11/8/2022 0 Comments Webdesign with photoshopPhotoshop can do this (sort of) using the Smart Objects feature, but this requires you to open the object in a new tab (or even a different Adobe program) which disrupts your workflow because your changes are not made inline. Much like good CSS aims to be modular and reusable, so that minimal edits are required to make changes, a good web design program would enable you to reuse elements in multiple places, where editing one element would result in changes to all of them. Inefficient workarounds for multiple linked instances of single element.A good web design program would enable you to see and edit this inline. Even something as simple as slicing an image for the web involves visiting multiple secondary dialogue boxes to control the name of the slice, the type of file it will save as, and how it will render upon export. WEBDESIGN WITH PHOTOSHOP UPDATEWhile this has gotten a little better with the latest Creative Cloud update (assuming you have decided to switch over to the monthly licensing model to get the latest updates), asset management in Photoshop has been lacking for quite some time. And that’s not even including the Layer Styles options for color and border overlays! Photoshop’s color management is all over the place depending on what you’re using (Standard layer? Vector layer? Text? Smart Object? Gradient?) and all of it is hidden under separate dialogue boxes, disrupting workflow at best, and forcing people to use alternative, less accurate color-sampling methods (like the eyedropper tool) at worst. Noticing a theme here? A good design program makes it easy to see which (Hex) color has been used on which element, and extrapolate that easily to CSS for building the actual site. It’s gotten better over the years, but there is still no way to sample/duplicate specific typography settings, link text fields, or re-use text styles. Much like learning a real vector workflow highlights Photoshop’s vector shortcomings, working with good typography tools like Adobe InDesign (which supports a CSS-like paragraph and character style panel for modular editing) makes the flaws in Photoshop’s type management extremely apparent. Want to draw something custom with the pen tool? It’s another multi-step process or special option to make your pen tool convert to a vector shape instead of a path or selection. Standard vector elements are styled and controlled using entirely different sub-menus and dialog boxes, and you have extremely limited control over what you can do with them without using Layer Styles. And once you have experienced a real vector workflow (using a tool like Adobe Illustrator) you will wonder how you ever put up with the counter-intuitive vector tools inside of Photoshop. Which one do I use for a state change? What about a dropdown? Do I build all my pages in one file or as separate files? Do I use a group, a Smart Object, or a folder for this button? What about the header image? The language used in Photoshop does not translate to the language used in building a website, and this causes inconsistency and confusion between projects.Ĭreating vector images is a necessary skill that designers need to learn to create scalable elements, like graphics and logos. So what do we get in Photoshop? Layers, Folders, Groups, and Smart Objects. Websites have a lot of dynamic elements: states, pages, dropdowns, transitions, animations… the list goes on and on. Doesn’t translate to the language of the web.What’s so bad about using Photoshop to design websites? But the thing about Swiss Army Knives is that, while they are good knives, I don’t know anyone that would prefer to use them for cutting, sawing, unscrewing, scissoring, or bottle opening instead of a tool that was specifically designed for the job. Designers and Photoshop go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly, it’s the holy grail of design productivity, you can use it to build anything your heart desires, and it will slice, dice, and make you a sandwich while walking your dog and waxing your car.Īll kidding aside, a program that was once initially built as a photo editor and image manipulator (and a great one, at that) has slowly evolved into a bloated, sluggish, and overstuffed Swiss Army Knife sort of tool that tries to be everything to everyone. Judging by the amount of love it gets in all the design media, it seems like Photoshop is the perfect design tool.
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