Photoshop vs. Sketch: Which One is Cleanest & Optimized HTML/CSS?

Photoshop vs. Sketch: HTML development and CSS development are the most crucial parts of Professional Website Design. Compared to Other parts of a website these are the most sensitive ones. The code written in CSS helps to manage the theme of the website. Whereas, HTML is the main code or popularly known as the body code of any website. Both the backend and frontend of the website contain elements of HTML.

Images are one of the most important elements of any website. The developer can select mainly two types of images. The first one is CSS based, and another one is Sketch. Based on the developer’s preference, the type of images are selected and coded into their own HTML or CSS code. Below mentioned are some of the methods through which we can add images to the website.

1. Using Photoshop

Soon after the release of CS6, Adobe has allowed building individual extensions for Photoshop to their community. Because of such an unexpected step by Adobe, the community filled with talented developers started to develop tools like CSS Hat and CSS3Ps. These tools were one of the most critically acclaimed tools for code extraction. Photoshop has always been the first choice of the developers as far as adding images in the website is concerned. But, ever since the concept of mobile-friendly design or responsive design trend has taken place, everyone is neglecting Photoshop.

2. Code Exporting using Sketch App

The layer styles of the Sketch App are very much friendly to CSS. The Shadow options accept four values, i.e., Spread, Blur, Y, and X. Filling these boxes we will directly get the line of code. One disadvantage of using the Sketch App is that it does not have any application in the form of a companion to editing code. Regarding coding, Sketch App does not have any means to extend the flow of work. We can always switch between applications such as the code editor of our choice and the Sketch App. Photoshop vs. Sketch

3. Code Extraction using Adobe Brackets

As far as community development is concerned, Adobe has done a lot better in the past few months. For example, the camera apps that the Adobe engineers have designed are one of the best and also the one which has various features such as real-life colors, Vectors, Brushes, etc. All these features can be synced automatically into the account of Creative Cloud. The collaboration of Brackets and Photoshop is one of the most impressive collaborations of all time. A bracket is an open-source editor which is mainly used by HTML developers and CSS developers to build the front end. The best feature of Brackets is its user interface which is extremely fluid and also has a minimal design which makes it easy to operate.

3.1. Import PSD into Brackets

Ever since the first version of Brackets had been released, HTML and CSS developers have full freedom to import documents directly from Photoshop to Brackets. HTML and CSS developers can also extract data on design such as fonts, colors, etc. without having Photoshop installed on their systems. Following simple steps, any Creative cloud subscriber can send a shareable link which later on can be copied into the Brackets. The first step is to click on the “Extract for Brackets” icon located on the sidebar. By clicking on it, we will see a sample Photoshop document with all its layers intact and also, find options to turn on and off different layers that we want.

3.2. Measuring the distance between two layers

Sketch app is mainly used to measure the distance between two layers. The process of extraction is not as intuitive as most of the developers expect. We can use the extracted Brackets in the stylesheet without leaving the application by copying its value to the clipboard.

3.3. How to Rapid code with CSS hunting

If we want to know the number of Brackets maturing then CSS hinting is one of the best features. It is capable enough to give competition to Dreamweaver CC. We can extract all the styles by choosing a layer from the Photoshop Document. The first step is layer selection, and another step is to get transferred to the stylesheet. When the time will come when we declare the style, based on the selected layer not only then will the Brackets suggest code hints circumstantial but, also provide pre-defined values? There is a dedicated extension button provided by browser vendors.

Conclusion

PSD to HTML and Sketch to HTML has always been a debating topic among various developers. Some developers say that Photoshop is a multi-application tool and it’s too huge to handle small applications. The truth is, unlike PSD, Sketch App cannot be directly converted into the CSS file.