Okay well I'm a die-hard Fireworks user and I'm sick of my shoddy PS skills. Whenever I get a design in .psd I end up duplicating layers into new files, saving them and then editing in fireworks and I'm just wondering what the actual way is because maybe then I'll like PS a bit more.

 

A lot of places tell me to use the slice tool but I don't really trust it. Could anybody at least point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks

I am sure slice tool is great but that's not the way I do it.

 

My process usually ends up being keyboard shortcuts (M) rec. marquee tool, (Z) zoom tool and good old shift+cmd+C to copy merged. That is basically it, I just zoom in, select with rec. marquee tool and copy merged. Then cmd+N to open new file and cmd+V to paste. Then save for web, and back again. Probably not the best process but it works for me, which I am fast and precise in.

 

Maybe this would work for you too?

Same here ^^^

Cheers. I guess I'm just scared of Slice from back when Fireworks would table layouts for you...

 

I'll give it a go, it seems logical

Okay well I'm a die-hard Fireworks user and I'm sick of my shoddy PS skills. Whenever I get a design in .psd I end up duplicating layers into new files, saving them and then editing in fireworks and I'm just wondering what the actual way is because maybe then I'll like PS a bit more.

 

A lot of places tell me to use the slice tool but I don't really trust it. Could anybody at least point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks

 

Do you create the PSD's yourself or are you working with someone else?

 

I find the easiest way to slice up a photoshop doc is to stick to a few simple rules.

 

1. Use guides - If my whole PSD is 1600px i'll set up vertical guides at something like 300px and 1200px to give me a 900px wide fixed layout. Then set up horizontal guides for things like content above header, header, menu, main content, footer, below footer e.t.c. Then finally add more vertical guides where you want things like columns.

 

2. Group sections - Create groups for all the main elements on your design. Background, header, footer, main content. These main elements can have groups inside them too. So inside header you can have logo, search box e.t.c.

 

So now you'll have all the elements marked with guides and in easy groups which you can hide while you are cutting out.

 

The beauty of guides is that now you can cut your images out just using the marquee tool and have it snap to the guides. A simple site should take hardly any time. A site with a complex layout and lots of images will obviously take longer.

 

If you work with another designer, just set them up a template with guides in a PSD file.

Do you create the PSD's yourself or are you working with someone else?

 

I find the easiest way to slice up a photoshop doc is to stick to a few simple rules.

 

1. Use guides - If my whole PSD is 1600px i'll set up vertical guides at something like 300px and 1200px to give me a 900px wide fixed layout. Then set up horizontal guides for things like content above header, header, menu, main content, footer, below footer e.t.c. Then finally add more vertical guides where you want things like columns.

 

2. Group sections - Create groups for all the main elements on your design. Background, header, footer, main content. These main elements can have groups inside them too. So inside header you can have logo, search box e.t.c.

 

So now you'll have all the elements marked with guides and in easy groups which you can hide while you are cutting out.

 

The beauty of guides is that now you can cut your images out just using the marquee tool and have it snap to the guides. A simple site should take hardly any time. A site with a complex layout and lots of images will obviously take longer.

 

If you work with another designer, just set them up a template with guides in a PSD file.

 

Thanks for the tips!