If you’re thinking of designing your own website, then PSD to WordPress is the best option for you. If you’re thinking of it then you come to the right page. Keep reading…
WordPress is so famous in the market that its popularity is undeniable. Its importance and usage are rising every day.
For developers, they can get the best out of WordPress and use this opportunity to improve their skills.
In this article, we’re going to share a quick guide with you on how to convert a PSD design to a flexible WordPress site.
If you’re getting started in the designing field, you already know that most of the WordPress themes are created using PSD design files. Photoshop is the most using designer tool in the market and if you’re not using it, we suggest you do so.
Designers around the world prefer using Photoshop to create a new design for your website. For developers, it means that they’ve to learn designing skills to convert a PSD design into a responsive WordPress website.
If you’re a businessman, you might have faced hundreds of PSD to WordPress service providers online. However, it’s always helpful to learn the skill by yourself. Why? Because it gives you the ability to transform and improve.
So, without wasting any more time, let’s dive into our article and find out what things you should keep in mind before getting started.
Before you start, you must have some basic Photoshop designing skills. You don’t have to be a professional, just the basics. Also, you should be aware of what responsive web design is.
You also need some amateur knowledge of frontend technologies (languages) like HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript.
So, you’ve got your pre-checklist, let’s start our PSD to WordPress Conversion process.
Step 1: Get your design
The first step is you must have a design file for your website. You can ask your designer for it or you can create it by yourself if you think you have the skills to do so.
Step 2: Slicing PSD
The second step is to slice your PSD design file. Slicing is a process of saving the background images of your design. It’s an essential part of the process, so you must do it carefully.
To start the process, you have to slice the background images. The main reason behind the slicing process is; today’s websites (including WordPress) use modern technologies (languages) such as CSS3 and HTML5. This means that you recreate anything in your theme including borders, buttons, edges and so on.
To start the slicing process, open up Adobe Photoshop and start the slicing process. As a web developer, your job is to slice the images you need on your website. Don’t slice those that you can easily re-create with the help of modern technologies (languages). The most important part, you need to slice the header and footer, background or any other specific element that is difficult to re-create.
Step 3: Working on the HTML and CSS files
Now, you‘ve got your background images, you can start your work with HTML and CSS files. To kick start your work, you must have the following two files:
- Index.html
- Style.css
You also have to create sub-folders to place your site images in that. You have to name the folder, “img.” One last folder that you’ve to create is “JavaScript.” It’ll contain all files that are related to JavaScript and JQuery. Now, that your file and folder creation is completed, it’s time to start your PSD to the WordPress conversion process.
All you have to do is to start to form a single section and carefully write the codes corresponding to what you need to transform for your website.
If you’re not familiar with the front-end technologies (languages), we recommend you to check out tutorials on Youtube to get started into these technologies.
Above all those things, you must be sure that your coding is responsive.
Read Also: Sketch to PSD Conversion: How to Convert it? [Updated 2020]
Step 4: WordPress Theme Files
Now, it’s time to discuss the big steps. As we have successfully converted our PSD design file into a corresponding code using front-edn technologies (languages) HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. We’re on the right route to convert your PSD design into a responsive WordPress website.
In this fourth step, you have to replicate the WordPress template hierarchy. WordPress core is built with established and strict rules. To keep up with WordPress, we must have to follow them. The four main files that you’ve to create are
- Index.php
- Header.php
- Sidebar.php
- Footer.php
- Style.css
These templates are important as they’ll be used on most of the pages on your website.
Now, you have to create a “theme-named” folder in your WordPress theme pages. If you don’t know it works this way: /wp-content/themes/.
In that folder, create the “theme-folder”. One of the main files to create is header.php. This file will contain the essential aspects of your theme including links to the javascript, stylesheets, title, meta, and other essentials so on. You have to replicate the respective part of your HTML file and paste that in these files. For instance, copy the footer.php code and paste that in the header.php file.
Once all is done, the last step you‘ve to do is slowly building the index.php homepage for your WordPress website. Will all the major aspects elements of the homepage created, you have to pull the homepage HTML.
Step 5: Using the inbuilt tags and functions
The last step you have to do is to expand the functionality of your theme. Also, you must make sure that your theme is editable through the WordPress dashboard. To do this, you’ve to edit your theme file with tags and functions.
The best way to start this is to read the WordPress function reference page. From there, you just have to decide which function to use and which do not. Moreover, you take advantage of the theme tags and that WordPress offers.
Final Verdict:
Our quick guide will help you in the process of converting your PSD design file into a responsive WordPress website. For beginners, it could be difficult for them to convert their PSD design. But, if you become a little familiar with this, it’s easy than you think. All you have to do is practice this process. Because practice makes a man perfect.
Let us know your guy’s thoughts on our quick guide. We’d be happy to talk with you.
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