Hello. I was laid off in September and have decided to go the self-employment route as a freelance copywriter. Rather than hire a web designer, I've tried to design and build my own --
-- but I could use some friendly advice.
1. I was able to get my hands on Adobe's Creative Suite (CS4). I've got just about everything I could possibly need. Not having any experience in design, I wasn't sure which program would be best to use for building graphics. I chose Illustrator and bought Adobe's Classroom in a Book. But I'm starting to get the idea that I should have learned Photoshop instead.
Can anyone give me the pros and cons, Illustrator vs. Photoshop?
2. One problem occurs when I create my basic logo banner in Illustrator. I create an image, export it, and apply it as a background image in my logo container, but I can't get ride of the white edges around it. I even made sure my art board was the exact size of the container in Dreamweaver.
Maybe I wouldn't have this problem at all if I just learned Photoshop?
3. My learning resources consist of the following three texts: Missing Manual for DW CS4 and Adobe's Classroom in a Book for both DW and Illustrator. Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what would be good references? Any great beginner websites for someone like me? Something other than Adobe's websites?
As an FYI, I'm just looking to build a basic site. I could have just bought Yahoo's website services, or used Google, but I want something more personally designed, that really helps me to stand out. Having said that, it's still going to be a basic site. Header/Footer/Left Sidebar/Main Content on the Home page, then an About page, portfolio page, maybe a form and contact information.
Thanks for any help you're able to provide. I'm using the latest Safari, Snow Leopard.
-- but I could use some friendly advice.
1. I was able to get my hands on Adobe's Creative Suite (CS4). I've got just about everything I could possibly need. Not having any experience in design, I wasn't sure which program would be best to use for building graphics. I chose Illustrator and bought Adobe's Classroom in a Book. But I'm starting to get the idea that I should have learned Photoshop instead.
Can anyone give me the pros and cons, Illustrator vs. Photoshop?
2. One problem occurs when I create my basic logo banner in Illustrator. I create an image, export it, and apply it as a background image in my logo container, but I can't get ride of the white edges around it. I even made sure my art board was the exact size of the container in Dreamweaver.
Maybe I wouldn't have this problem at all if I just learned Photoshop?
3. My learning resources consist of the following three texts: Missing Manual for DW CS4 and Adobe's Classroom in a Book for both DW and Illustrator. Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what would be good references? Any great beginner websites for someone like me? Something other than Adobe's websites?
As an FYI, I'm just looking to build a basic site. I could have just bought Yahoo's website services, or used Google, but I want something more personally designed, that really helps me to stand out. Having said that, it's still going to be a basic site. Header/Footer/Left Sidebar/Main Content on the Home page, then an About page, portfolio page, maybe a form and contact information.
Thanks for any help you're able to provide. I'm using the latest Safari, Snow Leopard.