Web Design With Macromedia Studio MX 2004

Web Design with Macromedia Studio MX 2004 provides beginning designers with a step-by-step process for creating a Web site with the new Macromedia Studio MX 2004. Structured around a good Web development cycle of plan, design, build, test, and maintain, the book starts by planning the site and creating a wire frame with FreeHand MX, along with vector graphics for use in Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Fireworks MX 2004. From there it moves to Flash, where the designer learns how to create dynamic content for use on the Web. Next, Fireworks is used to manipulate graphics and create Web page designs. Then the content is brought into Dreamweaver MX 2004 and the site launched. Throughout the book, the focus is not only on how to use each tool, but how to use them together to create a seamless workflow.

From the Technical Review by Gareth Downes-Powell:

I think the book would be a good buy, especially as it covers all the packages in the MX 2004 suite equally, and shows how they are best used together. I think the amount of information and level of detail contained in the book was good, and was presented in a way which all readers will find easy to understand. The use of so many screenshots is also good to guide the reader through the chapters.
I thought all the chapters were clear and well written, and contained all the information that they needed to, to cater for the target audience. All chapters were read in detail, and all examples etc. tested. I thought the writing style was extremely clear, and it would be easy for even a reader completely new to the MX 2004 suite to follow.

Strengths

• Easy to follow, and very easy to understand, even for users totally new to the software.
• Good use of screenshots to show the processes explained in the examples.
• Contains information about all products in the suite, and goes into the same amount of detail for each product. Explains well how all the packages are used together to make workflow much easier.
• Good explanation and amount of detail explaining the new features of the MX 2004 suite.
• Easy step by step examples to demonstrate the concepts talked about.
• Covers information on a wide range of different subjects without becoming confusing or bogging the user down with information, but still tells the user everything they need to know.

Weaknesses

• No weaknesses found, everything is spot on in my opinion, and everything the user needs to know is covered.

Sample Chapter