Books about Quickstart from Amazon.com

It's important for anyone who creates Web sites--even those who rely on powerful editors like Dreamweaver or GoLive--to know HTML. The World Wide Web Consortium rewrote HTML as a subset of XML (dubbing it "XHTML 1.0") and the allowable code will eventually be stricter. Tags that are being phased out are labeled "deprecated"--current browsers can still handle them, but if you want your site to keep up with future browsers, not to mention conform to accessibility requirements, you will want to get on top of XHTML.

Of course, Elizabeth Castro manages to write books that not only speak to those who are already fluent in HTML, but are good for newbies too. She makes it a breeze to create sites that are visually stylish and technically sophisticated without the expense of buying an editor.

Among the topics covered in her new book, HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS: using the (relatively newer) structural tags (like doctype and div); correctly using older tags (like p and img) that have been modified in XHTML; writing XHTML so that formatting is done by the style sheets; writing those style sheets (cascading style sheets, a.k.a. "CSS"); creating a variety of layouts; and dealing with tables, frames, forms, multimedia, a bit of JavaScript (including mouseovers), WML (for mobile device displays), debugging, publishing, and publicizing your site.

As with all Visual QuickStart Guides, this one features clear and concise instructions side by side with well-captioned illustrations and screen shots that show both the source code and the resulting effect on the Web page. The index is extremely detailed, making this a great reference.

Also great for reference are the outstanding appendices. The first is an extensive list of tags and attributes, indicating which are deprecated and/or proprietary and on which page they are discussed. A similar appendix shows CSS properties and values; given the future of Web coding, this chart alone is worth the price of the book. Other handy charts cover intrinsic events, symbols and character Unicodes, and an expanded color chart that goes way beyond the virtually archaic Web-safe palette. All of which makes this a definite must-have for every Web designer's bookshelf. --Angelynn Grant.
Price: $20.57 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This eagerly anticipated update to the popular Photoshop CS2 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide uses a combination of task-based instruction and strong visuals to teach beginning and intermediate users how to create great-looking images with Photoshop. Best-selling authors Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas take readers step by step through all of today's Photoshop essentials: from importing digital photos through basic color manipulation and image correction to painting, masking, using filters, and more. Hot topics like working with Camera Raw, using the improved Photomerge command (that aligns and blends layers automatically) to stitch together images, making selections using the new Quick Selection tool and Refine Edge feature, and Smart Filters are all covered.

Both beginning users, who want a thorough introduction to the topic, and more advanced users, who are looking for a handy reference, will find what they need here. In this new edition, using a fresh new design and now illustrated in full color, the authors have streamlined the text by focusing on the most efficient means of accomplishing a task, rather than explaining all possible methods. By the end of the book, users will have a solid foundation for working in Photoshop CS3.



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Price: $16.69 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Visual QuickStart Guide—the quick and easy way to learn!

Users of Adobe InDesign will be impressed with the power, ease of use, and integration found in the new InDesign CS3, Adobe's page-design component of Creative Suite 3. Users will also find more robust file-placing capabilities, new Find features, and great new text and transparency effects, among other exciting features. Adobe InDesign CS3 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide will highlight the important new features, as well as covering the ones readers have relied on in previous versions of InDesign. Using the task-based, visual approach that readers count on in the Visual QuickStart Guides, this volume introduces readers to all aspects of InDesign CS3. Users will learn how to create and automate documents, import and style text and objects, manage long documents, export files for a wide variety of purposes, and

• Easy visual approach uses pictures to guide you through InDesign and show you what to do.
• Concise steps and explanations let you get up and running in no time.
• Page for page, the best content and value around.much more.

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Price: $15.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Visual QuickStart Guide—the quick and easy way to learn!

Now revised and updated, this book uses simple step-by-step instructions, loads of screen shots, and an array of time-saving tips and tricks, serving both as the quickest route to Illustrator CS3 mastery for new users, and a handy reference for more experienced designers. This edition of the Visual QuickStart Guide covers Illustrator CS3's newest features, including new tools in Live Color, enhancements to essential drawing tools and controls, improvements to the powerful Control panel, the new Eraser tool and Crop Area tool, and much more. A full-color section of inspiring Illustrator artwork and highly readable text create a winning combination for Illustrator users of every level.

• Easy visual approach uses pictures to guide you through Illustrator and show you what to do.
• Concise steps and explanations let you get up and running in no time.
• Page for page, the best content and value around.

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Price: $17.29 [Notify me when price goes down.]

With Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia, millions of Photoshop users may be installing Flash for the first time and Flash CS3 Professional for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide is there to show them what to do. From basic first steps, such as exploring the drawing tools, including Flash CS3's new Pen tool, to frame-by-frame animation, motion tweening, and shape tweening, this book serves as the beginner's guide to Flash. But it doesn’t stop there: sections on interactivity, sound, and video have been fully updated to demonstrate best practices in ActionScript 3.0, as well as the latest in Flash's video technology.

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Price: $18.06 [Notify me when price goes down.]

With the release of Adobe Creative Suite CS3, Dreamweaver is now part of the world's leading suite of creative tools, making it the de facto tool of choice for anyone designing for the Web. Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide uses a combination of task-based instruction and strong visuals to teach beginning and intermediate users how to create, design, and publish powerful, innovative Web sites with Dreamweaver. Leading technology authors Tom Negrino and Dori Smith take readers step-by-step through the new features in Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, with all new chapters on building dynamic pages with Ajax and Spry, and designing for mobile devices. They also cover improvements to using styles and CSS in Dreamweaver, and the new Browser Compatibility Check in Dreamweaver CS3. Beginning users will learn to create their first Web site, add text, style and position page content, manage styles, work with links, incorporate images, media, tables, forms, and frames, design site navigation, and so much more. Experienced users will find this a convenient reference to the new features of Dreamweaver CS3.

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Price: $14.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

So you know HTML, even JavaScript, but the idea of learning an actual programming language like PHP terrifies you? Well, stop quaking and get going with this easy task-based guide! Aimed at beginning PHP developers just like yourself, this volume uses step-by-step instructions and plenty of visual aids to get you started testing scripts, using basic syntax, working with variables, creating Web applications, and everything else you need to know to create dynamic Web pages with this increasingly popular and important scripting language. Along the way, you'll learn about all that's new in version 5: the new Zend Engine, updated XML support, greatly improved streams (now able to access low-level socket operations), a bundled copy of SQLite, and more. Throughout the book, you'll find sample scripts and projects as well as the timesaving tips and techniques that have become the hallmark of the popular Visual QuickStart series. A companion Web site offers all of the book's scripts for download.

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Price: $17.56 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Get a jump start on using this brand-new Web creation tool from Microsoft. Built from the ground up using current Web standards, Expression Web make it easy to create pages that look good in all browsers. Mirroring the program’s focus on standards, the book shows you how to use Cascading Style Sheets to build consistent, easy to navigate designs. CSS newcomers will welcome the plain-spoken approach to a sometimes intimidating topic. Old hands at CSS will find plenty of tips on using Expression Web’s many style tools, which are some of the best available in any Web creation program.

Packed with more than 600 screenshots, the book goes beyond crafting good-looking single pages. Instead, it shows you how to use templates to generate whole sites with uniform, yet creative, layouts that can be reconfigured with the click of a button. You’ll also learn how to give sites extra polish with interactive behaviors and forms. Microsoft Expression Web: Visual Quickstart Guide contains exactly what you need to get started building standards-compliant Web sites using this powerful tool.

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Price: $18.01 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $11.02 [Notify me when price goes down.]