About software
Some programs are a delight to use while others are a pain. This sections covers my favourite programs and the books I have found most useful.
Programs
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Web site building (excluding the images)
- Dreamweaver MX 2004 or later – although the program is expensive and has a sharp learning curve it is undoubtedly the best program to use in terms of convenience, flexibility and facilities. Adobe/Macromedia
- Net objects fusion – is considered by some the best program to use if you do not want to be involved with the technicalities. However if you remain at a distance from the technicalities then clearly your control over the content and the way it is implemented will be limited.
- Word Pad – is all you actually need to create a web page if you are familiar with HTML, CSS and JavaScript languages. You have maximum control over your pages but progress will be slow.
- Bitmap Graphics
- Photoshop 6 or later – there's no better program for treating and optimising bitmap images. It also includes some vector and editable text creating facilities. Adobe.
- Any program that can rotate, crop size and optimise photos to your satisfaction should be all thats needed for the web.
- Vector graphics
- My favourite by far is Xara X or Xtreme. It is cheap, easy to learn and has all the facilities you could possibly need to produce web buttons, logos and diagrams. Xara.com
- Fireworks MX is a worthy alternative for web images that integrates with Dreamweaver.
- If you use Adobe products such as Indesign and Acrobat then Illustrator should be considered, however I would advise getting a trial version first as it isn't the easiest program to use.
- Desk top publishing
- Indesign 2 or later – is the program I use and can recommend it, especially if you have Photoshop and Illustrator
- Quark Xpress – is the main rival, but I have experience of version 5.01 only.
- Page Plus – is a cheap alternative, however if you regularly send documents in electronic medium to a printer check with them first. Serif
- Databases
- Access – is the Microsoft product that used to hold sway over the home and small business market. Other specialist programs with built in intelligence have been making inroads into the market. Microsoft
- Spreadsheets
- EXcel – is an excellent program that is easy to learn
- Word Processors
- Wordperfect 9 or later – is the program I find easiest to use when creating documents with images, data merging or labels but is not very clever with outlines and numbering.
- OpenOffice 2 or later – is a fine alternative to Word or WordPerfect except when it comes to data merging or labels and is free so give it a try.
Books etc.
- HTML
- HTML The Complete Reference Osborne Press is authoritative but unwieldy. If anyone knows a really good book could they let me know!
- Cascading Style Sheets
- Reference book "Cascading Style Sheets; Designing for the Web" by Håkon Wium Lie & Bert Bos, Addison-Wesley. Now in its third edition, this is the most comprehensive book on stylesheets in reference format, on what they are designed to do
- Bulletproof web design by Dan Cederholm – definitely has the best tips for using CSS to create navigation aids, rounded corners etc.
- The CSS anthology by Rachel Andrew – is a balanced book on using CSS in the form of questions and answers
- Stable companion Designing without tables by Dan Shafer has a useful reference section at the back
- CSS Hacks and Filters by Joseph W Lowery – provides an inste into browser bugs and how to deal with them
- A free source of help on CSS by experts is to be found at A List Apart
- JavaScript
- JavaScript The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan – is the best introduction into the language of JavaScript
- JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook by Danny Goodman – is an excellent and complementary guide to techniques.
- Graphics
- Internet tutorials on using XARA by Gary Priester located at http://www.xaraxone.com.
- Book "Photoshop for the Web" by Mikkel Aaland, details at http://photoshop.webreview.com. Useful for treating images generally. Often techniques can be translated for other packages. Other excellent Photoshop books for touching up photographic images include The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby, Photoshop Colour Correction by Michael Keiran, Professional Photoshop by Dan Margulis and Photoshop Artistry by Barry Haynes and Wendy Crumpler
