Tips, Tricks and Tools

More Great info on web design


Tools...
You have many choices for tools to use to build graphics for web pages. With tools evolving constantly, it's tough to keep up with the latest improved versions. You used to have to use one (design) program to lay out the web page design, and another to render the HTML code.

The lines are becoming blurred now where some design tools (i.e. graphics programs) allow you to convert the pretty cool image you just made, into a fully functional web page. Most web designers use the standard tools such as Adobe's Photoshop, or Macromedia's Fireworks, or even Jasc's Paintshop Pro for designing images.

For the latest prices from BUY.COM click on these links:
PaintShop Pro	Adobe Photoshop	Dreamweaver/ Fireworks

Don't feel like you have to choose one of these, if possible use a trial version (Some limited versions come included with peripherals like scanners or Digital cameras). Personally, we prefer Macromedia DreamWeaver - Fireworks. Why? Because we didn't have eh cash to plunk down $500 for a full version of Photoshop. Plus, if you've ever seen a WYSIWYG editor, DreamWeaver really is one of the easiest to use.

Using the web...
If you need something cheap and easy, try the shareware programs on the web first. Get comfortable with the programs and the limitations of them. You can get experience with many different programs for under $50. When you're ready, then go out and plunk down the cash for those fancy programs listed above.

For some ideas on where to find shareware try these popular sites:

TuCows.com: www.tucows.com . . . or . . . Download.com: www.download.com

Download.com is now part of c/net and tucows is still one of those interesting places to go where you can find all sorts of good stuff to clog your system.

Next up, more tools for images for your site
More . . . (tips and tools, page 3)