Professional Web Design, Volume 2: The articles are the best about professional Web design that have been published on Smashing Magazine in 2010 and 2011. They have been carefully edited and prepared for this eBook. Some screenshots and links were removed to make the book easier to read and print out.

Table of Contents
In more than 280 pages, you will read articles about:

* Design for Delight (The Current State of Web Design)
* Keypress Navigation (The Current State of Web Design)
* Print Design Influence (The Current State of Web Design)
* Horizontalism (The Current State of Web Design)
* Real-Life Metaphors (Web Design Trends)
* Subtle Interactivity (Web Design Trends)

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:50:55 AM | Visits: 34090

Mastering Photoshop For Web Design: Mastering Photoshop for Web Design is the third book in our eBook series, and it�s definitely the best eBook we�ve published so far. It was written from scratch by our regular writer Thomas Giannattasio, exclusively for Smashing Magazine and its readers. We are very proud of the result, in particular because of the high quality of tips, ideas and techniques that Thomas�who is a deep expert in Adobe Photoshop�presents in his book.
All chapters have undergone a careful technical review by well-known designer, illustrator and speaker Elliot Jay Stocks. The book was proofread by our regular proofreader Andrew Lobo, and it has an attractive layout. The PDF can be printed and read on all devices.

The book contains eight chapters:

* Color Management: Colors can appear lighter or darker, more or less saturated, cooler or warmer, or just plain wrong depending on the user�s environment. This can be quite a problem, especially with a client�s brand-specific colors. As Web designers, our responsibility is to ensure that the experiences we craft are as true to the original as possible.
* Paths: While Illustrator�s vector tools are much more powerful, Photoshop�s benefit lies in its ability to blend vector and raster data together seamlessly. Because Photoshop documents are based on a pixel grid, the path tools in Photoshop make them superior to Illustrator for designing on-screen media.
* Layer Styles: Layer Styles are essential to creating flexible and non-degradable documents, because they�re separated from the layer�s actual content. In this chapter, we�ll cover how to create great-looking and reusable styles. We�ll also cover some unique effects and non-typical uses that help to consolidate excess layers.
* Brushes: Mastering the digital brush is by no means easy. It carries the same difficulties as the sable brush hidden at the bottom of your art bin. In fact, the difficulty is multiplied by the disconnect between the hand and monitor. Developing Photoshop brush skill takes time, but it is well worth the effort.
* Typography: While the majority of type on the Web is rendered by HTML, Photoshop is still necessary to handle treatment beyond the grasp of CSS. In this chapter, we�ll explore Photoshop�s type tools and discover ways to maximize the software�s typesetting capabilities.
* Photography: A photograph�especially of the human face�immediately draws the user�s attention and can be used to direct eye flow to important areas of the page. Placing a large photograph above the fold is a common way to provide an entry point to the content. Because photographs are high above other elements in the hierarchy, they need to be handled with care and precision.
* Exporting: Once you�ve polished every last pixel, it�s time to get your work into the browser. This is a pretty straightforward process, but properly optimizing your images is crucial. You need to maintain a balance between clarity and download speed. This requires multiple formats, varying levels of compression and other optimization techniques. In this chapter, we�ll explore the workflow of exporting images via the �Save for Web and Devices� dialog.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:43:24 AM | Visits: 32774

Mastering Photoshop For Web Design: Mastering Photoshop for Web Design is the third book in our eBook series, and it's definitely the best eBook we've published so far. It was written from scratch by our regular writer Thomas Giannattasio, exclusively for Smashing Magazine and its readers. We are very proud of the result, in particular because of the high quality of tips, ideas and techniques that Thomas�who is a deep expert in Adobe Photoshop�presents in his book.
All chapters have undergone a careful technical review by well-known designer, illustrator and speaker Elliot Jay Stocks. The book was proofread by our regular proofreader Andrew Lobo, and it has an attractive layout. The PDF can be printed and read on all devices.

The book contains eight chapters:

- Color Management: Colors can appear lighter or darker, more or less saturated, cooler or warmer, or just plain wrong depending on the user's environment. This can be quite a problem, especially with a client's brand-specific colors. As Web designers, our responsibility is to ensure that the experiences we craft are as true to the original as possible.
- Paths: While Illustrator's vector tools are much more powerful, Photoshop's benefit lies in its ability to blend vector and raster data together seamlessly. Because Photoshop documents are based on a pixel grid, the path tools in Photoshop make them superior to Illustrator for designing on-screen media.
- Layer Styles: Layer Styles are essential to creating flexible and non-degradable documents, because they're separated from the layer's actual content. In this chapter, we'll cover how to create great-looking and reusable styles. We'll also cover some unique effects and non-typical uses that help to consolidate excess layers.
- Brushes: Mastering the digital brush is by no means easy. It carries the same difficulties as the sable brush hidden at the bottom of your art bin. In fact, the difficulty is multiplied by the disconnect between the hand and monitor. Developing Photoshop brush skill takes time, but it is well worth the effort.
- Typography: While the majority of type on the Web is rendered by HTML, Photoshop is still necessary to handle treatment beyond the grasp of CSS. In this chapter, we'll explore Photoshop's type tools and discover ways to maximize the software's typesetting capabilities.
- Photography: A photograph�especially of the human face�immediately draws the user's attention and can be used to direct eye flow to important areas of the page. Placing a large photograph above the fold is a common way to provide an entry point to the content. Because photographs are high above other elements in the hierarchy, they need to be handled with care and precision.
- Exporting: Once you've polished every last pixel, it's time to get your work into the browser. This is a pretty straightforward process, but properly optimizing your images is crucial. You need to maintain a balance between clarity and download speed. This requires multiple formats, varying levels of compression and other optimization techniques. In this chapter, we'll explore the workflow of exporting images via the "Save for Web and Devices" dialog.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:42:19 AM | Visits: 33479

Modern Web Form Design: The Web has been transformed by the recent proliferation of rich interactions and social applications. But the workhorses of the online world, Web forms, have been slow to evolve with these changes. As brokers of crucial online interactions like e-commerce checkout and registration, forms bridge the gap between people, their information, and your product or service. As a result, Web form design matters. But web forms aren't keeping up.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:41:26 AM | Visits: 31897

Sexy Web Design: Creating Interfaces that Work: Sexy Web Design is an easy-to-follow guide that reveals the secrets of how to build your own breathtaking web interfaces from scratch. You'll be guided through the entire process of creating a gorgeous, usable web site by applying the timeless principles of user-centered design.
Even if you're short on design skills, with this book you'll be creating your own stunning web sites in no time at all.
Throughout, the focus is on simple and practical techniques that anyone can use - you don't need to have gone to art school or have artistic flair to create stunning designs using the methods outlined in this book.
The book's full-color layout and large format (8" x 10") make Sexy Web Design a pleasure to read.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:40:01 AM | Visits: 32427

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design: This second edition of The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is the ideal book for people who can build websites, but are seeking the skills and knowledge to visually enhance their sites.

This book will teach you how to:
Understand the process of what makes ""good design,"" from discovery through to implementation
Use color effectively, develop color schemes, and create a palette
Create pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, and symmetry
Employ textures: lines, points, shapes, volumes, and depth
Apply typography to make ordinary designs look great
Choose, edit, and position effective imagery
And lots more...

This revised, easy-to-follow guide is illustrated with beautiful, full-color examples, and leads readers through the process of creating great designs from start to finish.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:38:06 AM | Visits: 32475

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design: This second edition of The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is the ideal book for people who can build websites, but are seeking the skills and knowledge to visually enhance their sites.

This book will teach you how to:
Understand the process of what makes "good design," from discovery through to implementation
Use color effectively, develop color schemes, and create a palette
Create pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, and symmetry
Employ textures: lines, points, shapes, volumes, and depth
Apply typography to make ordinary designs look great
Choose, edit, and position effective imagery
And lots more...

This revised, easy-to-follow guide is illustrated with beautiful, full-color examples, and leads readers through the process of creating great designs from start to finish.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:32:50 AM | Visits: 33918

"The Principles of Beautiful Web Design": This second edition of The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is the ideal book for people who can build websites, but are seeking the skills and knowledge to visually enhance their sites.

This book will teach you how to:
Understand the process of what makes "good design," from discovery through to implementation
Use color effectively, develop color schemes, and create a palette
Create pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, and symmetry
Employ textures: lines, points, shapes, volumes, and depth
Apply typography to make ordinary designs look great
Choose, edit, and position effective imagery
And lots more...

This revised, easy-to-follow guide is illustrated with beautiful, full-color examples, and leads readers through the process of creating great designs from start to finish.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:32:01 AM | Visits: 34222

Web Design Fundamentals - ISO: Web Design Fundamentals is a survey of Web design and development techniques and technologies, fundamental concepts, terms, and best practices involved in professional web design. Instructor James Williamson examines popular web development tools, server-side software solutions, content management solutions, and cloud-based software, providing a high-level overview of the world of Web publishing.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:31:14 AM | Visits: 33558

How to Design and Write Web Pages Today: Writing
and designing for the Web are essential to anyone looking to advance
his or her personal, academic, or professional Internet presence.

How to Design and Write Web Pages Today offers an approach for building sites that reach your intended audience, using methods that enable a site to be updated and improved over time.

An introduction to standards based Web design, this book treats creating a website from the point
of view of the writer, focusing on writing concerns and how they fit
with the technological challenges of the Web. Readers will learn about
the reasons for writing on the Web; the challenges of writing there; and
the solid, but flexible construction of individual pages. The focus is
on building websites that can grow, including sites built around the popular, open source WordPress blogging
system. Rich with examples, the book demonstrates that Web writing and
design can be fast and fun and accomplished without expensive software
or sophisticated programming skills.

Date Added: 7/19/2011 4:30:09 AM | Visits: 32997