Image and Text

The inclusion of image and text is a relatively simple operation in Dreamweaver. For text, you simply type or paste text into the document window, the large window corresponding to the web page.

Pages by default can have text--and images, which are units of meaning just like text characters and words.

You will notice when you insert an image, that your cursor becomes as tall as the image. This is a clue that Dreamweaver--and web technologies--use a Microsoft-Word-like model of a text and image layout: images and text are subsumed under the concept of a variable sized unit that nevertheless is accumulated on the page and is ordered from left to right, top to bottom.

To insert an image, click the icon on the "insert" toolbar ("common" section).

Sophisticated Layout of Images and Text

To create dynamic layouts that question this model of dealing with images and texts (basic html, Microsoft Word), you can use tables to precisely position images and text. The table is the construct in HTML or web technology; in Dreamweaver, tables can be viewed as layout grids which allow for finer control of text and images boxes and how they are set in the page.

Here is a screen image of a table in normal mode:

And here is a table in layout mode, with a cell being drawn after pressing the Layout Cell button.

...and the new cell which functions as a text or image box, like a page layout program such as Quark Xpress or In Design:

Now an image or text may be placed in this strategically positioned container for image/text. Note that the layout table sizes to fit the image, rather than masks the image like Quark.