Customer Reviews

Macromedia Fireworks MX: Training from the Source

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't believe all they squeezed into this small book of 300 pages. 11 lessons will have you up & running Fireworks in a week! The format is like all Training from the Source books, hands-on step-by-step (enjoyable) lessons with enough pictures to let you know if you went off track somewhere along way.

I looked at soooo many Fireworks books - this book is by far the best place to start. Unlike other books I've searched through - it contains a good balance of pictures to guide you and text to train you.

Since I didn't have this info until I received the book, I thought posting it may be helpful:

Lesson 1 - Bitmap Editing
Lesson 2 - Using Vector Tools
Lesson 3 - Working with Layers
Lesson 4 - Adding Text
Lesson 5 - Advanced Techniques (Combining, duplicating, gradients, opacity, intersect, crop, transformations)
Lesson 6 - Creatig Buttons
Lesson 7 - Creating Slices & Hotspots
Lesson 8 - Optimizing & Exporting
Lesson 9 - Creating GIF Animations
Lesson 10 - Masking & Pop-Up Menus
Lesson 11 - Integrating with Dreamweaver (extensive, but basic)

This book is as good an introductory straight-on tutorial as you're likely to find on Macromedia's web graphics tool. Macromedia is to the web what Adobe is to traditional publishing, and Fireworks is the application to start with in making the transition. Most of the tools, and even the keyboard shortcuts, are similar to what the seasoned desktop publisher would be familiar with; it's sort of a basic hybrid of Illustrator and Photoshop. What distinguishes Fireworks is its almost exclusive use of the .png format, which offers high quality full-page graphics in modest file sizes.

This offering in the Training From The Source series covers the basics any user would need to get started using Fireworks MX. But there are problems; in some of the exercises, not all necessary steps are covered. For example: in the chapter on creating a template based on a home page, the user is instructed to delete layer elements down to the basic header design, to add other elements and keep the look consistent .... but the authors neglected to mention deleting the slices, which would cause a problem when new slices needed to be created. There were also problems with the tutorial files in the final chapter; When prompted to export the files to Dreamweaver, Fireworks MX experienced an unexpected quit ..... this happened on two different Macs. One gets the impression that not all materials in these publications get preflighted extensively.

These complaints aside, this title will provide an adequately comprehensive introduction to the realm of Macromedia ..... though possibly a frustrating one at times for the newbie. Hopefully Macromedia will see fit to make corrected materials available so the lessons can be completed without too much confusion.

Macromedia's Fireworks MX is a terrific tool to do graphics and much more for the Web. But to find a book that helps you learn this great tool is a difficult job if you are a BEGINNER.

For an intermediate to advanced user who has already used other Graphics tools from Adobe or used previous versions of Macromedia's Fireworks, this book may suffice in getting started and creating some nice graphics. I am giving the book the benefit of doubt as I am NOT an advanced user and can't strike the book down without positive proof.

So why is this book so difficult to learn from (for a beginner)? I found two main reasons -

The first is that the book seems to seriously omit some important steps that a beginner is definitely not going to know about. You can imagine the disastrous results that follow - frustration to name one.

The second is that the writing style is very difficult to follow. One has to really concentrate in trying to figure out what the author is saying and even then there are no guarantees.

My basic experiences with this book in a nutshell - I was cropping some images and picked up the book to see if I can read a few chapters to learn how to use the Cropping tool and the Lasso tool. I easily succeeded in using the Cropping tool after reading the page a second time, but I had a difficult time using the Lasso tool by just following the instructions. I eventually got it right but these are some of the simplest actions a User performs in a Graphics package like Fireworks MX and it shouldn't have been that difficult for a book to explain.

What choices does one have? Unfortunately, not many. I am continuing my search for a better book and I will write a review on it when I find one. In the meanwhile, I feel stuck having to rely on this difficult book.

One last piece of advice, do read a general book on designing web graphics before learning a specific Graphics package. A great example is 'Designing Web Graphics' by Lynda Weinman. It is an excellent book to read before learning how to use a Graphics tool like Fireworks MX. There is a tremendous amount of wisdom in this book that beginners can't ignore. It is a book I see myself referring for a long time to come. Good luck!

If you enjoy learning using the lesson/tutorial approach, where you build a working project over the course of the book, then you'll like this one. I'm planning to buy the entire Macromedia "Training From the Source" series.

This introduction should adequately prepare you for more advanced books, such as "Playing with Fire", a book on advanced design using Fireworks.

This is an excellent book for learning how to use Fireworks...it has very good projects and it even has things to do on your own when you are finished the lesson. I have learned alot about Fireworks MX from this book and I highly recommend it.

I am amazed by the number of individuals who purchase computer books expecting one thing when the author clearly states the purpose is for something else. The classic case is when an author writes a book with the express purpose of learning a program and a reviewer states they are disappointed because the book not in depth, is sequential in nature, or is difficult to jump around in.

That said, I thought this book was a very good introduction to Freehand. I do not recommend it as a reference tool or if you want to learn only one or two things quickly -- the steps and lessons are sequential.

Although this book can be kept in your library as a very decent reference, my recommendation is that if you want to learn Fireworks from scratch, then get this book and buy another if you want something around to continually reference.