Using PS CS for web design

[tabbytabb]

HI everybody, I am a photographer and recently decided that I needed to get a website up. I used Frontpage 2003 and slapped something together. It doesnt look great, especially for someone who is trying to sell their visual skills!

I am pretty handy with PS CS and now undertaking a complete redesign of my site to make it more visually appealing and professional.

I would like to do most of the work In PS but am unsure what the best way to go about this is?

Should I just design the important elements in PS and then use frontpage to publish them, or what would be the best way to go about this? All I really need is an simple menu, text, and galleries for my photos.

Thanks for any input.

Tabb

[Croc Hunter]

The fork in the road. As you are pretty handy with PS CS you can use it and ImageReady to slice dice and create your HTML for you then upload it all here with an FTP program like FileZilla (free). PowWeb even has a huge psd format website template gallery for members to chose from http://resources.powweb.com/templates/ (use OPS logins).

Or using Frontpage you can choose a site template or style that is close to what you want and edit the buttons, banner, background etc images locally. That is replace the 'style' images in the chosen FP's styles folder on your pc. Then upload with FP. You can also Google for prettier styles than FP's boring standard styles, many are free.

[tabbytabb]

Croc, based on my first try I really didnt jive well with FP. Is there any downside to just making the whole site with PS CS and slicing it up? The site will just be galleries and text but I have a certain way I want them to look which is really hard for me to acheive in FP

Thanks

Tabb

[Croc Hunter]

The downside to PS CS will be remembering what links go where in the pages of HTML code it creates. Site updates and maintainence are made much easier with a WYSIWYG editor like FP. Disavantages of FP are that PS CS creates much cleaner code. That is not as many proprietory tags and less convoluted code is generated by PS CS than FP. Also the number of 'extra' files FP generates still proves to be an issue for its users.

In all honesty hard coding pages in a simple text editor like notepad is a great way to learn HTML code and very frustrating yet satisfying. If you don't have a life. PS CS will get you on the way but notepad will soon become your most used tool as you'll need to edit the HTML code as your site grows. This is very time consuming. Read this article on FP type website creators I wrote awhile ago: WYSIWYG (http://resources.powweb.com/articles/show_article.php?id=22) Using a cleaner code generating WYSIWYG program like Dreamweaver or NetObjects Fusion teamed with Photoshop a 9 year old can create a multimedia rich visually beautiful website and keep the cobwebs off their billy cart.

Not sure about the latest Dreamweaver but NetObjects Fusion can create inbuilt galleries easily. PowWeb also has an auto install of Gallery in OPS. I choose to have a life and live it full. Get NetObjects Fusion.

[tabbytabb]

Thanks for taking the time to explain some of my options. I am going to start in PS CS and get Netobjects this week to learn

Thanks!

Tabb

[jeff1022]

I have been using 1st Page 2000 (http://www.evrsoft.com/1stpage2.shtml) for my site. It is pretty easy to use.

I use Coppermine for my Gallery but if you just want a simple program that will create individual gallerys you might want to take JAlbum (http://jalbum.net/index.jsp) for a spin.