Macromedia Studio MX 2004:Training from the Source
Authors: Jeffrey and Shaowen Bardzell
ISBN: 0321241584

This book is meant to give an overview of the Macromedia Studio MX 2004 programs. Throughout the course of the book, you will complete two web projects. These projects are divided into lessons that cover all of the programs, Fireworks, Freehand, Dreamweaver, Flash, and ColdFusion.

This is a great book for those just learning about web design. You will learn enough of the basics to get you started. If you already know these programs or are very familiar with web design, this book is still for you.

I have been designing web sites for a little over three years and thought that I had a pretty expert grasp on Dreamweaver and Fireworks. I decided to go through this book to learn about Freehand and Flash. I discovered that there were a lot of gaps in my knowledge of all of the programs.

Included with the book is a CD that contains trial versions of all of the programs and all the files that you will need to complete the projects. It takes you step-by-step and makes it all very simple and easy to do. You will learn a lot and have real examples to show off your capabilities.

The lessons give you great ideas for future projects and allow you to steal elements of your work to use in other projects.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. I was honestly surprised at how much I learned and how great the projects came out.