DiMarco J. Digital Design for Print and Web: An Introduction to Theory, Principles, and Techniques
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Chapter 8 Web Site Design and Development 293
QuiCk StePS (FW):
Creating an Image Rollover
1. Create a Web screen with graphical text navigation. Slice the Web screen
and export it as an HTML page with all the supporting graphics.
2. Open the source .png page, which is a sliced Web screen.
3. Hide the slice layers and select one of the graphical text button layers.
4. Drag the layer to the NEW LAYER icon at the bottom of the LAYERS palette.
This will create a copy of the layer.
5. Rename the layer rollover text and hide the original text layer.
6. Highlight the text and change the color or the button shape, or both.
7. Show all the slices and select the slice over the text button whose color you
just changed.
8. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL click on Mac and go to EXPORT SELECTED
SLICE.
9. Give the le the same name as the original graphic, but add the sufx _rollover
to the end of the le name. (For example, the le name might look like this:
index_r1_c1_rollover.jpg.) This will allow you to recognize the rollover graphic
more quickly when you are using the BEHAVIORS PANEL dialog box.
10. Save the exported slice into the images folder of your Web site. You will use
it once the Web page is opened in Dreamweaver and you apply the SWAP
IMAGE behavior (see page 313).
Figures8-12,a–c Rollovers require the graphic to appear in at least two states: the original
and the rollover image. Use existing layers and copy them, make a change, and then export the
selected slice. The two graphics are used with behaviors in Dreamweaver to set the images to
swap when the cursor rolls over them.
(A,B)
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Figure8-12c
technique Lesson 8.9: Creating thumbnail Images
Thumbnails are scaled-down versions of images used to represent media items.
They typically function as buttons. Thumbnails are a natural approach to pre-
senting small multiples of images: because they create repetitive order, they are
easy for the eye to follow and the brain to understand.
Thumbnail images can be made a few different ways. The biggest problem
with creating thumbnails is that the images they represent may not be the same
size, so simply scaling an image won’t necessarily work, because the images
may not have the same proportions. And using layer masks becomes challeng-
ing to manage when there are many of them. So instead, create a new docu-
ment at the size needed for each set of thumbnails. Creating the thumbnails
then becomes a straightforward process of dragging, scaling, and cropping.
QuiCk StePS (FW Or PS):
Creating Thumbnails
1. Go to FILE > NEW and create a new document the size you want
your thumbnails to be (try 100 x 100 pixels). Save the document as
100x100thumbnails.png in Fireworks or as a .psd in Photoshop.
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Chapter 8 Web Site Design and Development 295
2. Open the images you want to turn into thumbnails.
3. Click on one of the image documents and go to SELECT > SELECT ALL,
which will make a selection of the entire image.
4. Drag the entire image into the thumbnail document. The image will be larger
than the document size, so expand the application window and zoom out, so
you can see the image’s boundaries.
5. Press CTRL + T (Windows) or CMD + T (Macintosh) to display the FREE
TRANSFORM resizing handles. Grab the corner of the image and hold the
SHIFT key while dragging the image to make it smaller. Stop when the image
is a little larger than the thumbnail document. Hit ENTER to execute the trans-
formation. Now, position the part of the image you want in the document.
6. Select the CROP tool from the TOOL palette and drag it across the entire
image to the edge. Hit ENTER to crop out the extra image area.
The thumbnail is created.
Figures8-13,a–D Create a separate thumbnail document if you need to produce many
thumbnails. It will make managing and creating the images much easier than constructing
them within the Web page layout itself. The thumbnails can then be dragged into the nal Web
page layout from the thumbnail document.
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PART TWO Techniques296
You can now drag it into another document, and it will be sized perfectly. Or
you can use the SAVE AS command to save individual thumbnails as .jpgs.
Repeat these steps to make more thumbnail images. Each image will occupy
its own layer. Save the layered thumbnail document as a .png le (Fireworks) or
a .psd le (Photoshop). Saving the document keeps all the images available for
editing and creates a template of the thumbnail document for future use.
Web Development Techniques
The Web pages you planned, conceptualized, and composed must now be
turned into functional Web pages that work on the Internet. Web development
is the process of adding functionality to these previously conceptualized Web
pages. These pages can be created from scratch in Dreamweaver which can
also be used to open an existing sliced page.
Go to WINDOW > PROPERTIES to launch Dreamweaver’s PROPERTIES
INSPECTOR, which is used for the precise manipulation of Web page elements.
The INSPECTOR changes appearance depending on the page element that is
selected. For example, if the page contains a table and you click inside a cell,
the properties of the table cell become active. When an AP div is selected, the
INSPECTOR enables you to enter new values for position, background color, and
other attributes for that layer.
Creating a Web page from Scratch in Dreamweaver
The process for creating, slicing, and exporting a Web page using Fireworks is
only one way to make a Web page. You can also create Web pages by creating a
new Dreamweaver document by going to FILE > NEW > HTML PAGE. This will
create a blank white page that works like a word processing document, letting
you type and add spaces.
Creating HTML pages in Dreamweaver is fairly straightforward. You can
type and place graphics inline. You can change type color, link color, page title,
and page color by going to MODIFY > PAGE PROPERTIES. And once you have
created a new page and set its properties, you are ready to add content: just
insert an AP div or a table to act as a container for that content by going to
INSERT > LAYOUT OBJECTS > AP div. To control the content most effectively,
create a layer and then insert a table inside of it (INSERT > TABLE). (Although a
bit more complicated, you can also use CSS to position elements.)
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From Fireworks to Dreamweaver
Fireworks and Dreamweaver are tightly integrated, allowing you to export
HTML pages with their associated graphics les and save them in your Web site
folder structure. You can then open the HTML pages (the les will be named
.htm or .html) in Dreamweaver and add Web functionality such as HTML text,
links, JavaScript, and simple motion using dynamic layers, which are AP divs
that can be positioned along a timeline to create motion and other effects.
When you open HTML pages exported from Fireworks in Dreamweaver, the
page you sliced in Fireworks will be represented by either a nested table or AP
divs. The table will be constructed of rows and columns that hold the pieces of
the Web page. Each of your slices become part of the table upon export. HTML
tables allow you to arrange text, images, links, multimedia content such as Flash
movies, other tables, and so on, into rows and columns of cells.
Complex tables can be created using the slice tools in a Web optimization
application such as Fireworks. Slicing is easier than hand coding table rows and
table data for large areas, such as entire Web pages. Slicing also allows the table
to be edited using the table properties in Dreamweaver. Editing a complex sliced
table is easier than creating a complex table from scratch in Dreamweaver.
Sliced images and buttons are nested in a table in the HTML page and con-
secutively named with an _r_c sufx. (The r stands for row, and the c stands for
column.) The table can be edited and manipulated, but tables are sometimes
challenging to work with. Floating design, which is design using layers (AP divs)
is one alternative to building pages solely with tables. You can convert the com-
plex table into free-oating AP divs that allow content to be added and edited
easily. You can also use Fireworks to export a page directly to AP divs.
technique Lesson 8.10: Setting page properties
Dreamweaver’s PAGE PROPERTIES dialog box works like the page setup dialog
boxes in other digital design programs. It allows you to set default global attributes
for the Web page and to enter the page title information, which is the description
of the page that loads at the top of the Web browser each time the page is visited.
QuiCk StePS (DW):
Setting the Page Properties for Margins, Links, and Page Title
1. Slice and export a Web page.
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2. Open the HTML le in Dreamweaver (FILE > OPEN).
3. Go to MODIFY > PAGE PROPERTIES.
The PAGE PROPERTIES dialog box will appear.
4. In the APPEARANCE settings, ignore the font information at the top; you
will be using CSS for setting fonts later. Go to MARGINS at the bottom of
the box and set the page margins. The margins will be applied to tables only:
AP div tags are placed exactly and can be moved by selecting and drag-
ging them. Tables, however, are relative to the browser and can be adjusted
within the Web page using spaces and margins. For a ush left corner mar-
gin, enter 0, 0, 0, 0, for all four margins: left, right, top, bottom.
5. In the LINKS settings, set the link colors for visited links and rollovers; set the
underline style as well. You can set the link font in the document later, so you
don’t need to choose one now, but you can if you prefer.
6. In the TITLE/ENCODING settings, enter the page title. The title should pro-
vide some or all of the following information: site name, site page, site sec-
tion, and your name. You can use any characters you like, including spaces,
in page titles. When you launch the page in a browser, you will see the page
title at the top of the browser window.
Figure8-14 The PAGE PROPERTIES dialog box allows you to manipulate important page ele-
ments, such as background color, links, margins, and page titles.
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technique Lesson 8.11: Making and Manipulating tables
Tables are containers for content. Dreamweaver gives you the ability to create
simple tables and to nest tables inside of one another. Tables are made up of
cells, which exist in rows and columns. You can add, delete, merge, and split
rows and columns in tables, as well as align and pad content within them.
QuiCk StePS (DW):
Inserting a Table on a Blank Web Page (or inside an Existing Cell or AP Div)
1. Go to INSERT > TABLE.
2. To nest a table, click inside a table cell or AP div and go to INSERT > TABLE.
Set the number of rows and columns of the table and set the cell spacing and
padding, which add space outside and inside the table cells, respectively.
3. Resize the table by grabbing its edges.
4. Type F6.
The table will appear in EXPANDED TABLE mode, which makes it easier to
manipulate the table’s cells.
5. Type F6 again to exit EXPANDED TABLE mode.
Figures8-15,a,b Tables consist of rows and columns and work as containers for content.
You can place tables inside of other tables or inside of AP divs.
technique Lesson 8.12: Using ap elements
Dreamweaver provides an environment for the layout of elements on Web
pages. Called layers in previous versions of the software, they are now called AP
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elements (AP stands for “absolutely positioned”). AP elements are HTML page
elements— div tags or any other tags (a tag is a page instruction)—that have
been assigned an absolute position through the CSS panel elds or freely on the
page. Most often absolutely positioned div tags, AP elements can be moved
freely and placed anywhere on the Web page by using x (from the left edge)
and y (from the top) coordinates. These are the kinds of AP elements Dream-
weaver inserts by default. Put the AP together with a div and you get an AP div
tag, which is, in simple terms, a layer on a Web page. AP divs essentially work
as containers for content and are programmable objects. AP divs can hold text,
images, or any other content that you can place in the body of an HTML docu-
ment. They can also be controlled with JavaScript and CSS.
AP divs enable you to lay out Web pages without struggling with HTML cod-
ing or building pages with tables. You can place AP divs in front of and behind
each other, hide some AP elements while showing others, and move AP ele-
ments across the screen. You can place a background image in one AP div, then
place a second AP div containing text with a transparent background in front of it.
You can insert tables inside AP divs to organize and control content within the AP
div. And you control the attributes of the AP div from the CSS panel. This exibil-
ity is why it is a good idea to convert tables to layers after slicing and exporting.
The AP ELEMENTS panel is where the AP divs reside. Each one can be
named descriptively. Each AP div occupies a separate, layered position on the
z-axis, which represents depth. (AP divs have a z-axis because they can be
stacked on top of one another, thus creating depth.) The AP div will also have an
assigned z-index number, which refers to the stacking order of the AP divs and
to the load sequence on the page. The top-down stacking order is represented
on the page in the same manner. The AP div at the top will have the highest
number. The highest number loads last (on top), above the others indexes.
Here are some advantages to using AP divs:
AP divs can be added and deleted easily from a Web page. •
AP divs can hold any Web asset or object. •
AP divs can be dynamically controlled using a timeline or CSS. •
AP divs can be resized, colored, and positioned to t conveniently into your •
Web page design.
Tables can be nested inside AP divs to provide extensive content control, •
and this provides an effective way to develop Web pages from scratch—
without using Fireworks to create an entire page.
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QuiCk StePS (DW):
Inserting an AP Div onto a Web Page
1. Go to WINDOW > AP ELEMENTS to display the AP ELEMENTS panel.
This will show you a listing of and the stacking order for the AP divs that
occupy that page.
2. Go to INSERT > LAYOUT OBJECTS > AP div.
A new layer with a blue bounding box will appear on the page. APdiv1, repre-
senting the new layer, will appear in the AP ELEMENTS panel.
3. To move the layer (AP div), grab it and drag it. If you copy and paste it into
another Web page, it will be positioned at the same (absolute) position.
(This makes building multiple pages go more quickly.)
4. To position the layer precisely, type numeric values into the L (left) and T
(top) elds on the PROPERTY INSPECTOR. For example, L = 100 and T =
100 would move the top corner of the layer down 100 pixels from the top
and over 100 pixels from the left.
5. To further manage the positioning of layers, use the rulers, PROPERTIES
INSPECTOR positioning elds, and the grid (VIEW > GRID). Using the grid
is advantageous because you can position items on the Web page consis-
tently and accurately.
6a. To scale a layer, click on it on the page or inside the LAYER INSPECTOR,
grab an anchor handle, and drag. (Use a corner handle to resize two sides at
once.) Resize layers to snuggly t their content.
or:
6b. Type size values into the WIDTH and HEIGHT elds on the PROPERTIES
INSPECTOR to scale the layer to a precise numeric size.
Inserting an Image, Flash Object, or Text into an AP Div
1. To place an image, go to INSERT > IMAGES and navigate to the images
folder in the root directory of your Web site.
2. To place a Flash object, go to INSERT > MEDIA > FLASH. (To insert a Flash
video, go to INSERT > MEDIA > FLASH VIDEO.)
3. Navigate to the .swf (object) or .v (video) le and insert it. (These les
should reside either in the images folder or another folder in your Web site’s
root directory.)
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4. To place text, click on the cursor and start typing. You can also insert a table
to help you control the text.
Figures8-16,a,b Using AP divs is the most exible way to create Web pages from scratch,
because they allow the designer to work in a composite environment, rather than tinkering with
the difcult code manipulations required for table-only Web pages . When AP divs are added
to a page, they are listed in the AP div panel, which is similar to the layers palettes in graphics
programs. The z-index number refers to the stacking and loading order of AP divs.
technique Lesson 8.13: putting ap elements in Motion
You can make AP divs move across the page using timelines—an easy way to
create simple motion pieces on your Web pages.
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