alright guys i'm new to CSS, I have been creating my website with adobe photoshop and after i finish drawing my layouts i save it and open it up with microsoft frontpage. i am wondering if i am doing it the correct way!??! or is there suppose to be a differnt way yall guys do it.

Do you have a link to the website you are creating, so that we can see the actual code you are making?

yeah it is.

http://www.dangmn.net

When you use Photoshop to generate your code, you usually get messy code. Photoshop also generates its layouts using tables. Technically, tables are not supposed to be used for laying out websites. They were not meant for that. So using Photoshop's exported code, isn't really the "correct" way to make websites.
I use Photoshop to desing my site and make up my graphics. I then use HTML and CSS to write up the code.
Your site does looks nice, but I would still recommend learning to use CSS for your layout.

so im not suppose to slice up my images in adobe?
just draw it and save as jpge?
then open dreamweaver and do my css?

so im not suppose to slice up my images in adobe?

You shouldn't. Photoshop is not a web page creation tool, and it outputs some really NASTY code. Photoshop is for GRAPHICS - leave it that way.

just draw it and save as jpge?

You might want to try this tutorial:
http://www.csslicingguide.com/

then open dreamweaver and do my css?

Create your HTML layout structure for the site first.
Then start putting the CSS together to make it look the way you want it to.

I use to just design in photoshop and then slice up the layout and then SAVE FOR THE WEB; then I open up dreamweaver and drag drop tables using the layout mode etc.

Now I design in photoshop, STILL use the slice tool, save for the web (I discard the HTML, I just use the images) and then I open up Notepad++ and hand code.

The reason why I hand code now and avoid using dreamweaver is because I've been looking at well paid job vacancies and they all insist on a hand coded designer so I need to get into this habit so I can double my wage once I am fully fluent.

I would recommend that you design in photoshop, slice using the slice tool, then save for web (so that you can optimise your graphics by increasing or decreasing the colour pallettes) then in Frontpage... you should hand code in code view.

I haven't used Frontpage for years but I'm sure it has its code hint (as you're typing, it will bring up suggestions relevant to what you're trying to achieve).

Notepad++/hand coding without assistance might be a tad too premature at this stage.

I recommend w3schools.com for learning about CSS as it did help me a lot and also to read a lot of other articles. There will be times where you will spend hours on just one part of the layout but it will be worth it once you have finished your first design.

Frontpage is a nightmare - and it's a dead program. If you want sites that only work properly in IE, that's all you'll get with FP. It creates hideous code, with a lot of MS proprietary garbage.

I don't even bother to use the slice tool any more, it's more of a nuisance than a help. I create precise selections, save them as channels, then load the channel when I need it.

Originally Posted by LadynRed

I don't even bother to use the slice tool any more, it's more of a nuisance than a help. I create precise selections, save them as channels, then load the channel when I need it.

Channels? Precision Selections?

I'll have a look at that http://www.csslicingguide.com/ website over the weekend if it has your method though I never found anything wrong with slicing.. its precise when the guide is turned on in PSCS3 and has all the dimensions on hand for when I'm making the CSS just by right clicking on the selection slice and > properties. pretty efficient.

I'm sure that slicing guide does NOT have my method on it, since it's my method. I got tired of the slicing tool, especially if you saved the slices out, it would also add garbage "slices" for any piece of the graphic that was undefined.

To each his own There are 3 of us on my web team, none of us uses the slice tool, it's just a preference.

I never use it either. My method is a bit different that yours, but very similar in nature. What I do is pretty simple:

1. Copy what is needed from the .psd, often with "copy merged" since it takes a picture of all the layers in that area together.

2. Open a new page. The area of the new document will be automatically the same size as the copied area.

3. Save for web, optimize for size and quality, close newly opened window without saving anything else.

The way I do things is pretty simple, and works, because I usually know exactly what each piece is going to be used for. I tend to do it "as I go", instead of slicing several pieces ahead of time. This would drive some people crazy, but it works best for me.

Yeah I saw a fellow designer using the "copy-merged" function but why not just get two birds with one stone with the slice? - the whole highlighting with marquee then opening new document then saving for web only to find out that your colour pallette mis-matches the next image over etc when you can just slice it all up and then overlook the quality in one go and then send it off in one go.

Also, to avoid the whole undefined images loading into your images folder; just select "user selected" when exporting.

I like the slice tool because it paints a picture of how my HTML will be coded; height?, width?, liquid?, fixed? all before I get down to the coding which I find to be the least appealing part of web design.

Yeah, the coding is the part I'm focused on, which is why I do things the way I do I suppose. In fact, mostly when I'm using Photoshop it is to slice apart other people's designs to produce webpages.

I agree with Wayfarer. I simply will not allow Photoshop to do my layout coding, *I* control that 100%. I have no problems with color mismatches with the copy-merged method, if your PSD is done correctly that shouldn't be a problem no matter how you slice the image.