Web Design Questions

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.

 

Everyone:

Thanks very much for your helpful suggestions, and please accept my apology for the delay in responding. I posted this and then, mentally, just needed to take a break. It's been a stressful time for me.

It sounds to me like I made the right decision (if by little more than chance) going with Illustrator initially, if only because my initial artwork will be for my logo -- and I very much like the idea of easy scaling. The rest of my web site, at least initially, will be pretty simple-looking. I simply don't have the time for more complex imaging. And I've got the basics down in Illustrator. When I have more time, my next project will be learning Photoshop. Eventually, I'll take a look at InDesign.

The software I know very well -- FrameMaker -- is the one piece of software that I don't have. But I'm okay with that. I'd like to keep my tech writing days in the past, if at all possible. Just a bit too dry for me, overall.

I'm also going to investigate ImageReady, if a couple things are true:

1. I can use the program to manipulate files that are first created in Illustrator.

2. That I actually have the program. A brief Google told me that it comes with Photoshop, but I think I was looking at a pre-CS4 document, so I'm not sure it holds true any more.

Also, I'm going to look up some tutorials online, as suggested. My initial strategy was quality over quantity, in the way of Adobe-created tutorials. I just get sooo impatient with that sort of research and learning. I'm a more visual learner.

My holiday break is over, so back at it. I'm glad I stumbled upon this forum. Thanks for the welcome.

star-fish: I particularly appreciated your final line. It feels good knowing that someone's out there doing what I want to do who was once in a similar situation.