Is there any alternative/freeware to Adobe photoshop ? I cannot afford it. Also, how to code a .psd template - are there any psd to xhtml convertors :lol: Any tutorial available ?
Converting a .psd file to an (X)HTML/CSS template just takes time, and some knowledge of proper, minimalistic semantic markup. Basically, if you know how to write code in (X)HTML and CSS, you should be fine, once you get the semantics down. What I tend to do is follow a basic flow order: Header, Menu, Content, Sidebar, Footer. If I have the menu at the top, and then three columns (left sidebar, content, right sidebar) below that, I'll use that instead. From there, it's just a matter of floating the content and using negative margins to force the right column to "ride up" alongside the middle one. Then I'll plug in my individual images (I'll literally take entire layers and rip them out of the the layout) and insert them into my stylesheet. If a background layer consists of a single color, I'll use the CSS background-color property instead of an image.
For its purpose, image manipulation for the web, the GIMP is, indeed, pretty much the equal of PS. Photoshop was designed for print, and has a pot load of features to support that purpose, for example cmyk support. GIMP was designed from the ground up for the web, and does lack a lot of things the print graphics person might miss for a print project. It doesn't lack much for web graphics, and if you do miss something, GIMP is extensible. Create the feature you want. My graphics contractor is a twenty year veteran in graphic design, having been an early adopter of computer graphics when she was head of graphics for a major sportswear mfg. She has done the graphics for the Dallas Cup int'l youth soccer tournament, and did the graphics for the U.S. figure skating championship a few years ago. So she has skins on the wall. Her opinion of GIMP? It has everything she needs for web graphics, is somewhat simpler to use and seems to be faster. (that's with my anæmic, old Linux boxes, compared to her fully loaded new Macs.) I don't think she's allowing for the fairly small size of web graphics compared to the huge print images. cheers, gary
And then what do you do after the first 30 days? Buy it? If he can't afford Photoshop, what makes you think he can afford Fireworks?
The code that image slicing produces is horrible, non-semantic and out-right bloated. You're better off doing it the way I illustrated (albeit briefly).