Adobe® CS4 Web Workflows: Building Web Sites With Adobe® Creative Suite® 4

Chapter 2. COMPLETING THE COMP

In the first chapter of this Photoshop-to-Dreamweaver workflow, you saw how Photoshop is used to create the basic structure of the layout. However, Web design is much more than just graphics. Text plays a big — some would argue the biggest — role in successful Web sites. In this chapter, you'll explore the use of text, both as decorative and informational elements. Incorporating text into a design, however, is more than just putting it on the page. Other sections in this chapter show you how to apply the important design principal of alignment — a key aspect to keep in mind when you later develop the page in Dreamweaver — and also take advantage of Photoshop's numerous effects as the comp is completed.

Core techniques in this chapter include:

• Aligning with guides

• Working with text

• Applying effects

ALIGNING GRAPHIC ELEMENTS

Alignment is one of the key tenets of design, regardless of the medium. A layout where various page elements are aligned with one another is generally more pleasing to the eye and easier to comprehend quickly. Elements can be aligned vertically or horizontally or both.

Again, Photoshop has a plethora of tools to help you line up your design objects, but the primary ones are guides and the grid. I tend to use guides more than the grid because ...