Hi Guys,

 

 

I apppreciate this is probably a novice type question, but I am a novice so please be kind

 

My question is - should I start to learn Adobe products such as Dreamweaver, Photoshop etc, or Visual Studio to start building web sites?

 

I am currently learning HTML through W3Schools and trying to learn as much as I can. I also have some experience in Photoshop but as a complete novice, I am still unsure on which software to start learning and would really appreciate your help.

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

G Powell

What editor you use doesn't really matter, it's really a case of finding one that suits your style of working and workflow.

 

The likes of Dreamweaver and Visual Studio are very expensive especially when we have many free or low cost editors on the market, see http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/topic/31786-the-big-list-of-html-and-code-editors/ for a list of some of them.

 

Photoshop, again, is very expensive, and there are many free or low cost alternatives such as Gimp, Paint.net, Photoimpact, PainShopPro etc - all of which are perfectly adequate for general web work. Search these forums as this has been discussed many times and you should find a few links to visit

 

And finally don't learn software, learn the tools of the trade, eg HTML, CSS, javascript and so on. Once you learn those you can use any editor you like

And don't neglect design, user experience, accessibility, information architecture and usability concepts.

 

Learning the conceptual stuff is far more important than learning how to put things together. Being a Photoshop or HTML guru doesn't do you any good if you don't have the whole skillset.

Unless your doing ASP coding then Visual Studio is pretty pointless, learn to use a text editor rather than an IDE.