Im trying to figure out how to make nice headers with out using photoshop.

I cant seem to get what I want out of VSD. I have all but one CC product, and dont see what I want in them.

Is there a coffeecup-like product out there that simplifies photoshop?

CoffeeCup no, but you could look at Corel products, Adobe Elements and a free one, Gimp.

CoffeeCup doesn't seem to be in the business of producing graphics programs.
Janys' advice is spot on.

Just use http://www.picnik.com
BTW , you said that you don't get what you want out of VSD ?
Don't expect VSD to make a nice site for you,you need to have the design skills yourself
and VSD helps you to put it together and make it work with clickable links and all.
But your ideas can always start on paper and then on a graphic editor to embellish your idea.
Then VSD makes it happen !

If you have time drop on over to website design and development threads for broad strokes questions on designing and developments of websites... we don't bite

Personally I use PaintShop Pro (version 7???) and Adobe PS Elements version 5. I'm sure you can get some inexpensive older versions still on ebay or similar. They do more than enough for me, including allowing me to work in layers. Gimp does all that for free - Open Source and always improving, but I do understand that it is a little less intuitive to work with.

Regarding Graphics, I was fishing for some short cuts or tricks others may have found using VSD or other CC products. You never know till you pose the question. I am learning several graphics programs, just wanted a few cc shortcuts if they are out there.

Any advice on shortening the learning curve is apreciated.

I like CC products, Its just that I dont know any or them like many users in these forums. I tend not to use VSD, but suppliment my sites with their other products.

I am pretty committed to them as long as the simplification doesnt limit me too much. The only product I dont have is Website Access Manager and I would if my server would support it.

You'll find that graphics programs are your best friends for things for website design madsur. CoffeeCup programs other than a couple of them, are website building applications and are therefore not really meant for doing your image work in at all. There are a few programs that work with images, but for the most part you will find yourself much more satisfied with the outcomes of your site images if you use an editor to tweak your images "prior" to adding them to the software for website building such as VSD. Most definitely as VSD since you're able to stretch and shrink photos in VSD and it's misleading you into thinking it's just going to make that image perfectly larger or smaller and that's not the case. Smaller you might get away with if you can restrain the size to stay the same overall dimensions, but if you make it bigger, forget it lol ain't gonna look good because it's stretching a picture and it will distort.

Always best to use an image editor such as PSP or Photo Shop or some of the free ones mentioned in this thread, "prior" to putting the images to your code or VSD

Sorry madsur, no shortcuts for that part unfortunately.

Picture Window Pro, from Digital Light and Color, is an excellent and inexpensive photo editor. One can download the trial verison to try out all the tools, including a range of shape, gradient, etc. functions that aren't strictly for photos.

http://www.dl-c.com/

Jonathan Sachs (the originator of Lotus 1-2-3, how many here remember that august spreadsheet program?) heads the company.

Picture Window Pro is the main tool I use to edit, resize, etc. my photographs.

Along with Visicalc