CSS Sculptor – Is it too good to be true?
When I found out about Eric Meyer’s CSS Sculptor, I had to download it and test it. I was skeptical that it could really produce clean, well-formed CSS. I was happily surprised. It’s an excellent tool. The interface is very intuitive. I think anyone with a basic understanding of CSS could easily produce a full site layout with this extension. You can choose from 30 presets and several color schemes, and then customize from there. You have the ability to change id names to match your naming convention, or change width and height or padding and margin attributes. Background, text and link colors can be defined–you can even add background images and a print style sheet from within the CSS Sculptor interface. Your layouts can be saved as presets and edited as needed. Once CSS Sculptor generates the layout, you can work with it in Dreamweaver as you would any other site.
This extension can be invaluable to individual designers who need to work at a production pace; it significantly lessens initial setup time. I recreated my site design in less than 15 minutes. Larger firms could use it to standardize their layouts, saving presets that designers can share and increasing productivity. I think it really shines as a learning tool. If the comments feature is checked, the style sheet is saved with comments that explain the code. This is an excellent way for a newbie to learn to write CSS. And it validates!
My only criticism is that shorthand isn’t used as much as it should be. Other than than, I think it’s well worth the price.
While we’re on the topic of CSS, check out Sitepoint’s new online CSS Reference – http://reference.sitepoint.com/css. Finally, everything you need to know in one place. Way to go, Sitepoint!
Ink and paper are fundamental to the graphic design business, but we can make choices that are environmentally friendly without compromising design standards. In fact, many projects are enhanced by the use of soy-based inks and recycled papers. Read 
I’ve been a designer for 20 years. I started in the days of waxers and transfer letters, transitioned to the computer in the late eighties, and tackled web design in the early nineties. I’ve tried to keep up with all of the software and technologies of the trade, from HTML to CSS and JS, Pagemaker to InDesign. I’ve worked in both worlds–freelance and corporate, finding that they both have their upsides and drawbacks. It’s a challenge to stay current, but it’s my passion and the perfect profession for someone who never wants to be bored! I hope that I have something valuable to offer other designers.