Slicer Services?

[CraniumDesigns]

anyone use services like http://www.psd2html.com/?

i guess it cuts down on the time it takes if you wanna whip out a layout quickly, but your CSS skills either arent up to par, or you just dont have the time.

personally i think it would be a good idea, but id prefer to do the coding myself if i had the time, just to learn, but i could understand going with it if i was in a crunch or just had too much work on my hands.

what do you guys think of services like these?

also, is this site a good one? or are there better slicer services out there?

[wyrd33]

You need to be careful with using slicing services. A lot of them outsource, and the quality of code isn't all that great. Just because a page validates, doesn't mean it was programmed correctly.

Aside from slicing services (which are way expensive), try hiring freelancers who specialize in XHTML/CSS. As always, some are good, some aren't. Check out samples of their work before hiring them, and be cautious for freelancers whose prices seem to be too good to be true.

[samanime]

To be hoenst, their service isn't any different then any other freelancer really. Most freelancers will allow you to design (if you want) and then they take that image and turn it into a website. The only difference with those type of services is that you lose a lot of extended customer service that you could get with actually working with a real developer. If you don't have a layout, they could design you one, if you have maintenance concerns, you can get that with them.

So, basically, it's just a freelancer with the personality removed.

There isn't anything necessarily wrong with them, but, that's assuming the code is as good as they claim.

[CraniumDesigns]

yeah, im guessing they outsource, cuz who the hell does 8 hours of web design work for $117???

[Andrew R]

Hi,

My name is Andrew, I'm a represantative of PSD2HTML.com.
Please, let me clarify some issues about our services.

First of all, there is a difference between hiring a freelancer and using services like PSD2HTML.com. Instead of only one person, who work on your project as a freelancer, you hire the team of qualified professionals instead. PSD2HTML.com workflow involves a Project Manager who deal with you on clarifying order requirements and even supporting you further on any possible updates, experienced Markup-Developer who creates XHTML/CSS code of your project, QA-team that tests the result and finally Support team that is ready to assist you on any questions you may have before or after ordering.

PSD2HTML.com service doesn't use outsourcing. All our developers work in-house. Taking into account our NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) policy this is really important for us and it is an integral part of our reputation.

Please, don't hesitate to contact us on any questions you have about our service.

You are welcome to try our service and submit an order.

I hope this information was helpful and you didn't waste your time reading my message.

Thanks!

[CraniumDesigns]

thanks for that clarification. i might try you guys out when/if i need something done quickly.

[drhowarddrfine]

Andrew,
Your site doesn't display correctly in Firefox.

[Nadia P]

Don't forget to read some of the small print on these sites.... I've noticed quite a few charge extra for the finished product to be cross browser compatible - like charging extra to ensure that it works on a Mac/Safari for example, so that makes me wonder what type of code is being produced in the first place :-)

Nadia

[Andrew R]

Andrew,
Your site doesn't display correctly in Firefox.

I don't see any problem in Firefox 2.0.0.11 Windows/MacOS X.
Could you please provide more details on this? What version of Firefox and operation system do you use? Do you use zoom option for the fonts? What page has the problem?

[robinjfisher]

I've never used one of these services because I'm quite comfortable translating a design into (X)HTML/CSS.

My main problem with picking up sites put together by other people is getting to grips with the structure and how they have organised certain things. To that extent, I would always try to find the time to code the site myself.

Robin

[Andrew R]

Don't forget to read some of the small print on these sites.... I've noticed quite a few charge extra for the finished product to be cross browser compatible - like charging extra to ensure that it works on a Mac/Safari for example, so that makes me wonder what type of code is being produced in the first place :-)

Nadia

Any markup made by PSD2HTML.com is tested and properly displayed in IE6/7 and Firefox 2 browsers. Ordering Professional or High-End package on PSD2HTML.com means you have additional browser-compatible options enabled. In other words, the QA process will also include testing the resulting product in Safari 2/3 browsers and in Opera 9 Win/Mac browsers. Basic package doesn't contain these options enabled. Nevertheless, you may add them manually if your websites' target audience use these browsers. Thus, an extra charge is needed since we spend more time for testing.

[Nadia P]

Any markup made by PSD2HTML.com is tested and properly displayed in IE6/7 and Firefox 2 browsers.

Basic package doesn't contain these options enabled. Nevertheless, you may add them manually if your websites' target audience use these browsers. Thus, an extra charge is needed since we spend more time for testing.

Exactly my point :-) I can't say I saw this specifically on your site, but it was a similar type biz.

There's not that much extra time in making sure a layout works in *all* browsers, so I really don't understand why the extra charge... unless of course it's to 'catch' the unsuspecting or the people not knowledge enough to know any better.

Of course, it's to your benefit (generally speaking) advertising a service for $100 than it is for $200 - human nature dictates that they'll usually always go for the cheaper price first and only later find out that they didn't get what they thought they paid for :-)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you do this because I don't know that for a fact, but a lot of people wouldn't be aware of this until they actually started the process. That's just not the way a biz like this should be run (personal opinion of course

PS: May I ask what you use to code the pages with?

Nadia

[drhowarddrfine]

Firefox 2.0.0.9 no zoom
FreeBSD 6.2
The flash overrides the top half of the heading "You Design...."

[CraniumDesigns]

FreeBSD 6.2

So you're using linux right? I don't even optimize for linux users as most of my sites they're less than 1% of people. Maybe in the future when linux picks up in the general "non nerd" public i will, but until then i aint worrying about it.

[samanime]

Various statistics show Linux users as being between 1-3%. However, that is for the average site. If you have a more technical site, especially dealing with computer-related tasks, that statistic could rise.

Besides, it's easy to dual-boot with Linux and take a quick look in Firefox.

[drhowarddrfine]

FreeBSD 6.2

So you're using linux right?

FreeBSD is not Linux. Hmm. You don't know that? FreeBSD is Unix.

[Andrew R]

PS: May I ask what you use to code the pages with?

We always create the hand-made markup as only in this way we can guarantee the highest quality of the resulting product and assure that it will conform to all the modern web-oriented trends. We don't use WYSIWYG-editors nor any other automation tools.

Concerning extra charges for browser-compatibility options, it is rather made for flexibility. Say, people who don't need a compatibility with Opera, won't pay for this option. Generally, we proceeded from the following thoughts: there are most popular browsers that we obviously need to support, all the rest may be optional. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean we create poor code if some options aren't chosen. Besides, testing doesn't mean just checking, but also includes bugfixing (if bugs were found in a particular browser).

Thanks for your interest and lively talk! :-)
Andrew