You don't mention your purpose. If the site is for information only with few expected hits a week a solution would be different to an e-commerce site with thousands of hits a day. I wouldn't suggest setting up your own server without considerable IT support being available. Shared hosting doesn't cost much, but whether it works for you depends on your site intentions. Avoid expensive software unless you expect to do this again and again. If you know Windows software and are familiar with 'frames' the cheapest and easiest route is WebPlus from Serif. This has templates and its just a case of filling in the blanks. If you need graphics then your problems start mounting. Photoshop is for very clever artists and not the novice. If you have some expertise but want to pay only a little try Ability Software. They have 'Photopaint'. Its main advantage is that its cheap and its permits Photoshop plug-ins. This would give you effects at a lower cost than using Photoshop itself.

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