Customer Rating:  
Summary: Book can be frustrating
Comment: There are some glaring mistakes in this book. It obviously was rushed out the door. On page 149: "the naming of slices is done in the Optimize panel..." which is patently wrong. And the error appears right next to a photo of the Object panel, which happens to be the correct panel. There are many spelling errors. The depth of information is pretty inconsistent. In chapter 6, the author takes you on a three-page complicated... process of creating a "great-looking text box" and then a few pages later she completely forgets to mention that transparent GIF's can only be viewed in the Export Preview panel. So here I am going through her instructions over and over and over and I can't see the transparency (even when I preview in browser) and finally I learn about her omission from the Fireworks' own manual. Some of the instructions are worthless because they are not accompanied with illustrations. The slicing exercise on page 154 is ludicrous because of the dense instructions: slice from top right of the 2nd guide to bottom left of 5th guide to top right of 3rd guide and so on and so on. I just gave up. One more thing:... The so-called "game control panel" used in chapter 6 is incredibly ugly, something out of the 70's created by a junior high student. Yet, the author keeps reminding us that it is copyrighted and should not be used online! Okay, Joyce, that'll be easy to comply with. The blending mode example of combining outdoor images in chapter 1 could only aesthetically appeal to a masochist. So, please, use this book only to learn technique not design. ... Nevertheless, I did go through several chapters and learned a lot. I am not sorry I bought the book. Just wanted to point out some strange things I noticed, elimination of which could render this a much better book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Way to Learning!
Comment: This is my first review at Amazon, and I am writing it because this is such a good book. Of course, it did arrive just when I needed help with a project. But not only did it solve that problem, but helped me avoid a few that would have come up. The book also provides examples and ideas on using Fireworks (and how to integrate it with Dreamweaver) that will enhance the next web sites that I do. Yes, there are a few errors. But the author's web site has corrections posted. And this book is A LOT EASIER TO FOLLOW than the Bible.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inspiring
Comment: I must say that this book gave me more than my moneys worth!! How anyone can possibly compare it to a Quickstart guide escapes all logic. This book is intermediate as stated and assumes you know the basics. Which is exactly why I purchased it. I learned how to make complex shapes suitable for navigation. The techniques taught helped me implement my own designs. Another section I found very valuabe is the slicing and optimizing. How to best slice up a document and then how to optimize the individual slices for the fasted download times. A real usefull project was the one on deconstructing an animation. Not only can I now look at an animation and learn how someone else did something but I also learned how to look at any Fireworks source file and see what effects, fills, strokes and settings were used. All the files used in the book are included on the CD-ROM so if I was confused I would look at the file to see what I was missing. I did find a few "minor" errors which is to be expected, but nothing an intermediate user couldn't quickly identify. Plus most of the time all I had to do was check the Website for updates, watch one of the quick time movies or send an email to the author.Which by way answered any request the very same day. I learned tons of stuff about masking, how to mask an image without loosing pixels in the process, how to apply gradients and how to use gradients for lighting effects. The book is layed out in a logical format, even though it's intention is not to teach the programs basics, it still does a great job of teaching all the vital areas, such as how to fix those pesky pop-up menus problems and advanced features such as using Levels and photo restoration. If you are serious about using Fireworks for Web site design then you'll want to get this book. If you have a local bookstore pick up a copy to look at then come back and purchase it. I honestly don't think you'll be disappointed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fireworks 4 FX Design
Comment: This book is a good "starter" book.. The one thing that really annoyed me was the abundance of errors in this book. This is my first FX book, bought it with so much anticipation :-(. The bottom line is, if you bought this book and you find yourself asking "what am I doing wrong?", here is a news flash for you - "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!". Save yourself the money and buy the quickstart series (a 5 star rating) or the Fireworks 4 Bible (fantastic reference!).
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Library Gem
Comment: Having Fireworks 4 f/x & Design land on my doorstep was a blessing, it is very thorough, providing detailed descriptions of most of Fireworks tools and samples of implimentation. That's not all this book is though, it shows you some of the medium to high end techniques to building great graphics and Joyce takes you through step-by-step using a project based training approach. It has helped me with graphics creation and manipulation 100 fold. If you're starting out with Fireworks, need inspiration, or want to more about designing with Fireworks, then this is a must have addition to your library!
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