Playing with Fire: Tapping the Power of Macromedia? Fireworks? 4 (For Dummies)

By Linda Rathgeber and David C. Nicholls

This stunning, four-color book features a unique Q&A format built around hundreds of lavishly illustrated, step-by-step techniques. It also features guest artists throughout. The Q&A format makes for easy, instant access to solutions. The extensive, step-by-step color figures make following and understanding the steps and their effects even easier and more compelling. Links and references make access to additional information easy and fast. And a cross-platform CD-ROM includes all the files from the book, plus tryouts of Fireworks, Dreamweaver and other products. This full-color step-by-step techniques book is designed to be the ultimate Fireworks reference.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764535498
• ISBN13: 9780764535499
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 0.7" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

This Is The One

If you buy one Fireworks book - this is the one!As a web developer, I have to have a working knowledge of many different skills and I readily admit that graphics is not my strongest area. Even when I develop a specific graphics skill, I may not use it again for six months, and well, to use a cliché - lose or use it.That's why this book is so important to me - I can find the answers to my real-world, and I stress real-world, questions without having to read 5,000 newsgroup posts, browse through 50 other books, or the worst - actually pay a professional to do my graphics work!

Valuable Creative Tool

"Playing With Fire" is one of those books that readers are going to love or are going to hate. You will love this book if you already have been introduced to Fireworks in the past and are in search for some new ideas for graphical design. You will hate this book if you are trying to learn the fundamentals of how to use Fireworks 4. If you are a beginner you should work through the Fireworks tutorial that came with the software and possibly another beginner level book such as "Dreamweaver 4 Fireworks 4 Studio: A Beginner's Guide". If you already have used Fireworks and are intermediate or advanced then this book should be in your library. When I first read through the book I felt as though it needed more volume to justify the price, after all most books on Fireworks are 500 pages or more. Then I realized as I experimented with some of the projects that this book is about creativity and originality. The thing that sets most web design apart from the crowd is graphics that catch the eye of your audience and make them want to read further. This book has several design elements that most Fireworks users will find as valuable inspiration that they may apply to their web pages. "Playing With Fire" does not teach you how to use Fireworks, it teaches you how to take the next step with Fireworks and create professional designs.

Voodoo!

This is one of those magical books that has you going back to it time and again because there is something new to learn from it you would swear wasn't there the first time you went through it.

Going beyond Fireworks 4

Actually, I had a very different- somewhat typical review planned for "Playing With Fire", when I read a negative review that was posted on this site. 'They' were disappointed that the book had 'nothing to do with fireworks 4' . After reading in utter amazement I realized 'the rub'. The difficulty is confusing 'how to do Fireworks 4 MECHANICS' with 'now that you have it downloaded, now what? I would bet that if that disgruntled reviewer purchased Joe Lowery's Fireworks Bible first, they would come out with a wealth of 'mechanical' knowledge covering material for the very elementary user thru to the advanced. And sometime along the way, I have absolutely no doubt that that very same reviewer, unless they already had an extensive (emphasize the word - extensive) art background, would begin hungering for a book that showed them how to put all these fabulous tools to work - creating artwork. 'Playing with Fire' admittedly does not begin with..."so you just downloaded Fireworks 4 and want to know where to start." There are many manuals and books for that. Where 'Playing with Fire' does begin, is when the 'computerartist' has finished the basic tutorials, copy-catted what he was taught and added his own little 'bent' to the image or idea, but now is ready to develop his very own creations from 'soup to nuts'. But how is he going to do that? Playing with Fire closes 'the gap' between those who have Fireworks 4 and those who can create spectacular work using Fireworks 4. Not only does the book teach mechanical aspects beyond the 'baby basics'(I can't count the number of insights I received and I began with Fireworks 2!), it dissects artwork using a software that is already within the user's hands. There is plenty of artwork 'how to' manuals out there, but many of them presuppose you know where to access and apply your tools.It takes the reader step by step, point by point showing you not only what to 'draw' or paint - but where to access the tools within Fireworks. It was because of this book I now know how to create an effect that I have been seeking the answer to for nearly two years! Because I saw my answer was in that book, I need to confess - I actually went into a bookstore of all things (unheard of thing for me to do since ...!) and paid ... MORE!!! - because I simply couldn't wait a moment longer. Then lo and behold I found ideas I didn't even know you could do in Fireworks! So, Dear Reader, if you want to have the answers to the questions before you even know you need to ask them, about 'how do they do that?' artwork using Fireworks 4, get this book.

Finally a book you can use!!!!

I had heard this book would be out the first part of July, and I was hoping to snag a copy before I left on vacation to Germany. No such luck! I had to wait until I returned the end of July, but the wait was worthwhile.I am new at working with HTML, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks. But I'm not new to computers, I cut my teeth on Visicalc and a PC. I have been plowing through computer books ever since.Most books are nothing more than a re-hash of the user manual. They walk you through all the menu functions and commands. That really doesn't help if you have read the user manual, which of course I have. What users want IMHO is a book that shows them how to create something using the tools in the program.Linda does just that. Her book is a tutorial of different real world graphic challenges that can be implemented with Fireworks. It shows you how to do the real innovative techniques. You want gold metalic type faces? She walks you through the entire process. You want a gel effect, or a glass type effect? This book shows you how. It doesn't waste time explaining all the tools and menu options, that's what the other Fireworks books do. This one just hunkers down and walks you through a diverse number of ways to create exciting graphic interfaces that will have you and your viewers saying WOW! Al Sparbar's book, Dreamweaver Magic, is a tough act to follow. I don't know that I could say this book is better, but I would definitely place it in the same class. I am very impressed and would recommend it to anyone that wants to really tap into the power of Fireworks. If you know the basics of the program you will have no trouble immediately absorbing this book and moving to a new level in your graphics abilities. If you don't know the program, read the user manual or one of the other books on the market first. You do need to know how to use the program. But Linda's examples are clear and concise and walk you through some wonderful material from start to finish. Linda is also wonderful about giving you some inside tips, like the fact that if you create too many items in the Fireworks library you are going to slow down your program. Too many authors tell you how to create library items without pointing out the pitfalls. Weeks later when the program degrades the poor user has no clue why or how to resolve the problem.I give this book real kudos.Robert Lane, CPA, MBA Web Developer Ashland, Oregon