With the increasing significance of online businesses, more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon. Also, new ways are being explored to build better websites that reduce costs and boost efficiency. PSD to WordPress conversion has become a tactful method to create outstanding websites. By using this method, one can convert Photoshop designs into an attractive WordPress theme.
What is PSD?
PSD is an extension used by Photoshop files that store graphical data. It stands for Photoshop Document. Photoshop is widely used for creating website designs. When a design is created the output is saved into. PSD files. A professional developer can use a PSD file to code the WP theme. There is a systematic process of creating such a theme and it requires technical skills. A Photoshop document helps in creating pixel perfect, quality, and standards-compliant theme for your website. Bootstrap simplifies and expedites the task of developing the front-end part of your site.
Why PSD to WordPress conversion?
Being a popular content management system, WordPress is a promising platform to develop different types of websites be it a blog, enterprise website, eCommerce platform, or any other solution. Further, WordPress offers a host of alluring benefits that make it the first choice for web development for many businesses. There are many benefits like cost-effective development, SEO friendly websites, the large pool of themes and plugins, huge community support, plenty of tools & resources, etc that make WordPress a leading choice for website development. Converting PSD files into WordPress is a useful way to create a website theme.
Steps to convert PSD to WordPress
There are several steps that you have to follow to create a WordPress theme from your Photoshop design files. Here is the whole procedure that you will follow to convert PSDs.
Step 1: Analyze Photoshop document
The very first step starts by analyzing PSD files to comprehend the intricacies of design that you have to deal with while converting PSD to WordPress theme. Scan the whole PSDs meticulously to get a good understanding of how you will create the theme. You should clearly define every step that you will be following to create the theme. Once you are ready for a proper plan of the conversion, you can kick start by slicing the files.
Step 2: Slide PSD file
After analyzing PSDs, the next step in the process is slicing the file. In this step, you will have to chop your Photoshop design file and divide it into different image files or layers. So, there will be multiple design files each having different elements of your PSD file. It is an important step because coding the whole design using a single image is almost impossible. To make your work easier, you can slice your design in the following manner:
- Chop header and separator
- Slice background and other visual elements
- Cut off footer and related elements
Once you cut the design into separate images, save these image files into JPEG or PNG format. During slicing, be careful about your static and dynamic content. Elements like gradient backgrounds, special symbols, buttons, solid color background, etc that can be created using CSS only. So, there is no need to create separate image files for these elements.
Step 3: Download and unzip Bootstrap
After you slice your PSD file into different image files and they are ready for conversion, visit the Bootstrap website and download the latest version. Once downloaded, extract Bootstrap in a folder. Twitter Bootstrap is a very useful front-end framework as it allows creating responsive websites.
Step 4: Code your design
This is the step when you have to code your design into HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Create index.html and style.css files as these are the main files of your website. Use HTML5 to create varied elements and use CSS3 to style those elements. You will have to initiate Bootstrap in the head section of your index.html and related JavaScript in the body section. If you don’t have enough skills to code your design into HTML/CSS/JavaScript code, then look for a PSD to WordPress company to transform your designs into the required code. You will need to create folders for resources like images, JavaScript code, etc. After this step, you will be able to create an HTML/CSS template of your site.
Step 5: WordPress integration
This is the crucial step as it is where you will integrate your HTML template into WordPress CMS. After converting your PSD into HTML/CSS, you will now integrate this into WP. To do this, you will need to create two main files: index.php and style.css. This step should be done perfectly to get greater output. This step will yield a WordPress theme as an output. You will need to hire a WordPress developer to create a WP theme if you don’t have the required skills.
Step 6: Testing the theme
After creating the theme, it should be tested for performance and quality. Test the WP theme to make sure that your theme is working well on all devices. Also, make sure that the theme is rendering well in different web browsers. Proper testing of the theme will enable to ensure the quality of your site.
Step 7: Additional functionalities
When your theme clears all the tests successfully, your WordPress theme is ready to be launched. You may also want to add some additional functionalities to your theme as per your requirements. You can add such functionalities and create a more robust solution. After completing all the steps successfully, your WordPress theme is ready to go.
Final note
The process of converting PSD to WordPress theme should not be difficult if you have hands-on experience in web technologies and WordPress CMS. When you follow the right steps, nothing is tough. However, you will find difficulty in converting your PSD file into a WordPress theme, if you don’t have skills in coding. In that case, you should look for PSD to WordPress conversion services and get your design converted to a quality WP theme.
