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SVG Essentials

By J. David Eisenberg
February 2002
Pages: 364
ISBN 10: 0-596-00223-8 | ISBN 13: 9780596002237
(Average of 4 Customer Reviews)

Description

Scalable Vector Graphics -- or SVG -- is the new XML-based graphics standard from the W3C that will enable Web documents to be smaller, faster and more interactive. This insightful book takes you through the ins and outs of SVG, from the basics to more complicated features. Whether you're a graphic designer looking for new tools, or a programmer creating and managing graphics, this book provides a solid foundation.
Full Description

Scalable Vector Graphics -- or SVG -- is the new XML-based graphics standard from the W3C that will enable Web documents to be smaller, faster and more interactive. J. David Eisenberg's insightful book takes you through the ins and outs of SVG, beginning with basics needed to create simple line drawings and then moving through more complicated features like filters, transformations, and integration with Java, Perl, and XSLT. Unlike GIFs, JPEGs or PNGs (which are bitmapped), SVG images are both resolution- and device-independent, so that they can scale up or down to fit proportionally into any size display or any Internet device -- from PDAs to large office monitors and high-resolution printers. Smaller than bitmapped files and faster to download, SVG images can be rendered with different CSS styles for each environment. They work well across a range of available bandwidths. SVG makes it possible for designers to escape the constant need to update graphics by hand or use custom code to generate bitmap images. And while SVG was created with the Web in mind, the language has a variety of other uses. SVG greatly simplifies tasks like:

Creating web sites whose graphics reflect the content of the page, changing automatically if the content changes
Generating graphs and charts from information stored in a wide variety of sources
Exchanging detailed drawings, from architectural plans to CAD layouts to project management diagrams
Creating diagrams that users can explore by zooming in and panning around
Generating bitmap images for use in older browsers using simple automatable templates
Managing graphics that support multiple languages or translations
Creating complex animation

By focusing sharply on the markup at the foundation of SVG, SVG Essentials gives you a solid base on which to create your own custom tools. Explanations of key technical tools -- like XML, matrix math, and scripting -- are included as appendices, along with a reference to the SVG vocabulary. Whether you're a graphic designer in search of new tools or a programmer dealing with the complex task of creating and managing graphics, SVG Essentials provides you with the means to take advantage of SVG.

Featured customer reviews

SVG Essentials Review, October 15 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Andrew Odewahn [Respond | View]

While it's difficult to separate my excitement over SVG from the

contents of this book, it's quite possible that the two are so directly

related as to be inseperable. Within a few hours of buying this book, I

was producing and printing extremely high quality images that I had

found all but impossible to produce w/other technologies (JPEG codecs,

etc.). If you are familiar with the basic mark-up language concepts,

then you should have no trouble gleaning the essential elements of SVG.

After an excellent introductory chapter that provides a general

overview, subsequent chapters cover aspects of SVG in detail, such as

how to create basic shapes or generate text. One thing I particularly

liked was that the author mostly uses a single example (SVG code to

create a picture of a cat) to illustrate new concepts, creating a sense

of cohesiveness that tied the chapters together. This book is *not*

just a scattershot collection of essays that characterizes so many

other technical books -- the text is clear, concise, and to the point.

Finally, there is a very uselful appendix that summarizes the most

frequently used attributes.

Perhaps the only drawback is that if you are coming to SVG from a non-

technical background, you might find this book a little too gear-headed

for your liking. For technical readers that want a thorough

introduction (i.e., not a PhD thesis) to this exciting and useful

technology, however, this book is a must.

SVG Essentials Review, September 13 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Darcy Vaughan [Respond | View]

This books serves as a solid foundation in SVG. It is concise, to the point, and yet has enough sophisticated examples to utilize it in the real world. Excellent book!

SVG Essentials Review, April 17 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Rich Edwards [Respond | View]

A fantastic introduction - thoughtfully presented, and with some great example architectures in the later chapters and appendices. However, I was disappointed to find that the examples in the "Scripting SVG" section do not work in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 with the Adobe Plug-In (presumably because of IE's object model) - surely (whatever one thinks of IE) this is likely to be the most common end-user platform?

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SVG Essentials Review, March 08 2002

Rating:

Submitted by Thomas H. Bellus [Respond | View]

The first clear and thoughout descriptions to help with the coordinate system for SVG. When one learns the basics well then the Kool things that are possible become a reality.

Excellent teacher

Media reviews "This is exciting material. SVG is a significant advance on previous graphical approaches, one that few organizations exploit, and 'SE' is a graceful way to gain great confidence in its abilities. Eisenberg has considerable experience in Web work, and the documents he provides on his own site demonstrate his knowledge about such topics as Web standards and display of non-Latin scripts."
--Cameron Laird, UnixReview.com, May 2003
http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=8217/ur0305f/

"'SVG Essentials' is a wonderful reference for SVG...All in all this book is a must have for people willing to create SVG graphics."
--Darren Coolidge, Alaska ColdFusion User Group Newsletter, Aug 2002

"those who want the nitty-gritty on this emerging Web Graphics format will be hard pressed to find something better."
--Keith Shengili-Roberts, Computer Paper June 2002

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