Will a Transformer work from a DC inverter's output?
If by "using standard resistors" you mean making a voltage divider to derive a lower DC voltage from a higher one, yes, there are much more efficient ways of doing DC-DC conversion.

Inverting and converting back to DC is probably unneccessarily wasteful compared to the alternatives though. What is this for? If it's for a low-power (ie: electronics) project, you can buy switching regulators on a single IC which are about 70 - 95% efficient. These are pretty cheap these days and you can find them easily on DigiKey.

For higher-power applications, you can either buy dedicated DC-DC converter modules, or you can delve into the world of power electronics and learn about converters such as buck converters (step-down) and boost converters (step-up). If you do so, bring your calculus textbook along for the ride.