Lynda Weinman is generally considered the authority in this area. Pick up her book Designing Web Graphics . They told me to buy all these books and software. I don't have that kind of money. Well yes, it can be a costly proposition.
Large corporations spend millions annually on professionally designed and constructed websites.
That's a relatively small price to pay for being able to do it yourself. Compared to the automated tools we mentioned in the beginning, it's a bargain. Plus you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you learned a marketable skill, and you did your own thing. Learning how really can be the only expense you will incur, and it is so rewarding. When you're finally ready to publish your website for the world to see, you'll start to hear about things like web hosts and domain names.