Wide World Of Web Design

There’s a New Kid in town worth taking a look at …

If you’re someone who still doesn’t own a recent version of Dreamweaver, then now might be the time to consider purchasing the New CS4 version, and even if you’re already using CS3 you may find the features in the latest offering are enough to put you in the mood for an upgrade while the Introductory Offersare still available through Adobe (the special prices currently offered are scheduled to end February 28th, 2009). And yes, I know it seems they keep coming out with new versions of these programs every 2 years, and unless you’re a company or well established Designer/Developer it doesn’t seem practical to keep upgrading for every bell and whistle, a decision I struggle with every time which is why I’m still using the CS3 programs from the Web Standard package I upgraded to last year.

However, in this case I realize the change may be warranted. You see, the CS3 release happened almost on the heels of Adobe acquiring Macromedia, who if you didn’t already know were the original pioneers of the Web programs Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, and Contribute (Adobe on the other hand were always renowned in the Design Community for their crown jewels Photoshop and Illustrator), and so even though there were some substantial additions with things like the Spry Framework and CSS Starter Pages, there was also the speculation that over time as the amalgamation of Macromedia and Adobe’s products and engineering took shape and had time to properly mature and develop, this was a union that would surely produce some redefining results in the world of Web Production Software.

So if you still need to convince yourself, I suggest you cruise through the Adobe Websiteand see what the Adobe team has been up to … The Live View feature in Dreamweaver was something I heard a lot about so I checked it out for myself, and no doubt it is pretty cool. A lot of the upgrades look at ways to speed up workflow and enhance the workspace, which makes sense considering they base most of their upgrades on the feedback they get from actual Designers and Developers.

And again, if you are an aspiring Web Designer you should think about going with the Web Standard Suite because it is the most cost-effective package, including all the necessary essentials which of course are Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash and Contribute. But there’s no reason to limit yourself either, because if you don’t want to overlook your full potential as a Graphics Designer, there is also the Web Premium packagewhich includes those Design Industry Standard programs Photoshop and Illustrator !

I’ve listed below some of the Top reasons why you might want to consider purchasing or upgrading to a CS4 program or Suite, something I know I’ll be doing before long since the Video Tutorials I’m producing for The Web Learning Series will need to keep up with what’s current.
In the meantime, here’s looking at you kid . . .

Dreamweaver

Live View

Design your web pages under real-world browser conditions with the new Live View in Dreamweaver CS4–while still retaining direct access to the code. Changes to the code are instantly reflected in the rendered display (browser preview within your Dreamweaver workspace).

Related Files and Code Navigator

Click any included file shown in the Related Files bar to see both its source in Code view and the parent page in Design view. The new Code Navigator feature shows you the CSS source code that affects your current selection and allows you to access it quickly.

CSS best practices

Implement CSS best practices without writing code. Create new CSS rules in the Properties panel, and get clear, simple explanations of where each property fits in the cascade of styles.

Adobe InContext Editing

Design your pages in Dreamweaver so end users can edit their web pages without help from you or additional software using the Adobe InContext Editing online service. As the web designer, you can limit changes to specific pages, distinct regions, and even custom formatting options.

Fireworks

CSS export

Design complete web pages in a robust graphic environment and then export standards-compliant, CSS-based layouts, complete with external style sheets, in one step. Integrate foreground and background graphics with new slice types.

PDF export

Generate high-fidelity, protected PDF documents from your Fireworks comps for client communication. Help safeguard your designs with password protection — separate passwords can be created for viewing and other tasks such as printing, copying, and commenting.

Adobe Kuler integration

Access the latest color themes from the Adobe Kuler™ web-hosted service right in Fireworks to sample and apply to your web designs. Craft color harmonies for your own use or to upload to Kuler.

Flash

3D transformation

Animate 2D objects through 3D space with exciting new 3D translation and rotation tools, which allow you to animate along the x, y, and z axes. Apply local or global transformation to any object.

Motion editor

Experience detailed control over keyframe parameters, including rotation, size, scale, position, filters, and more, using the new motion editor. Refine easing control with graphical displays similar to those in After Effects.

Object-based animation

Gain complete control over individual animation attributes with object-based animation, which applies tweens directly to objects instead of to keyframes. Easily make changes to motion with Bezier handles.