(New York City) – SAMS Publishing has announced the release of Micah Laaker’s "Teach Yourself SVG in 24 Hours." This title serves as an introduction to the graphics technology in the form of 24 one-hour lessons that build a reader’s skills gradually.

Targeted for designers and HTML developers, the book promises readers the ability to learn the following skills:

• Create SVG graphics
• Use the SVG tools you currently own
• Embed actual typefaces within your portable SVG content
• Animate your artwork and include interactive elements
• Use Photoshop-like filter effects on your vector graphics
• Use JavaScript to enhance SVG’s functionality and performance
• Overcome common pitfalls of commercial SVG development
• Use SVG production methods for development teams

The book was written based upon Mr. Laaker’s commercial experience with the technology. While at Iguana Studios, Mr. Laaker helped create the Research & Development department which spearheaded early SVG investigation. Due to this work, Adobe Systems financed the development of the BattleBots Web site (www.battlebots.com), which became the first commercial use of SVG on the Web.

The release of the book coincides with the launch of the book’s companion Web site: SVGnow! (www.svgnow.com). This site contains downloadable examples from the book (saving readers the chore of hand-typing each example), links to other SVG resources, FAQs on the technology, a gallery of SVG content, and information on how to spread the word about SVG. The site also exists as a demonstrable example of SVG’s use in real-world development.

"Teach Yourself SVG in 24 Hours" is now available at bookstores nationwide, as well as online retailers such as Amazon.com and BN.com. All proceeds from the book after taxes are being donated to the Rev. Dr. Damon & Mary Laaker Scholarship Fund, a fund established for the Omaha Schools Foundation in recognition of the couple’s many years of public service to the Omaha community and its public schools.