Bought web design - table layout or CSS layout?

Question

I tried a new web designer for one of my projects. After many attempts, he created a really good design for my web page and sent me the files. Now I really thought, because he only cut it in Photoshop - 20 images (very very poorly cut, for example, with content on one image) and the entire full HTML file of the table structure.

When I asked him to do this in CSS, he said that he couldn’t, he didn’t know how, he was just a designer. His argument was that in their 4.5-year experience no one asked to cut the design, all clients would have only a PSD file and a fragment and created the HTML themselves. And, he added, table structures are completely normal in web design.

So my question is: am I old or is he?

So far I have ever created a web page with DIV and CSS, never used a table until you needed table-structured information to show. This is what I recognize.

Please tell us your opinion and how to deal with the real situation.

Answer 1

His argument: for 4.5 years of experience, no one asked for a sliced ​​design, all clients will have a PSD file and fragment and create HTML on their own.

I find a valid argument. Creating a design is one of the tasks; creating an HTML structure from a design is completely different, and the inability to create HTML does not make you less a constructor.

And, he added, table structures are completely normal in web design.

This was a good argument in 1999, but this is no longer the case.

If the main job he is paid for is design, and he had to create HTML because you pressed it either because of time constraints or something else, I would say that I reduced your losses, paid him , forgot about it and CSS layout done elsewhere.

If he actually offered to create HTML for you, for the money and provided a mock-up of the sliced ​​table, I would say that this is not a good job by the standards of 2009. Personally, I would not agree that if I were a client, and make him do it again or return the money.

Answer 2

sounds like a graphic designer, not a web designer

always be specific regarding the format of the results

Answer 3

Tables are a very bad and old practice for design. You are using css and divs correctly. The "web designer" must understand css to create their projects.

I would look for another designer.

Answer 4

I would like to add that in my experience (and this is hardly the rule, I'm sure), web designers who do not know how to code layout in CSS / XHTML do not have a definite understanding of how web pages often need to be expanded and wrapped Content-based contracts. This is especially true when designing a system such as CMS or for a site for which variable text sizes may be required. The lack of understanding in these areas leads to problems with how projects come together at a fundamental level, and I often find myself in a design that doesn't “work” in the end.

Answer 5

If he is a true web designer, he must know CSS.

Answer 6

In answer to your question - yes, the table-based layout is out of date, and you need / need css based on it.

However, it seems that the person you hired is usually a web designer (has a visual design and layout), unlike a web developer (does he have a coding part of the website).

Many / most people who call themselves web designers perform both of these tasks, and he should have explained to you before you hired him, if he is only going to do part of the design, however, he seems to be a designer, not a developer , so his code skills are not so great.

Consider hiring a separate web developer to create a website from a PSD file that your designer offers.

Answer 7

Your designer seems to be a draftsman, but he cannot create HTML layouts. Tables are for tabular content only and will limit your layout. My opinion is that you should consider him as a person who can draw, but do not ask him to do anything else, because he will ruin everything.

Answer 8

Tables will functionally function and even validate, but they are terrible practice for layout.

The designer, admittedly, knows little about HTML and CSS. Perhaps his clients usually use the PSD for the XHTML service for code or something like that. I have not used one of these services personally, but you might want to look into it if you need a quick turnaround, but you don't have CSS knowledge.

Answer 9

If you are not comfortable converting a PSD file to XHTML, there are many services that can do this for you for several hundred dollars, for example w3-markup.com .

Answer 10

Like most people here, I would agree that tables are not the foundation of the 2009 web layout, and I can say that I NEVER used a table for the layout - hell, I couldn't if I tried. To answer your question - he is old.