> Do you think it can be completely automated? I think that will always depend on how complex a page/site we're talking about. If the design is standard and our toolbox (in this IDE) has all the standard "prims" then yes it's maybe automatable. But if what you're trying to build is edgy those primary building blocks might not be in the toolbox. So unless the web reaches some kind of technical limitation our tools will always be behind the creativity of designer-developers.

As for which framework to use I think the answer may be to move away from Photoshop toward something like Fireworks. I'm in the same boat as you, I get designs in PSD and have to make pixel-perfect html - and like you I notice the friction points (e.g. text sizing in pts vs. pixels, drop shadows don't copy-paste easily, every copy-paste manuever is a "manual" operation). Photoshop is probably the wrong tool for web design. It's great for photos and for going into creative heaven but Fireworks is Adobe's product for mocking up web sites, and I think it's more practical than Photoshop for web designers. As far as the html/css it generates, I would have to learn to trust it. Today I hand-write all the markup myself but there are a lot of tools that are tempting me, especially when they promise cross-browser compatibility.