Customer comments on this selection.
 Just Okay, don't expect to become an expert
I had to buy this book for a class. I have used the CIB series before and have enjoyed them. But, I read the reviews and I felt like why the school would even get this book. But, it is not that bad for just learning the bare minimum basics. There were some errors though. You had to download updateds for a few chapters online, which can be a pain. I have never used Dreamweaver before, so it seemed to help me learn the basics. But the class is now over and we were required to do all of the chapters. I just don't feel like I am extremely comfortable with Dreamweaver. I feel like I just skimmed the surface. Some of the chapters lacked detail (especially the form chapter (Chapter 10) and Publishing to the Web (Chapter 12). I found myself going over and over some things just to find that there may be a book error. Then other chapters were just so simplistic that the lesson was pointless. But, anyway I also bought the Missing Manual for Dreamweaver and since it is 1000 pages, hopefully I will learn more about the program.
 Many Mistakes
If you're new to Dreamweaver CS3 and are looking for a "clear" step by step learning guide, I suggest you pick another book. This book is full of typo's, mistaken steps, wrong instructions and is very short on explanations. I've used many step tutorials and this is by far about the worst I've come across. Returned the book for a refund.
 Just what it says ... minus the ability to ask the teacher questions
I had written my original webpages (many years ago!) with Adobe PageMill. I finally had to upgrade my computer, and thus the software. Getting Adobe CS3 Design Premium was a no-brainer for my situation, but when I opened Dreamweaver, I found it was terribly foreign to me. Figuring Adobe would be a good place to start my self-training (and seeing that the reviews here on Amazon were all over the map), I purchased Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom in a Book.
Just like a beginning computer class at your local community college, the book follows a prepared lesson plan for "hands-on experience". Unlike such a class, there's no way to ask for clarification, more examples, or get lesson material errors corrected. Although I started out learning things I definitely needed to know, I soon stalled out when I tried to generalize what I'd just worked through to a real-life creative effort. The book simply is not a resource, but a series of pre-determined exercises to get a person actually doing a few things with the program. It's value is definitely transient, not lasting, and thus not worth the purchase price by any means.
Also rather disturbing were the incorrect keyboard shortcuts and directions in general for Mac users. In fact, I experienced a repeated freeze-up when using a particular set of shortcut instructions (the "normal" command path worked fine).
I ended up browsing other Dreamweaver texts at a local bookstore (where I could see layout and formatting of each book) and selected "Visual Quickstart Guide -- Dreamweaver CS3" as a result. In it, I learned a LOT more about what I could do with Dreamweaver, and it's laid out in a way that promotes its use for reference during my learning curve. I tried to finish off the last lessons in Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom in a Book after that ... I lasted only a few pages before I closed the book in disgust. Once the toolbar, panels, and workspace became familiar, the rote exercises lost all usefulness.
I'm sure that Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom in a Book has an audience out there, but it's not me -- someone with no Dreamweaver experience and just a smattering of website design experience. It's definitely not going to suit previous Dreamweaver users, either. Unless you're very certain that your experience level and needs line up exactly with the few folks who gave out 4- and 5-star reviews, you'll be better off finding some other vehicle to learn Dreamweaver.
 Good book for beginners and semi-advanced users
This is a great book, especially for beginning users of Dreamweaver, but also for those who may have had a class or two in college and feel like they need a little bit more in-depth instruction.
Another Great CIB from Adobe!
I have used several of Adobe's Classroom in a Book (CIB) workbooks and this is just another example of a great class. I learned a bunch, was reminded of things I had forgotten about Dreamweaver from previous versions/classes, and thoroughly enjoyed the quick, easy-to-use format! I got more out of this book than I did out of an extremely expensive week-long course. The only down-side - there are a few type-o's in the text (it must be a gift - I find them in ALL the books I read!). Other than that - I loved it!
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