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Adobe Edge Quickstart Guide
Adobe Edge Quickstart Guide

Adobe Edge Quickstart Guide: Quickly produce engaging motion and rich interactivity with Adobe Edge Preview 4 and above with this book and ebook

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Adobe Edge Quickstart Guide

Chapter 2. The Edge Application Interface

Adobe Edge boasts a modern, designer-friendly user interface that should be somewhat familiar to longtime users of the Adobe Creative Suite applications. This chapter will run through each aspect of the interface, including:

  • Interface features

  • Application menus

  • The Toolbar

  • The Stage

  • The Timeline

  • Edge panels

After processing the information presented, we should have a clear understanding of the interface as a whole and also the usefulness of individual aspects.

Application interface overview

Being primarily focused on motion and interactivity, the Edge interface places a great emphasis upon modifying element properties over time. We will discover that Edge places many useful sections of the interface such as the Stage, Timeline, and Properties panels in plain view in order to make these tools readily available in our work.

The application window

Whether running Edge on Windows or OS X, the application window will appear very similar across platforms. In many...

Application interface overview


Being primarily focused on motion and interactivity, the Edge interface places a great emphasis upon modifying element properties over time. We will discover that Edge places many useful sections of the interface such as the Stage, Timeline, and Properties panels in plain view in order to make these tools readily available in our work.

The application window

Whether running Edge on Windows or OS X, the application window will appear very similar across platforms. In many of Adobe's creative products, the windowing on OS X is very different than it is on Windows. With Edge, the operating mode is the same across platforms; so while the reader will notice most of the screenshots in this book featuring from the Windows version of Edge, there should be very little difference when running the application on OS X.

The application window itself is broken into a variety of separate modules. Most of these modules fall under the category of "panels" and can be toggled...

The Edge menu system


Most computer programs have a standard menu system that includes choices such as File, Edit, and View, along with a variety of application-specific choices. Edge is no different in this regard.

We will have a look at the options available to us from the Edge application menu and provide a brief overview of the function of each option.

File

The File menu option provides a number of options for working with Edge files themselves.

  • New: Creates a new, blank Edge project.

  • Open: Opens a previously saved Edge project.

  • Open Recent: Provides a list of recently opened Edge projects that a user can select from. Selecting one of these projects will load it into Edge, similar to the Open command.

  • Close: This command will close the current Edge project, prompting the user to save the document first, through an application alert window.

  • Close All: Closes all Edge projects that are currently open. Similar to the Close command, a dialog box requesting the user to save each project...

The Edge Toolbar


The Edge Toolbar, by default, is located along the top left of the application window and contains an assortment of tools used when interacting with the stage. In this toolbar, we will discover a selection tool, vector element creation tools, and a text tool for working within the Edge Stage.

Note

Each Adobe Edge Preview has added a significant amount of new features to the application. We can expect that the Toolbar may also continue to improve with time.

Selection tool

The Selection tool appears as a little cursor arrow and is used to make selections upon the project stage. Any elements added to the stage can be selected using this tool and holding down the Shift key, a user can toggle the selection of multiple elements at once.

A user is also able to draw a selection box across elements by clicking upon an area of the stage that includes no other elements and dragging across multiple elements before releasing the mouse. This will draw a selection rectangle during the selection...

The Stage


The Stage in an Edge project is the fundamental starting point of our element structure. Any additional elements created or imported will reside within and be animated upon this stage.

The stage itself is actually just another Symbol within Edge. The element which represents the Stage is the only HTML element, which can be seen when viewing the source code of the .html file produced by Edge.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled</title>

<!--Adobe Edge Runtime-->
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="BasicEdgeProject_edgePreload.js"></script>
<!--Adobe Edge Runtime End-->

</head>
<body style="margin:0;padding:0;">

<div id="stage" class=" EDGE-3551296988">
</div>

</body>
</html>

Note

Downloading the example code

You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased from your account at http://www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere...

The Edge Timeline


The Timeline in Edge defines the various elements that are at play over time and exposes changes related to these elements in a visual way. The Edge Timeline is robust, yet simple to use. It inherits many of its attributes and behaviors from other applications such as After Effects and Flash Professional, yet it makes a good attempt to refine these concepts as well. The following is a screenshot of Edge Timeline:

Panels in Edge


For those familiar with other applications in the Adobe Creative Suite, the concept of panels will be quite familiar. As an example, in the following screenshot, we see panels as implemented in what is perhaps one of the most popular applications in the Creative Suite: Photoshop.

Panels are defined sets of functionality exposed through the application graphical user interface (GUI). Generally, the panels in Adobe Edge can be closed, combined, moved, resized, and collapsed as needed. Any panels that are not present in a particular workspace configuration can be opened through the Window menu commands.

Elements panel

The Elements panel is a representation of all the HTML elements included as part of our Edge project. Every element is always nested within the stage and elements, which contain sub-elements, can be twirled down to expose those elements. We may also toggle visibility of particular elements by toggling the eye icon on and off, as well as the lock icon. When an element...

Summary


We should now be familiar with all of the menus, panels, and other interface elements available to us in within the Adobe Edge application window. While we have touched upon some basic functionality in this chapter, the following chapters will demonstrate a number of ways in which we can use Edge to create a variety of standards-based projects that leverage motion and interactivity to produce rich, engaging content for the web.

Next, we'll look specifically at the various tools available to us in Edge and how to import assets from other programs for use in our compositions.

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Key benefits

  • Learn to use Adobe's newest application to create engaging motion and rich interactivity
  • Familiarize yourself with the Edge interface and unleash your creativity through standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
  • Add motion and interactivity to your websites using Web standards
  • A quickstart guide for creating engaging content with Adobe Edge

Description

With the advent of HTML5 and CSS3, web designers can now create sophisticated animations without the need of additional plugins such as Flash. However, there hasn't been an easy way for creating animations with web standards until now. This book enables even those with little knowledge of HTML or programming web content to freely create a variety of rich compositions involving motion and interactivity.Learning Adobe Edge will quickly get you up and running with this professional authoring software to create highly engaging content which targets HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Content created in Adobe Edge does not rely on a plugin ñ so it can be run within any standard browserñ even on mobile.Learning Adobe Edge begins with an overview of the shifting web landscape and the Edge application. We then move on through the variety of panels and toolsets available, and explore the many options we have when creating motion and interactivity using Edge.The book presents the reasoning behind engaging, standards-based web content and how Edge fills the need for professional tooling in this area. In the book we'll examine content creation and how to achieve fluid animation and advanced transitioning through the Edge timeline. Sprinkled throughout the book are tips and references for those coming to Edge from a background in Flash Professional. Whether you are coming to Edge from Flash Professional or are totally new to motion graphics on the web, Adobe Edge Quickstart Guide provides a solid foundation of motion and interactivity concepts and techniques along with a set of demo assets to build upon.

Who is this book for?

If you are interested in creating engaging motion and interactive compositions using web standards with professional tooling, then this book is for you. Those with a background in Flash Professional wanting to get started quickly with Adobe Edge will also find this book useful.

What you will learn

  • Gain an understanding of the shifting Web landscape
  • Effectively compare Adobe Edge to Adobe Flash Professional motion tools
  • Become familiar with all elements of the Edge application interface
  • Use the drawing tools in Edge to create and manipulate elements on the Stage
  • Import rich graphics for use in Adobe Edge compositions
  • Animate a range of elements with full transitioning through timeline keyframes
  • Employ JavaScript to add interactivity to your project through Actions and Triggers
  • Author a range of expressive compositions using nothing but web standards

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Mar 14, 2012
Length: 136 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849693301
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Length: 136 pages
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Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849693301
Concepts :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

6 Chapters
Introduction to Adobe Edge Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Edge Application Interface Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with Edge Tools and Managing Assets Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Motion with Edge Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Adding Interactivity to an Edge Composition Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Additional Resources Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.3
(4 Ratings)
5 star 50%
4 star 25%
3 star 25%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Captain Kathy ST May 03, 2012
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The excitement of a new technology can wane when we finally have to sit down and learn it. As web designers and developers, this is a never ending loop. Books, websites, and videos are key for us to keep up with the speed of so many new technologies. Finding the right media or author to learn that technology can be daunting with so many jumping in to fill the gap. Joseph is one of "those guys" who understands and picks up technologies like they are cherry pies in spring. Not only does he use them in his professional career in exciting ways, but he can teach them with a succinctness that is rare in technical publications.Adobe Edge brings to the user an application interface to build out HTML 5 animation that designers can understand as it creates the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript behind the scenes. Joseph utilizes screen shots and tips to provide clear descriptions of the menus and panels in Adobe Edge. Labrecque demonstrates similarities to menus and panels in other Adobe Creative Suite products that we have used for years, providing a familiarity to the new product to help the reader get up to speed quickly.The section on the tools in Edge is very through, and provides a solid understanding of how to use the tool and why. For the designer who has used similar tools in the past, the descriptions are so through, they can be used as a core refresher.Chapter 4 gets into the good stuff, creating animations. The book discusses the timeline and controls, then provides a project based experience as the user becomes more familiar with the Edge interface. Chapter 5 discusses interactivity in Edge. Again, Joseph steps through the process providing a clarity to the process that won't scare away the visual designer. He does not shy away from coding when it is necessary to provide custom interactivity or motion.As a visual designer who loves to make things move and not spend my time coding, I found this book provided what I needed to get up and running in Adobe Edge. I even enjoyed building out some interactivity, discovering it isn't all that difficult when taken one step at a time! All in all, this Quick Start Guide does just that, it gets you up and running in Adobe Edge quickly so you can focus on what you want to do, create animations.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
C. Moeller Aug 01, 2012
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
If you have been interesting in moving from creating content in flash, to creating content in "HTML5" that can be viewed on any standard web browser, this book is a great introduction to Adobe's newest tool.For a veteran of Flash, it compares the two side by side, showing what Edge can currently create (circa mid 1990s Flash). The book introduces and shows the new interface, teaches you how to work with tools and the timeline, as well as adding interactivity to your HTML5 based content. The book does a great job of showcasing Edge's strengths and weaknesses compared to using Flash.I found this book to be a great introduction to the Edge platform, and would think anyone that currently develops Flash content, or has been interested in getting into interactive web development would find interesting and useful.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
W Boudville Jun 10, 2012
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
Labrecque gives you a quick read of Adobe's current response to the advent of HTML5 and CSS3. He reminds you that Edge is at his time of writing a pre-release tool from Adobe. Though by the time you read this, it may be in full release. Edge attempts to reduce the explicit coding effort needed to master HTML5 and CSS3. Still, you should take the time to learn as much as you can about the latter 2.An emphasis in the book is the ease of writing animation code. It also shows Edge as somewhat akin to a wrapper around jQuery, where the latter simplifies the use of JavaScript.There is hardly any explicit coding the book, by deliberate design. And the example code snippets are available for downloading from the publisher's website. The screen captures do convey the overall simplicity of using Edge, though as always, your needs might be more involved. There is the means to make some basic geometrical objects using a graphical authoring tool.Another aspect of Edge is how it permits the importing of external assets from other members of Adobe's suite, like Fireworks, Illustrator and Photoshop. The ability to integrate and use existing assets you developed elsewhere is unsurprising and may entice you to try Edge.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Frankly May 28, 2012
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
This book is very poor in coding animations, no code in how loading or creating or animate images dinamically for example. From the designer point of view could be interesting but I dont think ith worth the money I have spend one our intereacvely using the tutorials that comes with the preview itself and I almost have learn every basic thing that this book talt about. And If you already know Flash dont vent think in buying this book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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