Hi Tam

It depends what type of graphics. If you're talking about headers and ebook covers, then I recommend outsourcing them to the spectacular designers on the Warrior Forum, many of whom are excellently priced. You can get a nice ebook cover done for a few tens of dollars - or possibly even a barter exchange

Hi Tam,

Adobe Photoshop Elements lets me create almost everything I need.

--- Ross

Illustrator is a whole different animal than Photoshop.

IMO, you'd be far better served learning Photoshop or
Fireworks (and its integration with Dreamweaver) if you
want to make web graphics - that's what they're for.

Want to know an easy way to get hands on with software?

Buy templates and reverse engineer how everything works.

How they did what they did. They give you a finished product
you can work your way backwards with...

"How'd they do that metallic gradient or glassy look?"

Open up the PSD and start turning layers on and off.

Play with the effects settings (which teaches you where
they are and when you use them, as well as how they work).

Just duplicate the source file before you begin futzing
and go nuts... and as Bill Cosby said, "you just might learn
somethin' before its through".

Good luck. Learning design is foolishly under-appreciated,
mostly by people who write great but know dick about design.

It's invaluable to you as a marketer and a creative.

Learn.

Best,
Brian

Hey Tam,

Your best bet would be Photoshop, and as Brian said 'reverse engineering' pre-existing templates would be your quickest way to learn. But be warned, it is very time consuming learning a piece of software like Photoshop from scratch.

There are also tons of free and paid minisite templates on the market, whether they convert or not is a different story.

Your other alternative is to outsource to a minisite/salesletter designer who can get the job done. And remember, you get what you pay for So even though you may come across a $100 minisite designer, his or her work will probably reflect that amount - and vice versa.

Learning PhotoShop is to direct response graphics as learning Keyboard is to expert copywriting.

Yeah, necessary. But there is a whole world more.

Adobe Illustrator is actually a poor choice for beginners because it is vector based. A "paint" program is easier to use and generally more useful for web graphics.

If you're a graphics rookie, you're probably better off with something like Photoshop Elements. However, don't expect to be able to create professional quality, original graphics with it -- that takes knowledge and experience.

The main thing Photoshop Elements will let even a beginner do is easily size, crop, and adjust photos and other graphics. For actual graphics creation, either outsource it or go to a stock graphics site.

Regards,

Johnny

This site here lets u make some slick sales page graphics:
CopyDoodler® Copy Doodle Generator - Sales Page Graphics, Headlines, Buttons Creator

its free and no optin required.


thanks to mark hess for his awesome script!