In my opinion, knowing HTML is the first step to making your own template.
There are programs out there that you can use like Adobe GoLive or Microsoft Frontpage that tend to add unnecessary code that can damage your output and if you don't know what is wrong, being able to fix it becomes very difficult if not impossible.
All is not lost though! I suggest a two-fold approach.
1. Take an online HTML tutorial (or two). There are many out there that are free and really good - one website in particular is www.w3schools.com
2. Take your new HTML knowledge and one of our templates that looks like it has the right layout that you like and customize it. Go to the Listing tab and click on "Customize an Auctiva Template". Choose the one you like from the list and click "Go" to see the HTML for that template. Now you are ready to practice your new HTML!
For my money, learning the basics of HTML will really help you in the long run and the benefit is, it isnt that hard! Really! AND you won't have to buy additional software that can cost you hundreds of dollars.
You can do it! Let us know when you get your first homemade auction template up
Cara
P.S. A good resource to have is www.practiceboard.com. You can put HTML into the practiceboard and see what it will come out like.