning html is a very detail-oriented skill--and books that teach html need as much detail as a real Web design project warrants.

I bought this book with high hopes of learning to hand-code html but found it to be a complete hindrance. The number of typographical errors is a crime. There are examples of design pitfalls to avoid followed by code examples that accomplish exactly what you're told not to do. The code examples have very inconsistent syntax and are very confusing for beginners. There are step by step procedures in Photoshop listing menu options in the wrong places and some that simply don't exist. If you already know the program you might be able to figure it out, but if not--you're lost. Though the companion website does list errata, the sloppiness of this book is inexcusable. On top of that, the faded colors of the text and graphics make for difficult legibility. All of this makes one wonder about the design skills of this self-professed web guru.

I now have 2 books by Lynda Weinman. As an absolute beiginner in web publishing, trying to teach myself, these books were a godsend. Written in a clear, precise, and often humorous way, to a technology challenged individual like myself, these books are heaven sent. My wish is that lynda and Bill Weinman get into books on Flash and Cold fusion and turn these potentially brain numbing subjects into the fun and addictive subjects that I now find html4 and dreamweaver. Well done Bill and Lynda.

Not too long ago I decided to get a book to help me make web pages. I luckily stumbled across this masterpiece. I'm only 14 years old and I could completely understand what the book was saying and the examples it gave were great! It even comes with a CD! On the CD is a whole lot of files that are referred to from time-to-time in the book and they let you work with the files to see how it works. This book is highly recommended by me, a 14 year old. If I had no trouble understanding this, neither will you!

I would NOT recommend this book for beginners - books for beginners should be almost free of errors, and this one is not. File names and paths in the book don't match those on the accompanying CD, the HTML in the book doesn't match perfectly what is in the files, the referenced sites don't exist anymore. And the book site does not list the corrections. Also, for a book targeted at beginners, many engineering terms are used before they are defined. The chapters on color were particularly difficult, and I think might have been better located later in the book. The book/CD is ok for someone with a technical background who might be able to pick up on the mistakes and get past them. But generally it could have used a good quality assurance pass before it was published, verifying the exercises worked as described and the logic of the sequence of chapters. If that work had been done, then this would be a good, useful book.

This is August 1999 and this book was published in 1998 which means it was probably written early in 1998. That tells. Some referenced links no longer exist and some of the software used in the examples no longer works the way it must have when they wrote the book. There are also errors in the book that sometimes make it hard to follow. Some of the graphics (PCT) on the CD didn't work on my Windows 98 PC.

Indeed there are some good points in the book. I was relieved to know that I had been pronouncing "gif" correctly. I've written html since the first Mosaic browser appeared back in 1993, I think it was. I always learn something from someone else's approach, but this book is dated. Perhaps there should have been a companion website that kept links and references to software updated. In this age of such rapid change in the Internet, I wonder if the publication cycle is just too long to get a cutting-edge paper document released while it is still useful. Perhaps these paper documents need to be associated with some online files that are kept up to date and can be downloaded, or they should have a caveat with a "use by" date.

There is some "beautiful" design in this book although grayscale graphics don't always show the color differences I think were intended by the authors. The step-by-step examples were good learning tools as well as the summaries. The bottom line, however, is that the errors and out of date information really detract from the quality product it was meant to be when it was first released.

I went out looking for a creative html book. The first thing I saw was Creative HTML Design. I looked at it, and I realised that it was a far better book than any 'learn how to quickly' book I have ever used, and the useful CD examples would be invaluble. As I looked on, I also realised the book almost told a story, a story of setting up the Ducks In A Row website, which led to my new way of setting up a business website. I almost instantly bought it, and taking after an hour of using it, I was enthralled by its capability of being able to really teach you.

Overall, It is a great book which can teach basics of HTML programming, but at the same time, enhances skills of HTML Design you may have previously had.

I've created several web pages over the years, though I have no formal training in this area. Consquently they're run-of-the-mill... Creative HTML Design, is easy reading, straightforward talk - practical "how tos". I can't wait to employ what I've read and spruce up the sites!!! The Weinman's book reads like you'd expect them to talk --- not covered in too much "techy-lingo" but the source code is provided to bring you along the technical path.

Good for the beginner but probably not an advanced web designer. Easy reading and examples for Paintshop Pro and Photoshop 4.0 pgms.

Weinman's coasting with this effort, and so is her editor. Her earlier books are informative, but this thing is full of gratuitous self-promotion, incorrect instructions, cheap grayscale artwork, and references to non-existent demos on the CD. I screwed up by ordering this book before examining it at the bookstore. Learn from my mistake.