What tools for web design ?

[cook]

hi

want to know please what tools can i start to learn for web design purposes ?
Only photoshop ? others ?

thank you

[logic_earth]

You can go to an art school...you can learn how to use brush but can you create anything with that brush?

[Varelse]

The tool you use is not that important - you can use a free program like GIMP as well. As logic_earth replied - it is your creativity that will make your designs good

[timothynblake]

Fireworks cs3 is also another good program for making web images and also for other website purposes. Gimp is just as good plus It cant be beaten for price its free.

[UglyDogDesigns]

I enjoy starting out with Photoshop to create my web template and then customize it from there.

[dnordstrom]

I'm not a designer but I'd suggest first and foremost Photoshop, then Illustrator. And while you're learning this, also go through a few books on typography, color and other design elements.

Mix a lot of theory with a lot of practice and you'll either be a genius in a few months or quit in a few weeks.

[dicolor]

I use Dreamwaver

[topgrade]

There are lots of lots of tools starting from Simple Paint to PaintShop to PhotoShop to Cinema 4D & other advance tools to name more.

The main thing is your imagination & then the expertise using these tools & also the knowledge about each tool like which is better in which way.

For Simple Web Design you may try using Frontpage or DreamWeaver etc.

[logic_earth]

...For Simple Web Design you may try using Frontpage or DreamWeaver etc.

Please...I hope I imagined it...you did not just suggested Frontpage did you? That program was so bad Microsoft killed it off...

[nighthawks]

You can start with photoshop, then just add HTML (Dreamweaver) and little bit about CSS, thats enough. Now you can develope small websites. This is not a hard job, so you can start.

[D3niss3]

Gimp and FireWorks are advisable for starters.

But then again it's better to start directly with Photoshop <if you have the program> to avoid skill drain later on.

[joejac]

Hello cook,

This combination was very nice to me:

1. I have learned to make decent web graphics thanks to RealDraw
2. To assemble the HTML with kompozer
3. Learn CSS is not intuitive but you have to begin with it, it is vital.
4. Also you find a very nice CSS book in Sitepoint.
5. A lot of examples and Advanced CSS stuff in Paul O'Brien's Site

Hope this help
Best regards
joejac

[joejac]

By the way cook, don't do what I did "learn by myself by trial and error" that is very time consuming, and time is money. Invest something in your training, I would recommend to study first the links I posted before, and take the fast track with this sitepoint book.

Best regards
joejac

[adityav9]

"The tool is not important, your imagination is."

I heard a lot of that in my days of true n00b-hood too.

But how do you begin to imagine?

You must first choose a tool. Is price a constraint? Then choose Gimp. Can you spend 700$ on a graphics software? Are you planning to stay a long time in this field? Then your best bet is Photoshop.

Now, let's say you obtain one of those tools. What do you do next? You click around. You experiment. You explore. You try and understand what each tool does. What effects is has on the "Canvas". If you are thinking "What's a canvas?", you simply go and search for that on Google. Then you will understand.

This is what you are supposed to do whenever you hear any unfamiliar Jargon. "Google is not your enemy. Google is your friend, Google is your Ally. USE Google."

Then, you go and purchase a book. Sitepoint has a lot of good books. Read a book and understand. This will help you understand what all the tools and settings do. Though you may have a vague idea of what each tool's setting did, reading a book will help you to clearly define and understand what exactly the function of each tool is.

Then, you go and read online tutorials. A book cannot teach you everything. It can only teach you where the steering, acclerator and brakes are, and what they do. But online tuts take this a bit further, and teach you how to take "that sharp curve down the road" with ease and elan.

Finally, you start dissecting other inspiring websites. You look at them and try to figure out how they look so good, or what makes them tick. You try and replicate the same effects by your own, and maybe take them a bit further and add a little something the original author forgot to...

At this stage, you also need to begin participating in online graphics contests. They give you a challenge, and you are expected to complete it. On the way, you learn a lot of stuff you didn't know, and you also get the great honor if you do win the contest. Fair deal, I would say.

And at any point of time during these steps, if you have any question at all that Google cannot seem to answer, or a question that you need to pose to a human, and not a search bot, you come here, straight to site point forums, where zillions helpful people are waiting to answer well-posed questions.

All the very best in your endeavors.

Warm Regards,
Aditya.