 This is where good tools are really essential. You can write HTML code by hand, using Notepad or any other text editor, but you need good graphics tools to create cool, quick loading images for the web.
My favorite programs for creating graphics are Photoshop and its companion, Image Ready. Anything I can't do with Photoshop, I can do in Corel. For 3D stuff, I use Ray Dream Designer. But if you're just starting out with a limited budget, you might want to check Paint Shop Pro, a smaller (but still quite cool) program. Many of the tools I used when I started out have become redundant. For instance, most web editors now have some form of built-in image mapping utility. Nevertheless, there are still some essentials tools, utilities and tutorials that I couldn't do without ... |
| FONTS, FONTS, FONTS... | ||
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| GRAPHICS SOFTWARE PROGRAMS | ||
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| COLOR PALETTES | ||
One of the biggest problems with web graphics used to be in the way different browsers mess with the colors. Users who had their monitors set at 256 colors would see strange "dumbed-down" versions of the original colors. Although this isn't a huge problem anymore, since most users view at more than 256 colors, it's still something to be aware of.
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| GRAPHICS TUTORIALS, TIPS & TRICKS | ||
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| IMAGE MAPPING | ||
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Image mapping is almost redundant now that we have closer control over tables and cellspacing from browser to browser. Photoshop and ImageReady allow you to either "slice" an image, and then generate rollover and image mapping code, or create "hotspots" within an image. This makes Photoshop my first choice for production web graphics. But if your budget doesn't allow for Photoshop, check out some of these less expensive alternatives:
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| GIF ANIMATION | ||
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| FLASH ANIMATION | ||
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 CoffeeWorks Design christine(at)coffeeworksdesign(dot)com |