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Rating: 
Summary: Big on Info, Short on Guidance
Review: A handsome volume with nice screen shots, economical coverage and references to integrating with other Macromedia web apps .... but a not very satisfying guide for the novice user who really needs to get a grasp on what Fireworks is about. The online tutorials connected with this book are outstanding, and were my main attraction to purchasing it; but when I got it home and started trying to use the book as a learning tool, I found the exercises to be greatly lacking in what could be considered tutorial materials. Granted, there are a few files you can download from the book's site, but much of the graphics the user is expected to create him/herself. A tad more examples of files would have been helpful, if for nothing else than deconstruction purposes, ideal file types and sizes, etc, just to get optimization concepts down. At least the section ON optimization proceedure was found helpful, I'll give the authors that. For those of us who have been confronted with Adobe Imageready for the first time and not known what the heck to do, this book's section on finding the ideal format and size for web graphics is very well explained as to how, why and when to use variances of GIF or JPG for specific images, and I came away with a better understanding of that aspect. A good enough reference for those who already sort of have a handle on web production ..... but I have yet to find a volume that effectively TEACHES Fireworks 4 in a capacity that can get a person up to speed in a timely manner.
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Summary: Positively AWESOME.
Review: Having read a few of the disgruntled past-posts, I doubt any one of them contacted the authors to see 'what gives?'. If they had, they would have known the 'problem' was being tended to... Having been a 'student' of EHands On for several fabulous courses myself, the only way the company could have gone 'bankrupt', was simply not enough advertising...or better yet, the people who learned from the lessons didn't tell anyone about it - They were keeping the goodies - SECRET for themselves! The illustrated lessons FOR 'Expert Edge' are merely the tip of the iceburg to a wealth of knowledge. The Book explains where many have never even ventured. Maria Perkins
Rating:
Summary: For Intermediate to Expert Fireworks Users
Review: I am very happy to have "Fireworks 4 Expert Edge" in my graphic/web design library. I agree with Michael S. Boardley's review when he alludes to the fact that this book is better suited to those with intermediate to advanced skills in using Fireworks and Dreamweaver together. I enjoyed "Building a CD Illustration" which melds several Fireworks techniques into a single lesson. The results were pretty cool. The chapters on Flash integration, Dreamweaver integration, and automating Fireworks are also very insightful. For those concerned that the companion web site was shut down and the online tutorials are now unavailable, you can find the downloadable chapter files at the URL that is mentioned numerous times throughout the book. The authors of the book are also working to get the online tutorials up and running on the previously mentioned URL. All-in-all, this is a very worthwhile book to own.
Rating:
Summary: Would have been rated higher but...
Review: I wanted to rate this book higher. It is well written, high quality, and I still have it not far from my reach. Unfortunately, I just felt like there was a general lack of cohesiveness and flow. It started off great. Chapters 1-4 were excellent in covering project work flow and design approaches (and SOME Dreamweaver integration). Then, just as I was thirsting for more detail, I was hit with chapters on vector graphics, optimization, flash, etc.. Finally, in some later chapters, I discovered there was more detail on the issues I was struggling with from the first chapters. When I jumped to those chapters, I felt I missed some info in between. Any book I review at 3 stars or higher, I recommend to others. I still think it is worth the money. Even though it doesn't have a disc (they are often worthless anyway, and only add cost to production), it is a pretty good deal...
Rating:
Summary: Get that Expert Edge Here!
Review: I've got shelves and shelves of books on designing, coding and creating websites but few of them go into methods and techniques to shorten up your development time.
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Summary: Fireworks 4 Expert Edge Rocks!
Review: Jeffrey Bardzell and Lisa Lopuck are a dynamic duo in the web development field. Not only did they write the outstanding work Fireworks 4 Expert Edge, they continue to team up with Fireworks MX Magic and other web-based courses. The synergy the two have displayed in these books is awesome, and the web site -...- simply puts this book over the top. If you have aspirations of being a great web designer, graphic artist, or multimedia specialist, this book is essential for your library. If you were to attend a Macromedia seminar, or a 3rd-party seminar, you would pay at least [$$$]dollars for what this book gives you. Go for it!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy It - Fraudulent Advertising!
Review: The web-site that the accompanying training was provided from, eHandsOn.com is bankrupt. Unfortunately, as you will see in the editorial review, they still advertise it. Until Jan 18, McGraw-Hill/Osborne was still advertising the training on their own website! In conversations with Roger Stewart, Editorial Director for the Consumer Applications and Hardware Group for McGraw-Hill/Osborne he wrote: "I have in the past been involved in trying to recall books that are already in the marketplace, though; and it is just about impossible to get them back. It's not like recalling tires from individuals whose lives may be threatened. You have to rely on thousands of stock clerks in chain stores and independents throughout the country to actually go pull the book off the shelf and send it back. I can tell you that compliance with such requests is very low." "Our best course is simply not to reprint and let the channel eventually flush itself. Having said that, I still get calls from people who are using Windows 95 for Busy People and want to know where the online code is. Once in the marketplace, a problem book will hang around to haunt you for a very long time." So, unless you want to be part of the "flushing" process, I suggest you avoid this "problem" book.
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Summary: Melding Photoshop,Fireworks,Flash and Dreamweaver together!
Review: This book is truly awesome! I am well versed in Adobe Photoshop,Illustrator, FLash and Dreamweaver. This books shows you how to complement them all into your daily workflow. This book gives the designer that extra insight on how a professional workflow and website are organized. In response to the first review which was negitive, this book is partly for beginners, It shows you drawing techniques, but does not show you how to use the pen tool. So This book is great for people who are already familiar with Illustrator, Corel Draw or Freehand. You can learn without rehashing the same old stuff. This book will help you be more productive and efficient at building websites. Fireworks is an awesome tool and this book will show you how to get the most out of it. ... .
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for designers! Written for the "real" world
Review: This book is written by experts on Fireworks for web designers who have experience with Fireworks. It is not a book for beginners to Fireworks. There are plenty of other books on the market for beginners. Go through the basic tutorials on Fireworks first. However, if you want to use Fireworks to its greatest potential, you will want this book on your reference shelf. Peppered with lots of examples, you will learn how to turn an everyday web page into something spectacular. You will learn about optimizing your graphics to minimize download time, how to create commands to save you design time on repetitive tasks, as well as integrating with Dreamweaver, and much more. Furthermore, the book has many examples of Fireworks in the real world. Along with the detailed tutorials, you can not go wrong with this book. Well worth the investment if you want to design incredible sites.
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Summary: Unique Book, Online Training Available
Review: Tired of other books that just repeated what was in the user manual, I gave this book a try. Wow, is it different! Instead of covering each of the tools one by one, it shows you how to use tools together to get real work done. It also has a heavy emphasis on collaboration with others, including some clever strategies I hadn't thought of. Two chapters on working with vectors and working with bitmaps will help artsy users be more creative. The latter half of the book really gets into topics that aren't covered well in some of the other, more beginner-oriented books: doing whole page designs in Fireworks, working with Fireworks HTML, integrating with Dreamweaver, and a great chapter on working with Fireworks and Flash. There is an entire chapter on working with commands--a topic I never thought I would attempt, but the book had me creating commands in a matter of minutes. As for the online training, I am not sure when it came back online, but it is online now. Honestly, the book's approach is so unique, I would have rated it with 5 stars even without the training, but it IS available, contrary to some of the other book reviews. The multimedia lessons just add more value to an already great book.
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