Photoshop Websites - How do they do it? 2

[escellentguy]

Could someone please direct me to information on photoshop websites....I am proficient enough in photoshop but I have tried to figure out how some sites use a photoshop template and even add flash....how the heck does that work? When I tried to do a website with what I had created in photoshop it was a HUGE graphic that took forever to load even tho it was a very nice graphic I don't think people want to wait that long. HOw do they use photoshop and html and flash together? I know this is a very long subject I was just hoping there might be a FAQ article or something on it. I can't seem to find the right information on the net.

Thank you very much in advance

 

[escellentguy]

well, you CAN program an application to run NASA, but does it meet the end user needs?

 

[beetlebug]

Just to let you know, I went to this sitegrinder site based on this post as I never heard of it. I clicked on the Feature Overview link. The next page was unreadable as delivered. In Safari, I could get it readable by decreasing fnt size. In Firefox, it would not respond to the increase/decrease font size, so I could never get it readable.

That's strange.
I visited the sitegrinder features page with both Safari (2.03) and Firefox (1.5.0.1) and in both browsers it renders fine.

i have only seen the sites that they have as examples and they were pretty nice...i know that it is for the most part still beta but i think it definately will be interesting when they work out the bugs

It is not in Beta, there is a new version coming along, which is indeed in Beta, but the version you'll find on their site is finished and has no bugs that I know off. I use sitegrinder to turn layered Photoshop documents into web sites. The XHTML and CSS it generates validate with the w3c validator so they should be compatible with all standards-compliant browsers. Solid colors and text are rendered as HTML, not graphics so pages load fast. Menus with submenus are easy as 1,2,3. Try it out and see for yourself, you can get a free demo on their website.

 

[oceannative]

Actually, this post caught my attention because I purchased a template and had another company customize it for me. It cost me $35 for the template, and $99 for the customization (from a different company). The template included PS pages and the flash section. It also had the exact same pages in html. Since I didn't know how to edit it myself, I paid for the service... now, I am working with a church to do the same thing for thier site -- they purchased a similar template, and now I'm working with the same company to customize it. If I knew how to work with PS templates on my own, (I know basic html), that would be helpful...

 

[twistedfrog]

Guys I think the whole discussion has gotten away from the simplest aspect of the interaction between photoshop and web design. Photoshop allows you to create images and HTML allows you to put those images into webpages. PS templates just let you visually manipulate those images into a HTML page and it writes the HTML code for you.

Think of it as an Adobe version of Frontpage all built into photoshop.

Escellentguy, you really should check out those HTML sites recommended earlier, and you should not be scared of slices. If you don't understand how all of these work together, then you really don't grasp web design and should start over.

Get youself a copy of notepad and get to it. Don't rely on visual templates.

 

[Forbes500]

Personally, when I design a site, I do a layout sketch on paper. Next I do all the graphics in photoshop, including backgrounds, buttons, button states, effects, lighting, etc. Then I load up flash, import all the graphics I did in photoshop to the flash library, then put it all together in flash for the main page. All the websites content is in the flash document aside from pics that I usually open in popup windows from links within the flash document as well as forums or guestbooks are usually also external to the flash. From here I use dreamweaver to build the 'placemat' html for the flash site. I also use dreamweaver for anything external to the flash document, like pics and such so I can place links back to main page, or a close popup button. I know there are a few problems with this method, such as compatability issues, but 99% of visitors do not experience any problems & its worth it for the interactivity that only flash can provide for the users. I figure, if its good enough method for most high profile websites like sony & ati, its good enough for me. Also its a faster method than spending hours trying to slice up graphics with imgrdy and firewrks or aligning tabling and framing with dreamweaver/frontpage. Dont get me wrong, slicing, framing, and tables all have their time & place, for example, I'll sometimes frame off navigation panels consisting of sliced images on my main page to house the flash content. Other times, I'll make an entire site from sliced images, depending on client needs. Many professional clients or intranet sites do not want the flashy bells & whistles, just a simple framed html basics. There is no single right way to do something that has to be custom tailored, every site is different, you cant limit yourself to a single method in this industry.

- S. Forbes
Steelton Progressive Web Design

http://steelpro.web1000.com/

 

[BabyJeffy]

Sounds like a great idea.

Cheers,
Jeff

[tt]Jeff's Page @ Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/blog/

http://www.coedit.co.uk/

[/tt]

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