Need advice

[bdale]

I am a graphic designer that is finally is trying to get some wed site development skills. In the beginning I did all my work by hand, then bought a Mac. Learned Canvas, Illustrator, Photoshop and then settled on and used Corel Draw for years. I began using Xara at version 1.2 and it is has been my workhorse tool ever since.
My question:
The XX movies on web design seem fairly straight forward and I would like to use XX to do my basic page design and artwork. Then I get lost. It seems to me that I need some way to compile these pages into a web presentation and to publish and maintain the site. I am looking at Frontpage for this purpose. Can I easily "import" my XX pages(with buttons/banners etc. into Frontpage?. Am I on the right track? Being basically an artist type,I have no desire to learn HTML.

[bdale]

I am a graphic designer that is finally is trying to get some wed site development skills. In the beginning I did all my work by hand, then bought a Mac. Learned Canvas, Illustrator, Photoshop and then settled on and used Corel Draw for years. I began using Xara at version 1.2 and it is has been my workhorse tool ever since.
My question:
The XX movies on web design seem fairly straight forward and I would like to use XX to do my basic page design and artwork. Then I get lost. It seems to me that I need some way to compile these pages into a web presentation and to publish and maintain the site. I am looking at Frontpage for this purpose. Can I easily "import" my XX pages(with buttons/banners etc. into Frontpage?. Am I on the right track? Being basically an artist type,I have no desire to learn HTML.

[caraman1]

Bill, I use NetObjects instead of FrontPage but I have always done all of my web graphics with Xara. Just export to a JPG or GIF and place into your web page. Xara does beautiful web-work!

Dennis

<a href=http://www.inconnect.com/~dennisco>Carillus Design</a>

[amoore]

I evaluated FrontPage last fall when the company's tech director decided I needed to use that for our website because we got it bundled with other stuff he needed.

It wasn't very flexible. It was difficult to get a handle on. It conflicted with other apps on my computer. And it sets up a local web server, which can be problematic in itself but can also be a security risk.

Take a look at Net Objects Fusion and Dreamweaver.

Net Objects Fusion has a 30-day trial you can download from efuse.com or netobjects.com. There's a rebate available until January 31st, so you could wind up getting NOF for $50 (www.netobjects.com/info/nf5rebatepromo/). I've been working my way through some tutorials using the trial version, and so far I very much like what I see.

I believe that Dreamweaver also has a trial version available, but I haven't downloaded it yet. It's the industry standard (for whatever that's worth [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] ), but it appears to involve much more HTML coding than I have time to learn. If you're planning to do sites professionally, that may be a consideration for you.

Allison

[bdale]

Thanks Dennis & Allison. You guys are great! I just ask a question and get an immediate reply...

I bought Frontpage yesterday but I havn't broken the seal on the package yet. I think I will take it back to the store and download Net Object Fusion.

Any more advice to a beginning web artist would be appreciated.

[jon spain]

I have also been using NetObjects Fusion (make sure you have the latest release 5.02a) for a while. When it works, it's wonderful but it can be maddening. But there are some great newsgroups with help much faster than NO's own techsupport.

On a DW trial version, perhaps we ae luckier than we know in the UK because we have a lot of cover CDs, which very often include Dreamweaver and other goodies. For example, ComputerArts has demos of XX and DW4. Is it different in US? worse?

Jon

[Ross Macintosh]

Hi - I use dreamweaver2 and am very happy with it. So far I haven't found the need to upgrade to the latest version of it yet. I might now that Xara X is apparently quite compatible with it. I think that means that if you want to edit a jpg or gif you have only to double click it (or something like that) in dreamweaver and it will launch xara for the editing work.

At first I was a little intimidated by dreamweaver as it has lots of features. It didn't take very long to get the hang of it and now I find it quite intuitive and very flexible. It makes dhtml effects easy. Things like rollovers and dhtml layer effects are a piece of cake. I can't imagine using the rollover code xara x can produce. In dreamweaver I have only to place the first image and then tell to replace it with the other on mouseover or whatever. Dreamweaver will have the rollover image preload etc. Very easy and, as I've noted - very flexible.

One of the very best things about dreamweaver is that is extensible. Hundreds of very talented users all over the world apply their programming skills to improving the program and then freely distribute the code they develop on websites. It is sort of like getting free photoshop plugins that improve the functionality or allow new effects. It is a wonderful approach to software design.

I'd certainly recommend taking a hard look at dreamweaver. Combined with Xara X its about all you'll need. Although my site is a work in progress - check it out and see what can happen when you put the two programs together.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[qmr]

yes, I use Dreamweaver too, and like Bill I am an artist who transferred my work to the computer then the web.. buying xarax is definitely your smartest move to date.

Learning 'basic' html will be the next smart move, because even though dreamweaver lets you work in a pretty reliable wysiwyg environment, it does mess up font tags and other irritations if you're not careful ..knowing how to read html helps a lot, as you can do quick edits 'live' in notepad etc.

I started my sites in Hotdog, hand coded and now I work mostly in dreamwweaver which is a superb editor and very easy to use. HTML is easy to learn after the first two days, it's so logical.. and as an artist you can think of it as a computer language for arranging your composition. Personally I remember html easier than the Golden Section.. <font size="1">(and you dont even have to find a piece of string either)</font>

I recommend you learn about html, especially tables, because as a designer/artist youre going to want to translate the designs on your xara window into a pretty good approximation onscreen. And preparing the whole screen layout as a window in xara is a good way of working, you then separate a duplicate screen of the elements so you can select and export the separated elements to gif or jpegs, and recreate the text areas as text in coloured (if necessary) tables.

You definitely do not put your design layout as a couple of big images onto the web page; you break it up into specific graphics and table cell background colours where you can get away with it, all arranged in tables, text arranged in table cells too. Dont save text as graphic images either, as font tags give you heaps of control for size. But if you do have a choice font you want to use for a short piece etc, export it as a gif from xara.

Break bigger graphics into smaller pieces, bits with soft gradient bits as jpegs, and bits with mostly flat colour areas as gifs etc. Xara makes this so easy, and animations too. Then assemble them all into tables that a user with a 640x480 screen can view without sideways scrolling, or if your design deserves the extra room, an 800x600 size. You'll soon pick up the way to make tables resize with different viewers screens.

Decent websites require design skills and html knowledge, regardless of software. If you dont learn basic html you'll never build decent looking websites. Sounds like crap I know, but I truly believe it now.

Q.

http://www.Qdesign.co.nz

[Ross Macintosh]

Quentin - Oh wise one! You mention the Golden Section and a string. Having a design education I am familiar with the golden section. When no one is looking I worship it! I am not familiar with your reference to the string but I sense you have a nifty tip hidden in there.

As a public service to all Xara designers who, like me, need to instill the golden section in their thinking, could you please-please create us a little tutorial?? A golden section thread would be fantastic...

I promise I will carry a string in my pocket at all times and I will apply the golden section more frequently in my designs, both for pleasing effect, and a more perfect world.

I said please-please...

Regards, Ross Macintosh

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[qmr]

ok Ross you twisted my arm.

The piece of string (tied to my finger) is to remind me about the complex sequence of events required to construct a Golden Section diagram which when installed on your canvas gives the composition a distinct fra-angelico-look (without the angel) (or the virgin) (or anything else for that matter.. in fact the canvas is blank except for a few parallel lines but you get the picture)

Unfortunately I lost the string off my finger as I had my finger in a book ..(html) ..(forms) and the string fell off..

Alright.. this is a tall story. The string is used because the Fra didnt have a slide rule, and to do the job properly you have to create exact bisecting arcs in the centre of precisely delineated lines.

However, a curious thing about artists (apart from the fact ones I know all drive cheap cars) is that the Golden Section is hard-wired into our consciousness; ie: standing on one leg, shutting one eye and squinting out the other at a distance from the canvas and subject, then rushing up to the canvas and marking the relative position of the elements with a bit of charcoal while the point on the canvas is still perfectly fixed (blinking is fatal) achieves the same end.

But for social acceptance, a piece of string is definitely the way to go..

(how did i get onto this?)

(getback to work!!)

Q.