With the increasing popularity of using Content Management Systems such as Joomla and WordPress to power websites, many do-it-yourselfer web designers are forced to turn to professionals to design their templates because of their dynamic nature. Dynamic templates rely on code and response from the web server to generate the page visitors see, and therefore require an advanced knowledge of complex code that is beyond the typical WYSIWYG, or what you see is what you get, programs. Until now.
What is Artisteer?
Artisteer is a completely revolutionary design program because it takes the familiar WYSIWYG approach of many web design programs such as Dreamweaver, and applies it to building Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal themes. This once again gives do-it-yourselfers power in the web design world, but is it really worth the investment?
Artisteer Options
The program comes in the following editions:
Home and Academic: This version of the program is $49.95. This is the perfect solution for those who only need to work with standard HTML templates and WordPress themes.
Standard: This version of the program is $129.95. In addition to support for Wordpress themes and standard HTML templates, it also has support for building templates for Joomla 1.5 templates, Drupal version 5 and 6 themes, ASP.NET applications and allows to export to ColorCharge Studio. This edition is more suitable for an experienced web designer who wants to make jobs a bit easier.
The Artisteer Trial
The free trial is fully functional, even allowing you to export themes for use, but the catch is they are watermarked until you purchase a program license. When we used the program trial to take a closer look at its features, we were impressed by this fact. After developing a few WordPress themes, we purchased the Student license and were immediately pleased to see the watermarks had been removed and the theme could be used on any website we wished. The only catch? You are not legally allowed to use the photos in the stock library in the program if you intend to sell the theme. You can download trials for both editions and make the purchase directly within the program.
Artisteer Pros
• Free updates for a year after purchase.
• Users who want to upgrade between editions can do so for the price difference between the two programs, currently $80.
• The program interface is designed to mimic Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows 7. If you have experience with these programs, you’re one step ahead of the rest of the game.
• There are many suggestions, color schemes, graphics and other options to help you build your very own themes.
Artisteer Cons
• The program doesn’t allow you to upload custom backgrounds or headers which makes it difficult to truly customize a theme or template.
• The resulting theme may need some tweaks by a professional designer to complete customizations.
Our Final Thoughts
Since Artisteer is available for both Windows and Mac based platforms, nearly anyone can enjoy the program. It’s incredibly easy to use, and is a cost effective solution, especially when compared to the costs of professional design. It can even help professionals cut their design time because they can make necessary changes to the code to provide a complete customization. For those who need to design Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal or ASP.NET templates and applications, this is a decent investment. There is certainly room for improvement, but overall, the program is definitely worth it.
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