PSD to HTML Service by PSD2HTML.com is one of the sponsors of this blog, so I figured I would introduce them a little bit, explain what they do, and share my past experience with them as a customer. I’d like to say that although they are a paid advertiser on this blog, I wouldn’t sing them any praises if I wasn’t happy with their service.
PSD2HTML started in 2005 with a singular focus, turn designs into websites. Not only that, but do it fast, and do it well. Fast hardly even describes it, they code your design within 3-8 working hours. If you need it over the weekend or even faster, they will work with you on that as well.
Don’t let the name fool you, they don’t just accept Adobe Photoshop files, they will take Adobe Illustrator, existing HTML markup, or even flattened graphic files (like PNG) if that is all you have.
I just recently sent them a file to convert for me. It was a Photoshop file that was in sort of mediocre shape. The file was organized pretty well, but the design was created largely on top of a screenshot of an existing framework website. So, some of the text was rasterized. Some of the boxes and structure of the site was just in one big flat layer on the bottom instead of nice vector shapes. This didn’t slow them down a bit.
Ordering from PSD2HTML is extremely easy. It all happens from a single web page. You upload your file, give them your email address and any notes you have about the design, then select from a bunch of options. These are important design choices that you can’t convey easily in a static design. Things like fluid or static width, browser compatibilities, resizable fonts,
and cool add-ons like sIFR (the ability to use any font you want without sacrificing accessibility).
Prices start at $117 for single pages without many extras. Even this minimum order will get you a very nice and totally valid conversion. With my recent order, I chose to add a few things on. I bumped up to the professional package which ensures some extra browser compatibility and optimized shorthand HTML and CSS. I also added on fluid width, footer stretching, and sIFR for a few extra well-worth-it bucks.
A very short time after I first uploaded my file and picked my options, I got a response back from their team with several very reasonable questions about my design. For one, I had a series of buttons across in a row along the bottom of the site. Since my design was fluid width, they wanted to know if the buttons should stay centered, be aligned one way or another, or dynamically space themselves out as the design grew or shrank. My design also used some Lucida Grande and they wondered if it would be okay to specify Trebuchet MS as the next secondary font in the CSS since some Windows machines do not have Lucida Grande. Lastly, they had some specific questions about different elements on the page like if they should be links or not or how I would like them to behave as users enlarged text in their browser. Every single one of the questions was important and it was obvious they really cared about the quality of this site.
All of this communication happens in a special secure area of the PSD2HTML site where you can post messages back and forth between the managerial team. This is important because you aren’t just communicating with a single person, but with the whole managerial / support staff which ensures quick responses and turn around. This also keeps all the communications in one place so both you and they can quickly reference what was talked about during the conversion process.
My experience with PSD2HTML has been fantastic. The results were nearly pixel-perfect and on time, despite them having to wait for me to answer questions. The code validated, made great semantic sense, was commented well, and was organized. I am a web designer and I blog about web design and CSS for a living, so I’m probably not the easiest client to impress either.
I can tell you right now I charge a hell of a lot more than a few hundred bucks to design a website. Does this service worry me as a designer? Absolutely not, in fact, I can almost use is as a tool to become an even better design business. Designing is about solving visual communication problems, not writing semantic code. Certainly coding is an integral part of being a designer and you should absolutely have a firm grasp on these things if you call yourself a web designer, but sometimes coding can become grunt work. If writing code is just bogging you down as a designer or you are on a tight deadline, I could see using using PSD2HTML as your go-to service.
I also want to quickly mention that PSD2HTML will ready your design for a variety of popular software like WordPress, Movable Type, Drupal, Joomla, Pligg, Blogger, Shopify, X-Cart, CMS Made Simple, CubeCart. I’ve never tested their service on any of these, but if I do I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for a great recommendation!
I’ve been thinking of using them, or another comparable service. Not anytime soon, but good to know they come highly recommended by you.
Can you show us the psd and the html ?
agreed with ced. I would love to see the PSD & Final HTML result.
But I understand for confidentiality you cant post it.
@Ced & matt: I don’t think there would be any particular problem in posting both of those things. In fact, I’d really like to, except my example is actually from a project I’m working on that I kinda want to keep secret for a while longer!
They do have a page of examples. And here is a link to some of their CSS.
Hi Chris,
It is now 2014 and I’m curious: Do you still recommend these services.
I just tried PSD2HTML – but it was a huge disappointment. They could not return the design at the promised time. They have promised me a full refund – hopefully I will at least get my money back.
-Jairam
Check this Out.
http://www.mostsliced.com/slicers
a list and reviews of a few slicing services out there.
I must update my previous review of PSD2HTML. The management team from PSD2HTML stepped in after I cancelled my order and I had the markup returned on the same business day that I was originally promised. They offered not to charge me for it as well. And I must add that the code looks really clean.
The short story is that I am pleased overall and I will do business with PSD2HTML again.
@Jairam: Thanks for sharing! I am glad to hear they stepped up and got you a good product. They have been a good sponsor of this blog and it’s nice to hear good things.
These guys are ok, but we’re quite into YoDiv.com at the moment. Great service, very quick, and British based which is our main reason for using them, because we are!
I just tried these guys. My experience:
Don’t believe the 8 hour turnaround! It took them 1 day to figure out my order, 1 day to ask questions and confirm the details and 3 days to code the layout.
Don’t bother paying extra for their commenting in the CSS and HTML. All they do is add little divider comments (/header starts here/, /nav starts here/, etc), not very helpful and certainly not what they advertised as comments to help understand the files.
If you use Dreamweaver/Contribute Templates, they use an unusual technique (display:hidden) to clear floats–and it is incompatible with Dreamweaver Templates. This forced me to spend hours screwing around and recoding the markup…not exactly a timesaver. I asked them about this and the commenting and still have not heard back (4 days later).
I used these guys because their company website (Perflect) claims to be in the US (Las Vegas), but I am pretty sure the work is being done in Europe somewhere due to their slightly odd use of English and the time difference. If you are trying to avoid hiring out-of-country, these guys may not be for you.
@stuckinthestudio – I totally agree. I’ve used psd2html.com twice in the last month and their turn around times have been poor. The first order took 2 days before work started, then another 4 days before I had the first page back.
Last week I sent an order on Thursday, spent Friday answering questions (fair enough, they have to get it right), now expecting delivery of the first page back Thursday this week. So the 8 hour turn around it nonsense. They may just be a victim of their own success – it’s a very attractive service at the advertised response times.
Anthony
I’ve used PSD2HTML on many occasions, and have found their work to be of a high quality.
The timing has certainly been an issue, but I learnt some time ago to ignore the 8 hour promise, and just make sure that my timline matched their’s!
They are actually based in the Ukraine, hence the ‘strange English’.
Overall, I have found that they work very hard to make sure I get the result I want. I also learnt early on that the more specific you are with your instructions, the better the quality of the finished product.
With these things in mind, I would encourage anyone reading this to give them a try. They provide good value for money and work hard to make sure they deliver what you want. I’m very appreciative of their service, and will certainly continue to use them.
Winston.
I have had similar experience with PSD2HTML. Ordered Hi-End package, took 4 days to start and then another 5 days to complete.
Since then, I’ve tried various similar providers and have finally been using xhtml.PixelCrayons.com for all my work now. They are based in Utah and have their developers in India but the communication is flawless and most importantly, the promises are kept.
My 2c worth.
The best service so far because is less expensive and because the high-quality of the hand coded PSD to XHTML is http://www.mypsdtohtml.com.
As I read in previous reviews they are an startup that now has a great alexa ranking also google position.The things i found in this service:
Hand coded HTML / XHTML in 24 hours.
The Best Price in the market
PSD, JPG, PNG and even old HTML formats
WordPress Integration, CMS Integration.
I strongly agree with your points Anna regarding xhtml.pixelcrayons.com, even I have experienced their services and I could say that they are the gentlemen of their promises. And this is the only reason we are altogether since last 2
years…
I’ve used psd2html for three projects and, while I never got the work within eight hours – they always gave me excellent work within one or two days. I’ve used their services to create WordPress themes, complicated CSS dropdowns, SIFR pages titles and more. I think they do I great job for the price (and they are always courteous and quick to respond.)
Thanks for writing this. I stumbled across them and wanted to find out more about them before committing. That was also a good link provided by Matt. I’ll check those out too.
I’ve tried psd2html for my drupal project but they did not produce a good result. I just ended up tweaking a lot of codes just to make sure everything they did will fit in with my custom modules. There has been a lot of modifications done with their markup even though I’ve already stated all the requirements.
Total garbage. I have never had so many problems with a service. Delivered my project 14 days late, and it didn’t work and don’t want to refund money. I have much development experience and I could have done this quicker by myself.