Step-By-Step Graphics

PhotoWebber 1.0

July/August 2000, Page 16, Roger Hunsicker

Wouldn't it be great if you could simply push a button and output a web page from Photoshop? Each element would be defined by its own layer. Button layers would be JavaScript savvy and know to link to their rollover and pop-up layers automatically. All text would convert to HTML or graphic format as desired. All graphic elements could be optimized layer by layer and sliced and diced transparently on output. And let's say you could define text or graphic hyperlinks and use placeholder layers to mark the locations of animations, forms, or site search engines since Photoshop can't create these - yet. Or decide at any time to whether to go with frames, tables (HTML 3), or style sheets (DHTML). Seamlessly anti-alias all graphics into their underlying layer. Create solid or tiled backgrounds automatically. And there would be warnings to alert you to possible problems with certain browsers along with suggestions for alternative approaches.

If this sounds like wishful thinking, think again. Media Lab has just released PhotoWebber 1.0, a stand-alone program that imports layered Photoshop files and not only performs all of these tasks, but gives graphic designers a tool that just might change the way web development is done today. Among its other skills, PhotoWebber can create a fully working preview of the page on your browser before ever generating the final HTML code. In a web design shop environment where designers must first finalize the look and feel of a page before handing it off to programmers for coding - and where the client must proof hard-copy comps before seeing a live site - PhotoWebber could redesign the traditional workflow.

With PhotoWebber, design decisions can be made on the fly. Is there an annoying scrolling window for a particularly long frame? Turn it into a table and preview the page again instantly. Does the position of a pop-up interfere with the text? Drag it to a new spot and preview again. Even if you can't bear the thought of having clients at your elbow for your initial screenings, it would be great to let them see exactly how a site will function before any programmer touches it.

An HTML editor like Dreamweaver or GoLive is still needed to compile PhotoWebber's output folder of images and HTML into the site and upload it for final testing, but Media Lab's PhotoWebber promises to give designers more control over the form and function of a web page than they've ever enjoyed before. $249 ($199 downloadable version) from Media Lab, 800/282-5361 or www.medialab.com .

Reprinted with permission of Step-By-Step Publishing