Expression Blend was Microsoft’s first entry into the web application and design space; the first time they trod on Adobe Flash’s toes. They got a lot of things right, and started to carve out a market, but they didn’t get the crossover numbers they wanted. Blend 2 is where they put that right. It is a huge improvement over Blend. This book details everything a designer or developer needs to know to start developing web applications in Blend.

Expression Blend was Microsoft’s first entry into the web application and design space; the first time they trod on Adobe Flash’s toes. They got a lot of things right, and started to carve out a market, but they didn’t get the crossover numbers they wanted. Blend 2 is where they put that right. It is a huge improvement over Blend. This book details everything a designer or developer needs to know to start developing web applications in Blend.

The only real tool for developing cross-platform rich Internet applications (RIAs) for that last 11 years has been Flash; until now! Silverlight 3 allows you to develop cross-platform rich Internet applications in a fraction of the time because of the extensive and very powerful .NET 3.5 libraries, the powerful, design friendly Blend 3 IDE, and an enhanced workflow that allows designers and developers to work on the same set of files at the same time. Develop stunning RIAs in a short time. Learn some basic object-oriented programming principles. Get familiar with the Blend 3 development environment.

Microsoft's Expression Suite promises new levels of power in creating rich dynamic user experiences on the web, and Expression Web Designer is but one program within that suite. This is one of the first books available on the subject. The author starts with the very basics, and then takes the reader up to advanced level through a series of practical real world exercises. Although no knowledge is assumed, the book is carefully written to not be patronizing, and be of use to more advanced web developers and designers wishing to make use of the software, as well as complete beginners.

A visual quick reference book that shows you how to work efficiently with Expression Web 2, with complete coverage of basic to advanced skills.

Microsoft Expression Blend Unleashed is about learning a new tool for designers, but also learning a new mindset for developers. Expression Blend enables the delivery of rich interactive applications, for the web as well as the desktop, allowing you to take graphical assets and blend them with functional .NET code through the power of XAML and the WPF platform. Microsoft Expression Blend Unleashed also features a C# Primer, introducing designers to the .NET Framework. .NET allows the reader to extend the functionality of many of the WPF elements used in Expression Blend. The most important concept for the reader to grasp is that Blend and Visual Studio together are about facilitating the kind of user experience everyone wants from the applications they use. This book will give you the skill set whether you are a designer or developer; from there, you just need to use a little imagination. Detailed information on how to… Design and develop WPF applications Use Blend’s animation workflows Design and implement WPF template types Create and manage Resource Dictionaries Master WPF Style templates Handle control events Understand advanced control properties in XAML/Blend/C# Create customized controls through inheritance Understand the fundamentals of XAML-based design and development Implement effective XML, CLR Data binding, and XAML template binding Extend XAML functionality with C# code Implement video and audio in your applications Use Blend as part of your designer/developer workflow

This task-based, visual reference guide uses step-by-step instructions and plenty of screenshots to teach beginning and intermediate users how to create streamlined, innovative and just plain beautiful applications with Microsoft's new application development tool . Design expert and author Robert Reinhardt takes readers step-by-step through the features and tools, and shows them how they can use Microsoft Expression Blend to create engaging, cinematic user interfaces with a rich design environment that combines multiple media elements including vectors, pixel images, 3D content, video and audio, high quality text, and animation. Whether learning the application from start or looking for specific task-based answers, Microsoft Expression Blend for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, provides designers and application developers with exactly the information they need.