This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

This is a different kind of CSS book.  It takes the approach that there's a real connection between craftsmanship and
Web design. Handcrafted CSS gives frustrated Web designers the ammo they need to convince their clients and bosses to adopt innovative and effective CSS techniques that make their lives easier while improving the end user's experience. This book offers designers a transitional approach that teaches them when it's OK to push the envelope a bit, how best to do it, and when not to.

The book's seven chapters deconstruct various aspects of a case-study Web site, focusing on aspects that make it bulletproof and demonstrate progressive enrichment techniques over more traditional labor-intensive methods. Subjects include building for unanticipated future use; progressively enriching designs using CSS3 properties that work today; the magic and flexibility of using RGB color with an alpha channel; modular float management, crafting flexible frameworks; fluid layouts using grid-based design principles; and craftsmanship details on typography, jQuery, and shifting backgrounds.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 5 Ratings

I'm finding this book useful and I have a stack of CSS books.. - 2009-10-06
Reviewer Rating:
I always love to read how a CSS master works and I found many of Dan's tools and tips extremely useful in furthering my already above average knowledge of CSS.

This is not a "step-by-step how to build a website using CSS" book, this is for folks who already understand CSS well. This book helped me reorganize my mind when it comes to CSS.

I'm a big fan of Dan Cederholm and will always buy his books because I like how he thinks. If I ever bump into Dan at SXSW I will buy him a beer.

The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because I found it a bit short. I'd always like to read more of what he has to say.

Nice tricks but... - 2009-10-01
Reviewer Rating:
Don't get me wrong. The information in this book is great. The author gives you code that works and what doesn't work when creating the look of the webpage you will be creating along in the book. What's even better is that this book is all in color, compared to some other ones that I've seen out there. Do note that this book does come in a different edition where a DVD is also included.

Each chapter has enough images to give you an idea of how the graphics are supposed to look. It seems like books these days like to keep their data files online, which is where this book's files are stored. I guess it'd probably save them money (and you) for not including the data on a cd with the book. No big deal, really.

My only gripe about this book is that you don't begin creating the website "in order". What I mean is that there really isn't a way for you to input the code that's given in the book and then load it in a browser to see how it's supposed to look like, compared to what's in the book.

For instance, in the first chapter, you're creating a chart for come drinks. As I see the images in the book, and copy the code, it, of course, won't look that way because you haven't specified WHERE on the page it's supposed to go. Thus, when you load the code in a browser, you're chart fills the entire screen instead of looking like the image in the book.

I understand that you're creating the assets that will eventually be added into the final web page, but I wish the author could have written the book where he specified where these assets would be added so that the readers could see how it's supposed to look like.

Other than that, I didn't find anything TOO new to CSS that I already know, so if you're already familiar with it, then this book might not be for you. There were a few things that I found that I liked, such as rounded corners, does/don't of using opacity, the "webkit", just to name a few. The whole point of the book is to help you create a website that's flexible to edit and that's compliant.

Color screen shots throughout provide excellent examples - 2009-11-17
Reviewer Rating:
HANDCRAFTED CSS: MORE BULLETPROOF WEB DESIGN offers connections between artistry and web design and explores CSS3 for modern browsers. Web designers, project managers and artists alike receive an excellent progressive series of lessons on how to enrich designs using CSS3 properties and how to create fluid, flexible layouts. Color screen shots throughout provide excellent examples.

Ultimate CSS guide - 2009-11-04
Reviewer Rating:
Mr. Cederholm's "Handcrafted CSS" is an excellent work literally guaranteed to provide new insight. His writing style is one that is easily read...and easy to continue reading. Such a style is highly instructive while being enjoyable prose. There are new "tricks" galore in this book. However, as a caution, to get the most out of this book, one should be fairly competent in CSS. The author states as much early on. The book is rated "intermediate to advanced" and deserves that rating; not so much because the material is difficult but because it is written with the understanding that the reader is at a certain level of expertise and thus it avoids a lot of redundant elementary detail and goes right at some new CSS3 tricks and effects...and they are useful!

Useful reference for adding that little extra somethin' to your design - 2009-10-28
Reviewer Rating:
I love Dan's writing style. It's fun loving and interesting. It got me through the book quicker than I normally would have.

That book goes into detail about how to give your web design extra flair that takes your work from good to great. He goes into depth about how to use the techniques and explains the reasoning behind each decision.

The DVD was also entertaining and didn't repeat the book much at all. It is a great addition resource for the book.

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