You may receive an apprehension in response from most of the people dealing with websites, when asked about the PSD to HTML workflow. It may surprise you to know that there are some website development services that think PSD to HTML is still not done.
It was Treehouse blog post that caught attention of people, otherwise busy in making websites calmly. The article has nicely streamlined the limitations of the older way of making websites. But where we differ is when they say it is dead. You will learn here why it is not dead.
For some designers and developers, it is a method or workflow of website creation. Others know it as "slicing." Though it hardly makes any difference to the business owners, as long as they are getting the desired end results.
In technical terms, it is a process of converting a web page design to a completely functional HTML web page.
Elaborated process includes the steps given below:
Designing a mockup in Photoshop for the desired look of your site
Making use of the slice tool to divide up the site’s images
With HTML and CSS coding, image integration is done to recreate the replica of the earlier designed Photoshop mockup
It used to serve the purpose better in yesteryears since browsers didn’t support every feature of modern CSS. Designers were supposed to do things like creating shadows and round corners. Developers then used those images on websites. All what concerned the designers and front end developers then was look of the website on desktop, unlike today.
Present day masses access web from their smartphones, tablets and more. The websites need to be best compatible with iPhones, iWatches and iGlasses etc. We can say mobile responsive website is need of the hour.
What is challenging for contemporary designers and developers is to build websites that look equally good on different devices, knowing that the sites look different on different devices. In many cases, it is strictly not possible for today’s designers and developers to ape the footsteps of senior counterparts.
Even in the era of WordPress when a site can be launched in a click of minute, PSD to HTML is still in action. Over time new technologies emerge to make our workload easier. But that does not imply the older ones stale.
Renowned designers from different corners of world concur to the simple fact that no matter how much the scope of PSD to HTML has been reduced, it is still an integral part of website building.
True with the tools available on web you can create a website in fraction of time when compared to the older method. It is all about dragging and dropping things and keep on re-arranging them by the time you don’t get exactly what you are looking for. Sounds easy? In reality, it is nowhere close to easy.
This too requires skilled developers which are not only connoisseurs of HTML, CSS etc. but also have active creative side of their brains. Designing of a quality website takes a lot like knack for site aesthetics, good understanding of how color schemes work, typography and usability etc. You need to also look at the content of web page from user’s point of perception.
A top-notch developer has to have it all in him. It should not surprise if over 90 percent of developers still look out for partnering with designers who deliver them PSD for better results. Starting from the scratch is still not preferred by majority of developers.
However, those who want to give it a go might want to learn about the best new website builder tools available over internet. These tools prove helpful to create a website without having you write a line of code. Macaw is one of the most popular tools, used widely for designing a responsive website. The tool will do the coding part for you and you can take it forward for turning it into a theme. Choice is yours whether you want to go ahead with WordPress or some other framework.
PSD to HTML is part of web industry evolution. Whether the job of slicing is done by the front end developer or the designer, it always takes two people to export images and files to be further used inside an HTML structure.
This is clear enough that the process is expensive for the business which employs two of them. In turn, the services provided to the client are also costlier when compared to designing in the browser. It is true that accomplishing the cumbersome task needs a person to be really competent but as only one person is working it is a cheaper alternative.
Don’t act in hurry to conclude that the latter one is better as it is cheaper than the former option. It will be unfair to claim one better than the other based on one characteristic. There are situations when deploying PSD to HTML is one and only good option.
PSD to HTML has an upper hand on designing in the browser as you may not always get the expected final result because of the designing incompetence at the level of developer.
Many companies engaged in designing and developing sites will consider bringing back PSD to HTML for the following reasons:
Unlike the modern frameworks, including Bootstrap and WordPress, PSD to HTML brings upon the sites that stand out from that of the repeated and similar websites. It is possible to get something unique every time because incorporation of unique elements is easily done and they can be placed in different sections.
Yes, the whole process turns out to be expensive when used from beginning to create your website. Adopting a macro approach instead of creating the whole website has huge significance.
Including a handful of single site elements in your HTML structure such as buy buttons, custom social media buttons, unique frame for images or exclusive charts add to originality of a site.
Swapping some of the elements from the framework is not only possible but it is rather simple. You just need to be ready with the sliced PSDs and then change over with the default ones at the right places. In simple words, framework will use graphics instead of the default ones.
It again makes your site exclusive.
Getting acquainted with the specific purpose that can be addressed by PSD to HTML will be not really smart to see it as a dumb way of website building. Spot the website design company that still carries the legacy of PSD to HTML and look forward in future with WordPress compliance, very confidently.
