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How Dreamweaver Fits into the Web Design Puzzle

So how does Dreamweaver fit into the overall design puzzle? Well, you can think of Dreamweaver as the piece of the puzzle that sits right in the center, with all the other pieces connecting to it. Dreamweaver is where you bring in and stylize your text, import images and multimedia files, and arrange your other content. To maximize your web-design experience, though, a few other types of programs may be helpful. The pieces you'll most commonly want to complete your puzzle are a word processor and a raster image editor. After you've become comfortable building web pages, you may also find some other pieces useful, such as a vector image editor, a web animation tool, or tools for creating a database-driven site.

Think of Dreamweaver as the piece of the puzzle that sits right in the center, with all other pieces connecting to it.

See how nicely everything dovetails together? You certainly don't have to have all the pieces to the puzzlejust the ones that you'll use most.

Word Processors

To prepare the text for your web site, a word processor is always useful. You can type and edit text directly in Dreamweaver, but most folks find it easier to write their text in a program like Microsoft Word and then later bring it into Dreamweaver for formatting. That's actually my preferred way of working, too. Word's text tools, like AutoCorrect, AutoText, and a few other goodies make it a cinch to type up some copy (and share it with others for editing and approval). Check out "Word vs. Dreamweaver: A Steel Cage Match Extraordinaire!" in Chapter 6 for more on the word processing issue.

Raster Image Editors

What would the web be without graphics? As exciting as the 24-hour smelt-fishing channel, that's what. We need some energy and excitement on our pages, so some image-manipulation software is essential. A raster image editor is a program that can handle photographs, scans, and other pixel-based graphics and can take care of sizing, cropping, and color manipulation duties. Don't rely on the free software that came with your digital camera or scanner. It's usually okay for the kids, but the pros employ programs with a lot more horsepower. The biggie is Photoshop, the heavyweight champion of them all. It's the print and web designer's mainstay. If Photoshop's price tag is a turnoff, you could certainly use Fireworks (which comes with Dreamweaver in the Studio suite, remember) or a slew of others that are out there, such as Paint Shop Pro.

Although it doesn't have an interface as sleek as Photoshop's, Paint Shop Pro is still a compelling tool in any designer's arsenal, especially for the price.

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Imminent Doom

Don't be cheap with your image editing software. The free programs that came with your digital camera or scanner just don't have the firepower that web design calls for.

A basic image editor is a mustsomething that sizes, crops, and manipulates color in your images.

Vector Image Editors

You may want to consider a vector drawing program to help with tasks like creating logos and illustrations. Adobe Illustrator ([adobe.com/products/illustrator]) would do the job. A vector image editor isn't an absolute necessity, but it can make life easier down the road, once you're a web design pro.

Not up for learning the intricacies of Flash? Check out a much simpler program called SWiSH ([www.swishzone.com]).

Web Animation Tools

If you want your site to include web animation, you'll need a specialized program to handle those dutiestypically Macromedia Flash. Flash allows designers to build pages that incorporate full motion and sound, while producing small files that download quickly. It's really cutting-edge stuff. No doubt you've seen a lot of Flash animation on the Internet already, but don't let those pesky Flash intro pages and wizbang advertisements sway your opiniona lot of people misuse the technology. When they use Flash appropriately, designers can build incredible environments that push web design to the farthest frontiers.

For a great example of a killer Flash site, check out [www.terminator3.com]. Boy, that movie stunk, but they made up for it with a site that really shows off what Flashand a little creativitycan do.

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One direction your web design skills can take is to Macromedia Flash, which takes web design to a whole other level. If Jennifer Beals used Flash, her web site would really dance! No takers? Well, it was 1983.

Tools for Database-Driven Sites

Dreamweaver can also build database-driven sites. Massive sites like eBay and Amazon are not built page by page. They use databases running in the background to fill in page content based on the information the visitor requests. This sort of site is beyond our scope here, but just know that you can incorporate server technologies such as ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, ColdFusion, and PHP as you're building pages and sites with Dreamweaver.