Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Don't waste your money
Comment: If you are a beginner you will not understand the book.
If you are a pro that want a reference book this is not it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book to learn the basics
Comment: I found this to be book informative and a good way to become familiar with this excellent product.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very hard to read
Comment: I highly appreciate the feedback feature in [...] and have relied on it heavily to make purchasing decision over the years. I have been reading customer reviews for many years but have never felt compelled enough to write one myself until now.
I must say that I'm highly disappointed with this book. I bought it based on the few good reviews the book garnered at the time. I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one who's had difficulty following the lessons.
The main problem is that the instructions are very text-heavy and difficult to read. Let me give you an example.
taken verbatim from the book:
"You can also draw an AP Div interactively using the Draw AP Div Tool in the Layout tab of the Insert bar."
There is no graphical illustration that goes with that. Yes, it's possible to find that tool based on the written instruction. However, it's very effortful. It took me a bit of time to find where that Draw AP Div Tool is located at. This problem is throughout the book, making it laborous to go through the lessons.
The other problem is that the book does not actually go through any examples with you. In a typical lesson, it talks about a method, its concept, and the "buttons to push", and then it moves on without actually going through an example with you.
Oh, and one more (minor) thing: the illustrations are screen-captured using a MAC version of the software. It is very similar to the PC version, but not totally identical. I found it somewhat distracting because I'm using the PC version; however the difference might not bother everyone.
I'm on lesson 30 and have decided I can't go on anymore. I'm buying another dreamweaver book. I apologize for leaving a negative feedback on somebody's work but feel I need to warn those who are considering buying this book. I'm not saying that everyone will find this book bad, but this is my experience.
BTW, although I don't have previous dreamweaver experience, I'm a professional computer technician, and thus am very proficient and comfortable using the computer.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An EXCELENT Guide
Comment: "Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques", by David Karlins, is an excellent resource for web-designers, graphic designers and anyone who may be using Dreamweaver. Whether you are an expert or a novice the reader will find a concise and easy to read breakdown of creating an effective web-site with several tips on how to do it more efficiently along the way.
This book works well as a textbook to be read alone, as a guide to walk step-by step through each topic while working in Dreamweaver or even as a quick reference for designers and developers who simply need a desktop reference.
However, this is not just a book for current Dreamweaver users. This book is also suited well for somebody who has no prior experience with building websites but may desire to learn from scratch. Karlin's writing style is very easy to read which is a treat since the nature of web design can get pretty confusing at times. This book is not heavy reading, so if you are considering getting into web design I would encourage you to pick up a copy.
David Karlins has done an excellent job of putting together a guide to becoming a skilled Dreamweaver user."
Joel Glovier is a freelance Graphic Designer based in Pittsburgh, PA and can be found on the web at www.JoelGlovier.com
Customer Rating:
Summary: A helpful book in real world usage
Comment: I've found the book really helpful in building my first web site using Dreamweaver CS3. Rather than reading it straight through, I've been using it piecemeal as I've run into problems with Dreamweaver and it's worked well for me that way. The how-tos are each small-ish chapters that show you how to do one thing or to solve one problem - each one is a good soundbite approach to showing you how to accomplish the next step you're working on.
Maybe other books would be more appropriate for someone looking for an completely in-depth treatise on Dreamweaver, but this one accomplishes what the title says: it's the book I've usually got laying next to the keyboard as I'm working in Dreamweaver, knowing I'll find a quick answer when I get to something that's stumping me.
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