What are the best programs to use for a beginner who is interested in web design?

I am a beginner and i am interested in a [SIMPLE] basic program that lets me do everything create layouts, graphics etc. I've tried adobe photoshop cs2 and i hate it. i've also tried the trial version for dreamweaver and it was complicated. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

What are the best programs to use for a beginner who is interested in web design?
If you're serious about learning to design web pages the best way to start is to code by hand. Windows Notepad and a good entry-level book such as "HTML for Dummies" or "Learn HTML in 24 Hours" will give you a good foundation in web design principles.





Any of the web design software applications will seem difficult until you have a better background in HTML fundamentals and some coding experience. As a professional web developer, I'm partial to Dreamweaver but the cost is rather steep for a beginner.





There are several free HTML editors out there that provide "nice to have" features like code hinting and drop and drag. A couple of Wikipedia articles provide a good description of the features to look for in an HTML Editor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_editor... and a comparison of some of the most popular editors(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_...





Some of free editors available include:


Aptana Studio - http://www.aptana.com/


HTML-Kit - http://www.chami.com/html-kit/


SeaMonkey Composer - http://www.seamonkey-project.org/





If you choose to try one of the free editors make sure you download from a reputable source. Best bet for a safe download is either the actual software publisher or a software clearing house like Downloads.com or SourceForge.net.





Good luck,





Fred
Reply:Begin with setting up your own webpage as your current internet provider will provide free hosting as discussed below.





If you are currently a paid Internet subscriber, you are entitled to a "homepage" which often contains simple navigation and editing tools. And if you use the Netscape browser, the built-in Composer feature is a superior HTML authoring tool which is totally free. You can easily generate a full-blown website as a Homepage.





Good luck!
Reply:Notepad.





Go to Yahoo! and search for HTML basics. You can type out layouts like this:





%26lt;HTML%26gt;


%26lt;HEAD%26gt;%26lt;TITLE%26gt;Your Page Name Here%26lt;/TITLE%26gt;


CSS Here


%26lt;/HEAD%26gt;


%26lt;BODY%26gt;


%26lt;P1 Formatting here%26gt;


Text here


%26lt;/P1%26gt;


%26lt;/BODY%26gt;
Reply:Notepad, don't let anyone lead you astray.