When I did some reading on CSS a while ago, it was pretty well acknowledged that layout issues that could be easily solved with a table were still a major hurdle in CSS.

You've probably done the same reading, but I could dig out a few sites and the sample code they produced, if it would help.

I think they (standards people) want tables in CSS mostly for philosophical reasons. i.e, the idea tha only content goes in the HTML, and all formatting stuff goes in CSS.

I asked a similar question about tables a while back: and Plei slapped me down (in a good way!).

I'm still using tables. Who knew I was an old-fashioned girl?

I'm sorry- I have another question that seems really stupid to me, but I just don't know the answer.

I have been asked to help make a brochure look nicer. The person who designed it (who is less knowledgable about the graphic arts than I) has images on it that are 96 dpi, but we're sending it to a commercial printer

a) am I right in saying those images will not print well

b) where does one get 300 dpi images with which to play around with in photoshop? He has a globe, some tissue under a microscope and some microbes under a microscope. Of course, no one wants to pay for anything....If I had illustrator, which I do not, I would be tempted to try and "draw" these things using something from the built in brushes, etc, but I am assuming that photoshop does not have these things (for some reason, I am just better at doing things other than random phtot retouching in Illustrator)

I am having a random and crappy day filled with tech problems that are above my head but everyone seems to think I should know.

Signed,

Not really a tech person OR a graphic designer

am I right in saying those images will not print well

Yes. They'll look nice on a monitor (monitors are typically 96 dpi), but they'll look like crap when printed.

Sophia, you might try istockphoto -- they're not free, but they're very cheap, and they do have print-ready images.

You will need at least 300 dpi on those images. I'm not sure where to get photos to use in a brochure without paying for it. When I did the air charter brochure, I had to get clearances on all our images. Since I got the photos from aircraft owners who we used, they were happy to let us use them for free.

I just did a mailer where I got photos from istockphoto.com. It does cost money but the photos I used were only $10 each.

ETA: HA! X-post with Jessica.

You can buy clip art collections very cheap. quality may vary. ($10-$35) There are also some not so cheap collections used by professional graphics people - $200 bucks per collection - but obviously these are extensive, super-high quality and used by houses that do graphic design all day long for a living.

THank you guys. Imma think I am going home soon, because I want to commit hari kari (sp?) over this. I am verra frustrated