Beginning CSS3

Beginning CSS3 teaches you how to style web pages using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)—the language of web design. Starting from first principles, you’ll learn through a series of practical exercises how to change the default look of HTML tags, adding color, backgrounds, and borders. The book demystifies core concepts, such as the CSS box model and selectors, giving you the confidence and knowledge to create innovative and flexible page layouts. You’ll also learn how to create rounded corners, drop shadows, and gradients without the need for images, using the latest CSS3 techniques.

What you’ll learn

• Teaches how to style attractive and flexible web pages
• Hands-on exercises demonstrate how to combine style rules for different effects
• Comprehensive coverage of CSS2.1 and stable parts of CSS3

Beginning CSS3is aimed at web designers who want to master the use of Cascading Style Sheets to style and lay out modern web pages. It teaches core concepts, such as the CSS box model and choosing the most appropriate selectors to apply styles efficiently. This makes it an excellent choice for both complete beginners and web designers who want to improve their understanding of CSS.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing CSS - the Language of Web Design
2. Using Basic Selectors
3. Specifying Sizes, Colors, and Files
4. Styling Text
5. Embedding Web Fonts
6. Understanding Layout with the CSS Box Model
7. Floating Elements for Layout
8. Adding Backgrounds
9. Adding Borders and Drop Shadows
10. Styling Lists and Navigation Menus
11. Positioning Elements Precisely
12. Cross-Browser Layout Techniques
13. Using Advanced Selectors
14. Styling Tables
15. Generated Content
16. Creating a Print Style Sheet
17. Targeting Styles at Different Devices with Media Queries
18. Using CSS3 Multi-Column Layout
19. Creating Gradients Without images
20. 2D Transformations and Transitions
21. Animating Elements with CSS Keyframes
22. What Next?

David Powers is an Adobe Community Expert for Dreamweaver and author of a series of highly successful books on PHP, including PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easyand Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8. As a professional writer, he has been involved in electronic media for more than 30 years, first with BBC radio and television and more recently with the Internet. His clear writing style is valued not only in the English-speaking world; several of his books have been translated into Spanish and Polish. What started as a mild interest in computing was transformed almost overnight into a passion, when David was posted to Japan in 1987 as BBC correspondent in Tokyo. With no corporate IT department just down the hallway, he was forced to learn how to fix everything himself. When not tinkering with the innards of his computer, he was reporting for BBCtelevision and radio on the rise and collapse of the Japanese bubble economy. Since leaving the BBC to work independently, he has built up an online bilingual database of economic and political analysis for Japanese clients of an international consultancy. When not pounding the keyboard writing books or dreaming of new ways of using PHP and other programming languages, David enjoys nothing better than visiting his favorite sushi restaurant. He has also translated several plays from Japanese.