Graphic design in Single page website

[brainsmith]

I want to create a single page website where I can showcase my design works. Which software should I use to make my website graphics more effective and attractive? I appreciate your suggestions.

[Beverleyh]

You can use whichever graphic/image creating software you feel most comfortable with. I prefer Photoshop, but it can be a bit expensive if you're just starting out.

GIMP http://getgimp.com/lp/index.php?pk=4769 is a free alternative and can perform much of the same stuff as Photoshop - it just takes a little longer to do the task in a few more stages.

This might help you decide: http://www.ehow.com/how_5884980_choose-between-gimp-vs_-photoshop.html

Whatever image creation software you use, remember to optimise output images for the web, either by using the software's internal "save for the web" feature (if it has one), or by running images through an image optimiser prior to uploading them online. DD's inhouse image optimiser is here: http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/imageoptimizer/

Alternatively, for batch optimisations, Shrink-o-matic is quite good: http://toki-woki.net/p/Shrink-O-Matic/ (just fiddle with the settinsg for the best files size vs quality trade-offs that suit you)