Actually, there are programs out there that will do that for you :smile:
I will go along with what Alanheng said - grab a book on CSS, as well as a good HTML glossary and run thru them.
As a programmer by trade who started out using a barebones notepad-esque text editor, I am a firm believer in "getting your hands in the code" - so if I could suggest anything, it would be to get used to working in not only an HTML designer like Frontpage or Dreamweaver (I hate Frontpage myself), as well as a text editor (There are tons of them, I personally use Homesite because I like its color-coding schema). Where those "HTML in a box" designers can work well, you will learn a lot by understanding WHY the page lays out the way it does.
As far as image manipulation, the others have said it all already - there are limitations to what you can do in raw HTML to affect an image, and with the support of CSS in the newer browser versions, you open up a vast array of effects you can use to spruce up your page. Try not to fall into the trap that many beginning web page designers do by adding many kitchy little thingamabobs and gadgets on the page, as they are often more disruptive than "cool".
The Macromedia suite is pretty good - they have some good tutorials, and although Dreamweaver makes an absolute MESS of html, it's a good tool and will help you put together some great pages rather easily.
If you are looking to get into image manipulation, take a look at Fireworks - it's a good entry-mid level image app - doesn't have 1/100th the features of photoshop, but is pretty easy to use out-of-the-box and will let you get up and running quickly with some decent manipulation features. It will also export out the page into html, although you get dreamweaver's HTML and man that stuff is ugly.