Modeling my CSS layout after these sites

Hello,
I have found some various three-column css layouts that I was very interested in.
http://sneakerfreaker.com/index.php
http://www.ana-ivanovic.com/

The ways they create their background is very similar.
Sneaker Freaker uses the following background:
http://sneakerfreaker.com/images/bg.gif

The Ava site has the following:
http://www.ana-ivanovic.com/img/bg_wrap.gif

I want to use this same concept on my layout. How does this work in CSS? Did they create a container with that background and then create individual divs for modules?

 

It's a CSS technique called "Faux Columns". Check this for more info:
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fauxcolumns/

 

Is there an easy way to measure pixels? I was working on a background, and I created a new 820x10 image. I wanted the outer 20 pixels to be a transition from the solid background to the focus. Then I wanted the left column to be 150px and the middle to be 480px and the right column to be 150px, but I can't find a way to measure this.

 

Which software do you use for creating that image. I suggest Macromedia Fireworks. But you can do that with all that kind of software...

 

I'll get a trial of Fireworks, I've never used it before. Would you recommend designing most of the layout and slicing it? Or creating each element separately(header, footer, content boxes, the bg that tiles, etc.)?

 

I always design the layout of the page and then slice the necessary parts. This produces general view of my page. But on next steps I rarely work for seperate page elements.

 

Are there any good Fireworks resources to get the gist of it? Or some forums for Fireworks? Should it just be something you get after doing a few tutorials?

 

I don't know exact sites but try this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=fireworks+tutorials

You will find a bunch of resources.