Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Dreamweaver in a Nutshell is a cobra. Cobras are members of the endangered Elapidae family, which includes the king, Asian, and spitting cobras and the asp. Cobras are known for their aggressive behavior, deadly venom, and the hood that appears when the cobra is in a striking position. The hood itself is attached to a set of ribs that extends behind the cobra's head. With a habitat ranging from Africa to South Asia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, cobras generally live near streams, forests, bamboo thickets, agricultural areas, and mangrove swamps.

The king cobra, a native of South Asia, is the largest species, ranging from 10 to 18 feet long. This cobra usually feeds on other types of reptiles, including pythons, and is more aggressive than most other cobras. The king cobra female lays up to 40 eggs and makes a nest for her young out of leaves and branches. Though most cobras rarely attack if left alone, the king cobra female attacks with little provocation if she feels that her eggs are threatened. The Asian cobra, found mostly in India and Pakistan, is valued for eating rodents that feed on crops. It is also used by snake charmers for entertainment. The cobra doesn't actually respond to music, but follows movements of the snake charmer's hands and pipe after being provoked to a striking position. The spitting cobra, a native of Africa, is unusual because it spits its venom accurately up to eight feet. The asp, also from Africa, is the most common type of cobra.

Cobra venom is considered dangerous because of its neurotoxic effects. Victims of cobra bites often die from respiratory arrest and heart failure, but sometimes survive if given an antivenom that reverses the neurotoxin. In the future, drugs made from cobra venom may have pharmaceutical value as painkillers and anticancer drugs. Ann Schirmer was the production editor and copyeditor for Dreamweaver in a Nutshell. Colleen Gorman was the proofreader. Melanie Wang and Matt Hutchinson provided quality control. Brenda Miller wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with Quark™XPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Melanie Wang designed the interior layout based on a series design by Nancy Priest. Mihaela Maier converted the files from Microsoft Word to FrameMaker 5.5.6 using tools created by Mike Sierra. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. This colophon was written by Ann Schirmer.