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Just a quick question and a cry for help... I'm trying to make a web page with Corel Draw but am having trouble with it...lots of trouble. Is there anyone out there that knows of some helps or anything like that. The v. that I have is Corel Draw 12. thanks ahead of time. My temp. page is at www.bennettsigns.biz open to critsism as long as you are nice...
Shane
-------------------- Shane Bennett Bennett Signs & Designs 17134 State Hwy. 80 Richland Center WI 53581 contact@bennettsigns.biz Posts: 41 | From: Richland Center WI | Registered: Jun 2003
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Well good start first thing that bugs me is your top banner graphic is blurry looking on screen and it has the anti-aliased one pixel outline all around it. Second the text does not fit on the home page it flows past the yellow background area and it is not readable. (Same colour font as the web page background) The other thing I would like to see is the contact info and directions and about us all amalgamated in one. Less clicking to find things more user friendly. And lastly the gallery page you have some grayscale effect going on I find it confusing I thought something was wrong with my colour monitor. Did you build this entire page in CorelDRAW 12? If you did you might want to look at a different web site authoring package than CorelDRAW.
-------------------- Steve Eisenreich Dezine Signs PO BOX 6052 Stn Forces Cold Lake, Alberta T9M 2C5 Posts: 774 | From: Cold Lake | Registered: Mar 2000
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get a real web site software. Corel is good ,, but is not real good for making a website..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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Corel is great for making "web ready" graphics. It can handle transparent bitmaps, etc..
However I have found the "publish to web" feature to be buggy and overall ill-suited to the actual creation of a well rounded web page.
I would suggest a software package dedicated to web page creation. If you are at all inclined, getting yourself a book on HTML programming will be very helpful. It's much easier to create a professional web site if you understand better what's going on in the background.
Web programming at a glance will appear a bit daunting but in fact is not particularly difficult for those willing to spend a little time on educating themselves.
Steve
-------------------- Steve Aycock Designs 3489 Oswald St. Johns Island, SC zaor@warpdriveonline.com Posts: 124 | From: Charleston, SC | Registered: Feb 2003
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I think that its a good start and am really surprised by what can be done in Corel. But...like you said on your first page about the difference in a good sign and a bad sign...the same with software. I agree with the others. Think how much nicer your page would look with a professional HTML program. There are many freeware and shareware ones. Try www.tucows.com
-------------------- Laura Butler Vision Graphics & Sign 4479 Welch Rd Attica, Mi 48412 Posts: 2855 | From: Attica, Mi, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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Hi Shane. I have no experience with website building but have always considered myself to be good with words. I think the intro on your home page is too chatty. Keep it simple and to the point. I like your work a lot. Love....Jill
-------------------- That is like a Mr. Potato Head with all the pieces in the wrong place. -Russ McMullin Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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Shane, I use Macromedia DreamweaverMX 2004. A pretty steep learning curve, but a powerful program. It does a lot of stuff kinda autopilot. You change a file and it changes all references to that file. Pricey though, about $400 (unless you have a "student" discount $99). You would still produce any images in Corel but they are imported into MM. Easy to post to your website and make quick changes. You don't need to learn HTML but you kinda "learn" some as you go along. Most of it is paste and click.
-------------------- Gene Golden Gettysburg Signs Gettysburg PA 17325 717-334-0200 genegolden@gettysburgsigns.com
"Art is knowing when to stop." Posts: 1578 | From: Gettysburg, PA | Registered: Jun 2003
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Yes. Buy a book on HTML. I don't know much about Corel's publish to web feature. The few times I've messed with it...I wasnt impressed. However, it makes OK graphics to use on the web (but photoshop is probably much better). If you want to sell and do file transfers and such, I don't know much about that. I doubt Corel will help you with those things. For those features, you should look into a basic web-authoring package. If all you want to do is showcase your work...you probably dont need a web-authoring package. (Im not sure about this, tho).
I'm not a web-designer, but I have played around with the HTML.
Other Ideas...
On the homepage I would make the logo huge, not stuck in the corner of a title banner. Get rid of the banner altogether and make a huge logo--like the screen was a sign.
Work on your slogan. Maybe "Make a Great Impression with a Bennet Sign" or "Bennet Signs Make Great Impressions".
The logo and slogan are enough. Drop the long, boring sales pitch about Joes Bar-B-Que. Your quality logo and slogan will do a better job of selling your skills than that Joes Bar-B-Que story.
Drop the scrolls on your buttons. Too many scrolls, anyway. Besides, buttons should not compete for attention--they're just buttons. Buttons could run in a line along bottom of logo (space them vertically away from the logo, tho, so that the logo gets the spotlight.)
In your gallery page...I didn't like having the options scattered about. I'd prefer them in a column, row, or grid. I would probably not use images at that stage, I'd save the images for the actual galleries themselves. I'd probably just make a sub-menu of the options.
Please note that Letterville always provides a navigation menu to the side. Most websites do this. It took me a little while to figure out how to get out of the gallery. The navigation menu disappeared, and it wasn't obvious how to get back home.
Note also how Lettervilles navigation menu is not spectacular. This is good. Its just a list of options on a purple background. Its there, its easy to use and understand and it doesnt compete with attention.
RED. TOO MUCH RED. WAY TOO MUCH RED. For a background color use something less powerful and that provides good contrast. Black or white are best.
You're welcome to e-mail me a curves file of your logo. I have an interest in web-site development. I could construct my idea for your homepage along with the HTML. I could e-mail it back to you and you could view it off-line with your browser. (I wouldn't charge, it sounds like good practice to me, and if you don't like it, scrap it and do something else). But I dont know anything about shopping carts and file transfers, just how to place images with html.
Good Luck (all is said with good intent--if anything offends, I apologize)
-------------------- William Bass wjb71@bellsouth.net Northwest Florida Posts: 636 | From: Pensacola, FL | Registered: Aug 2004
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