If you're a graphic designer that has created a beautiful design that needs to be converted into a WordPress themes, you have several options from hiring out a specialist, using an automated service or doing it yourself.
Let's look at the first option.
Hiring out a specialist is the first possibility and you can expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $200 (or more) to get someone familiar with WordPress to convert your design into a template.
One thing you should make sure is absolutely clear is whether they're creating a WordPress 3 series template or not.
This series has several new features that is essential for your clients to get the most out of this CMS.
Namely, menus and widgets.
The WP 3 menu system is VERY easy to use and sidebar widgets are an essential function.
But not all conversion specialists guarantee they're making WP 3 compatible templates, so make sure they do before choosing them to do the conversion.
A second option which may be more usable down the road is a service called Divine.
They get a very high StumbleUpon rating which is a fairly good sign it's a usable service.
(I haven't tried their service, nor am I in any way affiliated with them.
) They appear to be in Beta mode, so not all functions will be working as of this writing.
There also seems to be a major limitation with their graphic output -- all images are exported to GIF format which could result in some very large image files, depending on your design.
Even though most people use broadband at home these days, more and more people are connecting via remote connections (phones, iPads) so having a fast download is still essential.
If your design is simple this shouldn't be a problem.
But if your design has a lot of textures or photo elements, the download time will be considerable.
The last option is to do it yourself.
If you have any experience with Cascading Style Sheets, doing a PSD to WordPress conversion can be a lot of fun! It can also be a bit nerve-wracking trying to find the exact style affecting your design element, but if you use the Firebug extension for Firefox you can usually find the style fast.
As someone with more of a design background, I've come to love customizing templates for WordPress.
The key thing is to find a free template in the WordPress directory that is very close, then make your changes with it, instead of trying to build a template from scratch (which is only something programmers should attempt).
Let's look at the first option.
Hiring out a specialist is the first possibility and you can expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $200 (or more) to get someone familiar with WordPress to convert your design into a template.
One thing you should make sure is absolutely clear is whether they're creating a WordPress 3 series template or not.
This series has several new features that is essential for your clients to get the most out of this CMS.
Namely, menus and widgets.
The WP 3 menu system is VERY easy to use and sidebar widgets are an essential function.
But not all conversion specialists guarantee they're making WP 3 compatible templates, so make sure they do before choosing them to do the conversion.
A second option which may be more usable down the road is a service called Divine.
They get a very high StumbleUpon rating which is a fairly good sign it's a usable service.
(I haven't tried their service, nor am I in any way affiliated with them.
) They appear to be in Beta mode, so not all functions will be working as of this writing.
There also seems to be a major limitation with their graphic output -- all images are exported to GIF format which could result in some very large image files, depending on your design.
Even though most people use broadband at home these days, more and more people are connecting via remote connections (phones, iPads) so having a fast download is still essential.
If your design is simple this shouldn't be a problem.
But if your design has a lot of textures or photo elements, the download time will be considerable.
The last option is to do it yourself.
If you have any experience with Cascading Style Sheets, doing a PSD to WordPress conversion can be a lot of fun! It can also be a bit nerve-wracking trying to find the exact style affecting your design element, but if you use the Firebug extension for Firefox you can usually find the style fast.
As someone with more of a design background, I've come to love customizing templates for WordPress.
The key thing is to find a free template in the WordPress directory that is very close, then make your changes with it, instead of trying to build a template from scratch (which is only something programmers should attempt).
Source...