Best Free Dreamweaver Resources & Tutorials

Many professionals are eager to learn Dreamweaver but hesitate because of the perceived up-front costs. A paid class can be an easy way to learn a web design program like Dreamweaver. However, a surprising number of free resources are also available to help beginners get the hang of this exciting program.

Read on to learn more about the different types of free resources and tutorials available to help you learn Dreamweaver and other web design programs. 

What is Dreamweaver?

Dreamweaver is a downloadable Adobe software program used for designing websites and webpages. It works with either Windows or Mac. Using Dreamweaver, designers can create their own websites from scratch or use the provided starter template pages. The program integrates with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications, making importing content from any Adobe app easy.

With Dreamweaver, there are two different ways to design. Users without any knowledge of HTML can use live view, where Dreamweaver generates the required code and displays the content as it will look in a web browser. Users who know HTML can type their code into the program’s code editor. These users will also be able to take advantage of Dreamweaver’s more advanced design options.

This application was created in 1997 and became a popular web design tool. However, in recent years, Dreamweaver has decreased in popularity, with many designers opting for programs such as Visual Studio Code or WordPress instead. It is still used by some Web Designers, though the overall percentage of websites created with Dreamweaver is estimated to be small. Dreamweaver is most popular among people who already have Adobe Creative Cloud or want to stay within the Adobe ecosystem.

Read more about what Dreamweaver is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Dreamweaver?

Web Designers create and maintain websites. In some cases, one person is responsible for an entire website, while in other cases, several team members may work on the job. Knowing how to use Dreamweaver or another web design program can help a designer get started in the field of web design. Web Designers are needed in almost every industry since the majority of businesses and organizations now have websites. US News ranked web design number six in its list of Best Technology Jobs of 2022.

There are many different specialties within the field of web design. Front End Developers specialize in creating the part of the website that users see and interact with, such as the overall layout and individual features like logos or links. Back End Developers work on things that the user does not interact with but are essential to the website's function, like creating and maintaining the database. User experience (UX) design is another job related to web design. A UX Designer ensures that website users have the best experience possible. This includes ensuring that a website is intuitive and easy to use and that the experience is enjoyable for the user.

People with web design knowledge can also work in many other jobs. For example, some Web Designers end up as Application Designers, who develop applications for specific devices such as computers or mobile phones. Information Architects help make information on a website easier to find and understand. Visual Designers are responsible for the aesthetics of a website and work on things such as making sure it engages users. Overall, there are many ways to utilize knowledge of web design.

Free Web Design Resources

Noble Desktop’s Learning Resources page is a good place to start for students who want free information about web design. This page provides a wealth of free information on various topics related to web design. Articles explain the various design and design tool types, how to use them, and how to learn them.

There are also many free seminars and tutorials that focus on specific web design topics. For example, Get Started in Web Design is an overview of how HTML and CSS are used to create webpages. Intro to Figma explains how this tool can be used in web design, and Intro to UI Design is a good overview of what UI design is and how it relates to web design.

For people who want to learn about Dreamweaver specifically, there are free tutorials on other websites. For instance, YouTube has many free Dreamweaver resources. Udemy is another place to find a free Dreamweaver tutorial for beginners. Students can also go to Adobe’s website to access a number of free Dreamweaver tutorials.

Those people who decide to take advantage of free online courses should always be careful to spend some time checking the reliability and truthfulness of their information. Sometimes, online tutorials and other free resources can be outdated or incorrect. In order to assess reliability, experts advise checking the author's credentials or researching the source of information. 

Benefits of Free Videos

Of all the free online resources available, videos can be especially valuable to students. Videos engage multiple senses at once, and researchers have found that this makes them a particularly good way to learn new things. With a video, viewers see static and moving images, read text, and hear sounds and audio enhancements. According to scientists, many viewers find this multi-sensory format more engaging than other types of learning, and they tend to process information faster when they get it in a multi-sensory form.

Visual learning is also an effective method for many people. Researchers have observed that students often respond to visual information more quickly and remember it more easily than they do when simply reading text. There is also evidence that students are able to learn more effectively by seeing something demonstrated in a video rather than merely reading about it.

Yet another reason video learning has been found effective is that it gives students control over the learning process. With videos, students can press pause anytime and rewatch as often as they want. This allows them to learn at their own pace.

Benefits of Taking a Class

While free resources are valuable, many students ultimately decide to take a web design class in order to learn Dreamweaver or other web design programs. While many design applications are designed to be beginner-friendly, users consistently report that learning them can still be challenging. Users without prior knowledge of web design are unlikely to find a paid class helpful. By taking a class, students can receive instruction from a web design expert and ask questions about anything they find difficult or confusing.

Learn Dreamweaver with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop teaches hands-on web design courses in a variety of formats, with something to fit every type of schedule and learning style. Every class is small and led by expert instructors. Noble also offers a free retake for all of its courses. With the free retake, students can retake a course once within a year without paying for it again. This can be an excellent way to gain additional web design skills.

One popular type of class at Noble Desktop is a web design bootcamp. Bootcamps are intensive programs that teach skills quickly and focus on preparing graduates to use those skills in the workplace. In 2020, tech company HackerRank surveyed 116,000 developers from 162 countries about coding bootcamps and found that about a third of hiring managers hired developers who gained their skills from a bootcamp. Noble Desktop teaches many bootcamps related to web design, including Visual Design Portfolio Bootcamp.

Students looking for a more in-depth web design course can enroll in Noble’s Web Design Certificate. This comprehensive program takes six weeks full-time or five months part-time and teaches students to build websites using WordPress. Students in the certificate program will also learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript coding languages and Figma for webpage layouts.

Key Insights

If you’re looking for free web design resources, you’ll find many different options online.

• Some websites provide good overviews of various web design-related topics.
• You can learn about specific types of web design and web design tools with free seminars and tutorials.
• Free videos can be a particularly valuable resource.
• Always check the reliability of online sources.