Best program for web design?

[mike_01]

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Hia,

Was wondering what version do you use for website design in photoshop and for development in dreamweaver? So far I am using Photoshop CS & Dreamweaver 8 but seem they are outdated now and there are a few good upgrades availiable. What do you recommend?

Thanks,
Mike...

[UKJay]

Hia,

Was wondering what version do you use for website design in photoshop and for development in dreamweaver? So far I am using Photoshop CS & Dreamweaver 8 but seem they are outdated now and there are a few good upgrades availiable. What do you recommend?

Thanks,
Mike...

Probably not what you want to hear but the best program I use is notepad - used DW for years but once I'd made the move to writing my own code libraries, I haven't looked back. DW produced ridiculously bloated code (I understand it has now improved) so if you have time to learn then code by hand.

For graphics I still use an older version of Fireworks because, again at the time, I found PS very unwieldy for what I needed. Now that Macromedia is owned by Adobe I think they are all rolled into their CS packages.

[arcticsunrise]

You might want to have a look at Xsitepro - it has many great features for web design without the complexity of Dreamweaver.

It has an affiliate programme on Affiliate Window too - click here for details - so you can effectively get £25 off if you buy via your own link

[babrees]

I use Dreamweaver 8 - the suite so I also use Fireworks. Have considered upgrading but just not bothered so far, it's not cheap and 8 does what I want it to.

I used to use just notepad but dreamweaver is so much quicker, even though I am a touch typist!

I mainly use the code view and write it all, but it is really handy when you just have to type in a few letters and DW finishes it and then closes the tag for you with a single key stroke.

I have never used DW just in design view.

I also use Corel PhotoPaint for some things

[matthew1471]

The best thing to use for websdesign would be a text editor, or somthing similar to Komodo by Active State.

It's so much better to learn the mechanics of building a website, rather than relying on a piece of software and a wysiwyg interface.

You'd be surprised how quickly you'll learn html and php code when you do it by hand.

[nwblogger]

I'm using Photoshop 6 and Dreamweaver 7. Both programs do everything I need them to do. Granted, I could probably upgrade and see a few improvements, but I'd rather spend my money on site promotion!

[Starshape]

Mike,
In my day job I use Fireworks CS3 and Expression Web 2.

I agree with what UKJay says though, you should take a wee bit of time to learn to code HTML and CSS by hand. Learn to create valid (X)HTML pages that use CSS based tableless layouts. A search on Wikipedia for these will get you started.

I think that Photoshop is overkill for most web designers unless you are working on some really graphic heavy stuff, the only real alternative I can see is Fireworks though that is just my opinion.

I have had a quick look at Aptana as a free Dreamweaver alternative and it looks good so far, though seems to lack templates/master pages which could be a problem.

Hope this helps

Thomas

[pete_coles]

In short you can use anything. No doubt knowing your way around a graphics package will help with getting the most from image creation and sizing but it's defiantly not a MUST.

Get the web basics right (xhtml, css, grid layouts etc...) and learn as much as you can about design principles (golden rations, white space etc..) and worry about specific programs later.

Start with a sketch book, a copy of notepad++ and an FTP client and go from there.

[mike_01]

In short you can use anything. No doubt knowing your way around a graphics package will help with getting the most from image creation and sizing but it's defiantly not a MUST.

Get the web basics right (xhtml, css, grid layouts etc...) and learn as much as you can about design principles (golden rations, white space etc..) and worry about specific programs later.

Start with a sketch book, a copy of notepad++ and an FTP client and go from there.

Yes you are right. The reason I asked this question was to check if there is some latest version of DreamWeaver or may be some other editor available wherein you can make good tableless websites in the shortest possible time with may be no or very less div/css knowledge.

Anyways, would be really happy if someone like to share some information on the same

Thanks again!

[Sabcom]

There is no best program for web design. If your doing graphics the photoshop is best, however if you doing vectors (eg cartoon type graphics) then you will need illustrator. However you could probably get away with just using fireworks.

For markup there are plenty of free alternatives to dreamweaver such as html kit, however if you doing a lot of coding then look at eclipse or aptana or notepad++ .:: NOTEPAD++ ::. or Visual studio express.

[Mr Pointy]

Hi,

I've used Paint Shop Pro 8 for years (before it was bought by Corel) because I can't get my head round Fireworks.....& don't want to pay the huge price of Photoshop; plus it's what I'm used to using & it does what I want, why learn something new?!

That's my motto with this - if it does what you want, don't change for change sake. But, I HAVE just upgraded from DW8 to CS4 (mainly because 8 had started to play up & I couldn't fix it), but CS4 is much more CSS friendly than previous versions & if you add the Web Assist CSS Sculptor extension (not free), you can build CSS sites, with no tables whatsoever!!!!

Or you could learn to hand code in HTML & CSS - no, I haven't :blush

If you are used to using Dreamweaver, then stick with it IMO, the upgrade to CS4 isn't a big jump so you would find it easy to switch, but saying that I would have carried on using 8 myself, if it hadn't started crashing all the time! :scared

[TheGreenWelly]

I'm kinda coding from scratch too, quite often get muddled, but who doesn't?!

I use Notepad++, Alleycode html (which has php txt etc)
and i use Photoshop CS2 for image work...
oh and my CuteFTP for online editing on the fly too..

I've never really used dreamweaver, not a big fan of the wysiwg programs back from my days of frontpage...!

[Sabcom]

Some ideas for you here: 30 Useful Open Source Apps for Web Designers - Six Revisions

Welcome to NetBeans

[voucherz]

if you are thinking of developing in asp.net (like moi)

Try out the Visual Web Developer Express

Essential Downloads : The Official Microsoft ASP.NET Site

[PhineasTBarnum]

it has to be vi (or vim)