Web design backgrounds

Questions and Answers

Help with Web Design?

Q) Hi, I am a complete novice at web design. I am looking for advice on what software I should buy to help me design graphics, backgrounds, banners etc. Everything for a personal website. I want to be able to edit photos too. I want all of this but don't want it to be too complicated to understand. Have no clue about computer or graphic design jargon so plain english is a must. Don't know if I'm just asking for too much and have no idea where to look so would be grateful for your advice. Thanks :-)

A) Cor blimey there are so many packages out there from Dreamweaver which is industry quality to FrontPage which is a bit more home user based but has its own foibles. I am now using a program called Nvu which is free to download of the net. Its great and very similar to FrontPage but without the price tag. As for images, it depends what you are going to be wanting to do with them. photoShop is one of the leading packages that many pros and home users buy but its got a hefty price tag and can be complex. I have heard good things about Photopaint though I haven't used it myself. Its supposed to be easier to use than photoshop. I tend to use an old version of CorelDraw for my images but that's only cos its something I already had. Hope some of that helps. If stuck give me a shout. I only do web stuff as a hobby and am self taught but if I can give any advice just email me.

ask about web design and developing?

Q) in dreamwaver .. or frontpage how i can fix my menu in the top while i'm scrolling bar like http://www.samaglobal.com/ and how i add background to the site like this site ..i mean the background on the right or make the design at middle of the page see http://www.originsoft.net/Home.html plz help me..and what is the best size for psd template

A) 1 split your webpage into frames the top frame remains static and the website content appears in the bottom one 2 page properties select a background image (but don't make it too big as it will slow your download speed 3 640 x 480 for maximum compatibility but you can get away with 800 x 600 (well 750 x 550 or so is better)

Web design software?

Q) I'm currently building a website (just a fairly basic one for myself) using NVU (I think it's called). What's annoying me is that although I can make buttons from images, I can't get them to have a different colour background (for example, like the ask/answer/discover buttons at the top of the page). Can NVU do this? Am I just missing something? Could someone also recomend a good free website design program I could use as an alternative to NVU? Dreamweaver looks great, but I'm not paying hundreds of pounds for it!

A) 1st Page 2000 http://www.evrsoft.com/ It's free, it's a WYSIWYG, just what you're looking for.

Copyright Concerns For Outsourcing Web Design Firms?

Q) Someone in my family just brought this up......if I don't answer it, I might lose family members (they have never liked the idea of me doing a startup, but being the stubborn idiot I am I'm sticking with it), so I highly appreciate any insightful response. I don't really have a background in web design, so how can I ensure any code that whoever outsource firm gives me isn't copied off somewhere else, and then I get sued for it? They insist I go learn some web design before hand....in the past, I've tried but really, I personally know I will probably never be an excellent designer....as I hate to be to honest ( I love marketing though) I realize you should stick to what you are good at and I hate web design and computer programming, but I can't seem to convince my family that this is the correct thing to do. Also, what could you do if your technical partner leaves you....what could you do if you don't have a strong web design background so that all hell does not totally break lose?

A) You must do your due diligence by thoroughly researching and verifying the credentials of the prospective outsourcing candidates. You want to go with a company that has a solid track record over a number of years. Reputable companies can show you examples of their past work, provide you with professional references, and assure you in writing of their ethical standards. There is no such thing as 100% risk-free endeavor; but nevertheless, you should strive to do is to minimize the risk to an acceptable level. By taking reasonable measures to protect both your investment and yourself, you reduce the chances of any adverse repercussions when some unforseen incident occurs. Ideally, you should acquire enough knowledge to enable you—at the very least—to be able to speak intelligently with the web design folks. Learn enough about the various technologies and solutions so that you will be able to confidently ask the right questions, and weigh the merits of the various solutions. II recommend that you be proactive, and plan what you need to do if a problem arises with maintenance, update, or upgrade of your site. Backup and contingency planning are vital parts of running a business. Discuss various what-if scenarios with the prospective firms. Make sure that you have—in writing—the contractor's and your rights, responsibilities, and duties. Remember, anything that is promised to you, but is not in writing, is simply illusory. Most importantly, create you written a well organized, flexible, and comprehensive business plan—from the general to the specific. It is your roadmap and your "help file." You will be constantly referring to and modifying this document. Good luck. ______________________________

how do u design a myspace web page? (backgrounds, graphics, videos, etc.)?

A) http://www.myspaceeditor.org/ Go there or if you dont like it search google for "myspace editor" then copy paste the code they give you into your about us section. Its really explained in detail there. Check it out

Where can I get nice borders and backgrounds for graphic design (not web)?

A) www.istockphoto.com - Get stock photos and illustrations for your graphic design projects for a small fee.

Web Design } Photoshop } Leather Background download?

Q) Can anyone name some good sites to go to for free photoshop downloads? (i.e. brushes, gradients, patterns, TEXTURES) Thanks!

A) http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=productHome&exc=16&loc=en_us

What program should I use to design a simple web page?

Q) What's an easy program to use that I can design a web page with some cool layouts, pictures, backgrounds, designs, etc.

A) If you'gre going down the road of eventually getting into serious web design, then by all means, Dreamweaver. The free trial download is worth a look. HOWEVER... The SIMPLEST way? Without a lot of out-of-pocket expenses? Look for a reputable web host that gives you the SiteStudio software as part of your package. That way you can build your website right in your web browser. Or, instead of designing everything from scratch, install a blog or content management script (like WordPress or Drupal) on your site, pick a theme, and start adding content in less than an hour. If your web host has an auto-install program like Fantastico (the one below does) then you can literally be up and running in less than 10 minutes).

How To Blend Web Backgrounds With Gif Files?

Q) Recently I created a couple of transparent GIF files by removing the background images from the photo image so that when I place the image on a webpage, it blends perfectly into the background. The problem I have with this is that I can still see a small amount of the outline (white lighting) where the image was erased or either cut out to remove the background, which looks tacky and unprofessional. I would like to see all transparent images that I create look as if they completely blend in with any type of web background no matter what color or design. I am using Macromedia Fireworks to create the images but have no idea how to get rid of the tacky little white outline that surrounds the newly created images. I have tried the Magic Wand, which works great with removing backgrounds but does absolutely nothing for removing the outline. Hopefully someone will be able to help me eliminate this problem as it is becoming very frustrating to say the least.....smiles "Thanks All"

A) This is a semi-transparent pixel on the border. Since gif doesn't support semi-transparent color, the pixel go to the nearest color (white in this case). Use the PNG image format support semi-transparent pixel : http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/ PNG semi-transparent is support by Internet Explorer 7, Opera, Safari (macintosh) and Firefox. PNG semi-transparent is not support by internet explorer 6 and older version you must use in this case a workaround : http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/

Change Career into CAD/GIS from Web Design?

Q) I am looking to change careers into some sort drafting. mapping, and IT work, my background is graphic arts and web design/development, so I have a graphics and programming already, but just no real world experience with Autocad or gis or map production, how can I transistion into a drafter/gis tech or either without being stuck in a $15hr drafter job., I have a general interest in the follwing(web development/design, graphic design, autocad, gis, programming, technology, multimedia,) I am just looking for a CAREER in anything related to these skills, but not be stuck in a dead-end drafting job or web designer job that doesn't pay anything. Any professional device would be helpful HELP

A) Getting a degree is the best option because it's usually a prerequisite for employment. There is more out there for GIS than CAD. Since you already have a background in programming, you may want to consider being more of a developer than creating the maps. There is a lot of GIS information being distributed on the internet and intranets, and a lot of customization is required by many different agancies. Lately, the industry has moved toward a .net framework, so any skill with VB or C is a huge plus. Same with JAVA and python (creating your own scripts for analysis). Going down this road, you will probably be an administrator for a website, and have control over its interface (layout, tools, etc). Usually ArcGIS Server, or ArcIMS. But if you want to make more than 15/hour, get the degree. If you start using GIS now, you may be able to sell it your current job/company, and start it from the ground floor.

How to get out of Web Design/Development?

Q) Hello, I am in need of some advice on how to change jobs/careers out of web site design and development. I have had various temp contract jobs over the past 2 yrs and I am tired of the job security. It seems to me that in 2007, with all this cheesy myspace, youtube, and user generated content, web design is a very broad term, and amateur designers with no background are using the web for crap, and on the other side their is too much software, languages to learn, and each back-end web project is various, to focus on 1 thing, just redudant content management and uploading through an interface. And alot of jobs now are 20hrs.prt time, web designer/SEO, or 20 freelance asp.net programming on some stupid intranet, not even worth being a full-time employee. In everyones opinion, is this type of work worth a day job, or just part, contract, remotely from home? Also, how can you transfer into another type of work , when all your skills are web-related? Need serious professional advice.

A) I feel your pain. Even when you do get a good, interesting project, your client changes everything enough that your design goes down the drain and looks like cr@p. There are still a steady stream of businesses just now getting on the web, but if you don't build an interface for them to update the site, then you're stuck doing all their updates forever. With the thousands of templates available for $50-60 it can be hard to charge what your time is worth to design smaller sites. You get the people who say, "my nephew can do my site for $100!" I think the best thing to do with your web skills is work on projects of your OWN. Build an affiliate site and sell someone else's products or come up with something that will enable you to sell advertising on your site. Working for yourself on your own projects is a lot more fun. I know you still need something that pays the bills, but you can easily do your own stuff and maybe a few outside projects from home if you are disciplined to work at home. Maybe you can go more toward graphic design, which goes hand in hand with web skills. Or find a fun company to work for and work on their site. After about 6-7 years I'm turning down web projects right and left just to work on my own stuff for a change. Good luck!

what size would you design a web image and what format?

Q) I want to design a background image for putting up on my website. I will design it as a vector image. What size should I make the image? And if I were to save image for web, what format (jpeg, gif png) would be best practice?

A) make the image format .gif it loads easly other than all formats see here all images are .gif and in this templete all the images including buttons are in gif format and there are 40 above images in theme www.sharpnet.somee.com

I need to find a web site that I can download web layout, backgrounds, graphics, ect?

Q) MySpace has everything to design your own web site, like animations, glitter words, generators, backgrounds, graphics, and codes to upload to your web site. Slide shows for pic, videos, ect. I want to do the same for my yahoo 360. It's much more interesting to look at

A) You need a course in how websites are created!