simply choose the Column 2 option from the Sort By menu and click OK. The dialog closes and the company events table is sorted based on the event name. Tracing Images Many times, our design prototypes become so complex that it is difficult to figure out exactly how to structure the page with tables using Dreamweaver. To aid you with this obstacle, Dreamweaver allows you to include a tracing image. Tracing images allow you to build your page prototype using your favorite image editing program, save the prototype as a GIF or JPG image, and then lay it down as a temporary background to your page so that you can build your page structure over it. To demonstrate the use of tracing images, follow these instructions: 1. Create a new blank page by choosing the New option from the File menu. When the New Document dialog appears, choose the HTML option from the Basic Page category and click Create. A new blank page is created. 2. With the page now open, select the Page Properties option from the Modify menu. The Page Properties dialog appears. 3. Enter 0 for each of the Left Margin, Top Margin, Margin Width, and Margin Height text boxes in the Appearance category. 4. Switch to the Tracing Image category, which exposes two options: First, a file field which allows you to select the tracing image to use, and second, a transparency slider bar to select the opacity of the tracing image in the Document window. 5. In the Tracing Image text box, browse to the prototype.gif image located in the Assets folder. 6. Slide the Transparency slider to 30% and click Apply. As you can see from Figure 6.54, the prototype design is faintly visible in the background. Figure 6.54. The tracing image is faintly visible in the background of the page. [View full size image] 7. Click OK to close the Properties dialog. With the prototype faintly visible in the background, you can switch to Layout mode and begin developing the table structure using Layout Tables and Layout Cells over the image as if you were working with tracing paper. As you can see from Figure 6.55, layout tables have been drawn on the page, using the tracing image as a reference. Figure 6.55. Layout tables are drawn on the page using the tracing image as a reference. [View full size image]   When you've finished creating the structure based on the tracing image, you can revisit the Tracing Image category in the Page Properties dialog and simply remove it.           Summary As you have seen, tables provide flexibility when working with your page designs in Dreamweaver. In Chapter 3, "Building a Web Page," we used simple page-formatting techniques such as line breaks, paragraph and heading formatting, paragraph breaks, lists, and so on to create designs that were limited in the layout and placement of elements.