April 1, 2000

<designing web graphics.3> is a National Bestseller and I can certainly see why. The very first thing I notice is the layout is a pleasing color combination and style. You may think, "so what", but think about it, isn't it easier to learn from a book that is aesthetically pleasing? The topic headers are all in light blue and full color is dispersed throughout as needed. The content is broken up on the page for easy eye flow and readability.

Ok, it looks great but what's in it? Plenty, tons, oodles and oodles of information! This is a very thorough book on the subject of web graphics. It's not just the graphics themselves but everything you need to know to get these graphics on the web. Lynda Weinman helps you through the process of understanding the basics of the design business and choosing a computer to which editor to use, including links to free trials so you can try before you buy.

You'll learn how to storyboard your site and learn all you need to know about Web file formats, what works and what doesn't and how to link your images, make text (including the font size difference between Macs and PCs), and work with browser safe colors. Actually she'll help you decide when and if to use these browser safe colors. There is even a discussion of browsers and what's awful about AOL's browser. (I knew I disliked it, now I know why)

Not only will you learn all these techniques but how to do things in more than just Adobe Photoshop. Often you'll see the instructions for the same function demonstrated in another program such as, Adobe Illustrator, Photo Paint, Paint Shop Pro, Fireworks and many more. What a great way to decide which way works best for your environment or budget.

Back to some more topics, as I want to be sure to mention the bulk of the goodies. Image maps and slicing images is covered. It's easy to slice and dice but can you put it back it together again? That is where the discussion of tables and alignment comes in handy.

How do I get my images with no background color? You'll now be able to handle this issue with aplomb. There is one subject that is extremely controversial and that is the one of using frames or not to use frames. Frames are discussed so you can make up your own mind.

Web graphics wouldn't be complete without the important subjects of Flash, Shockwave, DHTML, CSS and the ever-popular Rollovers, so naturally you will find all these and more.

You get all this in a professionally written and presented guide. If you are new to web design or if you just want to expand your knowledge than this is a perfect choice.

Copyright 2000, Joyce Evans, All Rights Reserved