What graphical software is used to design for web?

Question

Until now I have always used Photoshop to create certain effects. But sometimes, no, actually, quite often I find that I can't easily create certain effects. For example, shadows of equal size around a squared bar (I get them slightly narrower on two of four sides), or maybe this Vista-like bar effects. I know I can achieve the results manually but it requires some clear thinking and some time to invest. Anyway, I'm not a professional designer, I'm just learning.

So the question is: is there other software tailored for web meaning it can produce certain popular effect out of the box without me combining manual tweaking, multiple filters etc. to achieve visually simple things?

The other question I have is: what other Adobe software is useful in this regard? I know they have the whole bunch of applications but I haven't look through them all.

So, what can you recommend?

Answer 1

Microsoft Expression Studio

Answer 2

I use three graphical tools most of the time

Inkscape, Paint.net and Gimp.

These suit most of my needs and are all free. Inkscape does your scalable vector graphics which is handy for buttons and stuff like that.

I also sometimes knock up a button or something in WPF and use code to output the graphics to a file (or just do a print screen). I find this handy when I want to play with shadows and transparency as I'm not very good at stuff like that in graphics packages I'm far more at home with typing that drawing.

Answer 3

Adobe Fireworks is marketed for doing web graphics, most specifically for rapid prototyping of sites. It has a number of preset graphical effects.

Answer 4

It is relatively easy to do this with Photoshop. However Photoshop can be quite daunting if you are just starting out.

Fireworks is specifically web orientated and has preset styles that you can use, but it doesn't have the fan-base or tutorials available that Photoshop does.

PSDTuts and NETtuts are both well worth looking at for inspiration / tutorials;

http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/design-and-code-your-first-website-in-easy-to-understand-steps/