Creating a half-decent looking Web site usually requires pulling out the big guns - a heavy-duty graphics program, a few choice plug-ins such as Alien Skin for button and text effects and some sort of HTML editor (and a text editor, of course, for die-hard hand coders).

Then, unless you are a deft hand at programming in JavaScript, you might also have to invest in Macromedias Fireworks or Flash to add interactivity. The process is long, cumbersome, fiddly and wickedly expensive.

While professional Web page designers might be happy with the status quo, its a serious case of overkill for those of us simply wanting to whip up a basic but elegant Web page.

Uleads PhotoImpact 6.0 Web Studio Pro targets precisely this kind of user - one who wants the job done quickly but with some degree of control over the final product.

PhotoImpact 6.0 offers much the same functionality as its predecessors except that the suite of applications now handles Web page creation and a myriad of Web page related functions such as the creation of animations and rollovers.The suite is broken up into three parts; the main PhotoImpact graphics software, PhotoImpact Album and Uleads GIF animator.

At first glance the suite looks like a souped-up, very busy version of Paint
Shop Pro, so if youre familiar with Paint Shop Pro, or Adobe Photoshop (reviewed p86) for that matter, using the software is very straightforward.
The star feature of the suite is the ability to pump out very polished Web pages and then export them to a single HTML document.

Using the Component Designer means that you will be able to easily create custom backgrounds, instant JavaScript rollovers, banners, image maps and buttons without needing to leave PhotoImpact.

If you dont have the experience or courage to create the images from scratch a wizard will step you through the process. You have access to over 800 ready-to-use image templates in the box.

Create transparent backgrounds which are ideal for blending and feathering irregularly shaped objects without having to fiddle with layers and masks. Customised backgrounds are done through the Background Designer allowing seamlessly tiled backgrounds while the Kaleidoscope lets you produce seamless patterns based on another image.

The new image slicer is handy for pages with large images. This slick feature is used to force images to load on a Web page incrementally rather than all at once.

You wont be able to edit the HTML directly within the software, however. Oddly though you can cut and paste HTML into an HTML object box if you want to copy effects on an existing Web site.

PhotoImpact also aids you in creating customised vector-based drawings based on paths and curves. The old features for creating your own shapes still remain, however several of the new additions in this section, such as the Object Eraser and revamped Stamp Tool, just bring this feature-set up to scratch.

The range of brushes and associated effects available are very impressive. Text is handled extremely well, even if you still have to work within a fairly confined dialogue box. Unlike some software which forces you to edit text by the word, PhotoImpacts Creative Text feature lets you format text by the single character. Those familiar with the multimedia concept of timelines and key frames can even animate text using new effects.

PhotoImpacts Web Studio Pro also contains a few small but clever surprises, such as the ability to partially load images into the browser rather than the entire file, which is handy if youre running low on system resources. There is also an option to send your newly-created Web pages via email as an EXE file rather than having to zip or attach dozens of GIF or JPG files. A new EasyPalette offers one-click thumbnail access to 19 of the softwares best and most used pre-set commands.

There isnt a lot wrong with PhotoImpact 6 Web Studio Pro. It doesnt require buckets of RAM but it does demand nearly 250Mb of hard drive space. For a piece of software that is so functional, easy to use and feature-rich the asking price of $262 is reasonable. And, if you just cant bear to tear yourself away from your beloved Photoshop plug-ins the good news is that theyre compatible with PhotoImpact 6!