Web Design Tools
Web Design Tools For Budding Web Designers
Two of the recognised industry standard tools for web design are Adobe’s ‘Dreamweaver’ Website Design software package and Adobe’s ‘Photoshop’ which is a graphics tool used for editing and formatting digital photographs. There are of course other similar software packages and additional tools such as Adobe’s ‘Flash’ program(which handles dynamic graphics) and that anyone seriously concerned with the production of professional looking Website Designs should be familiar with; but essentially Dreamweaver and Photoshop form your key components for basic web design and are, I believe, the Best Web Design tools available.
The ‘Flash’ software program is a very nice to have accessory that can provide an added dimension to your designs, but should be used within the context of the design brief.
There are a number of versions of Dreamweaver available but they all effectively perform the same or similar functions. It is a professional HTML editor for designing, coding and developing Websites, web pages and web applications. The application offers 2 design environments in which to work, the code view and the design view. You can also select a ’split’ view that lets you see both the code and design views simultaneously.
The design view (visual editing features) allows you to very quickly create web pages without the need to write the associated code that lies behind the design, Dreamweaver takes care of this on your behalf. You can drag in and position the various page elements from an adjoining panel and streamline the development work flow by creating and editing images in third party graphics applications such as the aforementioned ‘Photoshop’ or Adobe’s ‘Flash’ program.
What you will find in practice is that although you can in theory design a website completely from the design screen that you will in fact combine both functions to produce your designs more effectively i.e. typically the basic design is drawn together using the visual editing features and then the coding view is used to fine tune your design to complete the final details. From my experience, it is likely that as you become more familiar with the program that you will find yourself utilising the coding functionality more and more, particularly for managing the pure code aspects of the design such as CSS functionality (cascading style sheets).
Photoshop also comes in many versions and forms, but again the basic functionality is very similar for the different versions. Photoshop allows you to configure and manage static images such as digital photographs or generated images that you may have created within the program. One of the key benefits of Photoshop is that it is relatively easy to use and has been developed with website integration in mind. You can create and save files for the web, reducing resolution for fast loading on the Internet whilst retaining the quality of the image to a level where the differences to the original file are for all intents and purposes indiscernible.
It goes without saying that in order to benefit from any of the programs mentioned, any budding Web Designer should consider taking a web design course to at least get the basics sorted out. My recommendation would be that any courses that are undertaken would include what I consider to be the two core industry standard software packages mentioned and ideally would also include a basic course on the use of Adobe’s ‘Flash Program’.
There are also many free courses and lots of information on the Internet to cover almost every topic, including website design, and once you are past the basic principles and standard practices stage of your development you will find that these courses plus practical experience will prove invaluable for further development of your design skills.
About the Author
You can visit Website Design Tools for further information or Moulin Website Design for more in depth information on all aspects of web design.
http://moulinwebsitedesign.com/
Free Web Design Tools
|
|
Coleman PowerPack 1-Burner Stove $30.75 COLEMAN POWERPACK SINGLE BURNER PROPANE STOVE *Large 3-1/4″, 7,500 BTU burner *Consistent cooking performance even in cold weather, high altitudes and when fuel is low *Adjustable from simmer to full boil *Easy to clean nickel chrome grate… |
|
|
Fat Italian Chef Oven Mitt Hot Pad Pot Decor Kitchen Set of 2 $18.99 Too many chefs in the kitchen? Not when they are this happy to be of service. This cheerful guy is proud to serve up a huge dish of pasta to your family and friends. When they are in use, these high-quality potholders will protect you from the heat. When they’re not, they make a stylish statement hanging on your wall from their cotton hooks. They make great trivets under your hot pots and plates, … |
|
|
Harrisville Designs Warping Mill Harrisville Designs has the capacity to wind up to 20 yards of warp and is collapsible for easy storage. Made of solid hardwood with a butcher-block maple base. Designed for tabletop use, it is 2 yards around and has 30″ of vertical winding space. The mill has a brake and comes unfinished with a can of oil for sealing the wood…. |
|
|
Suncast SS1000 Storage Seat $33.50 Suncast Storage Seat is ideal for you apartment – dwelling green thumbs! When you don’t have a lot of space, organization is key. The Suncast Storage Seat is an ideal way to keep your gardening tools easily accessible when working on your balcony flower boxes, potted herb garden or tomato plants. And here’s a bonus… this Storage Box also gives you a spot to sit while you’re getting you hands dir… |
|
|
Suncast GH1732 Outdoor Trash Hideaway $40.00 Suncast Outdoor Trash Hideaway cleans up a “trashy” scene! Don’t worry, this “trashy cover-up” has nothing to with sleazeball politicians! In fact, the Suncast Outdoor Trash Hideaway is all about “keeping it clean”… your yard that is! This pleasing-to-the-eye Garbage Container goes together in minutes with NO tools and uses a standard 30 to 33-gallon trash bag. The latching lid not only looks go… |
|
|
Eccotemp FVI-12-LP High Capacity Propane Tankless Water Heater $269.00 Clean, compact and feature – packed. Energy – efficient Eccotemp Power – vent Tankless Water Heater saves you BIG BUCKS! Hot water is one of those little modern accessories that makes life worth living. And here’s the next step in its evolution! This Tankless Heater is the model of efficiency, only using energy when you actually turn on the hot water. 74,000 BTU LP gas burner lets it deliver 3 gal… |
|
|
Hot Sock Ultralight Diffuser $0.99 You’ll want a Hot Sock to take care of all kinds of curls! Ultra light diffuser that prevents heat damage and gives you better overall diffusion. Perfect for salon, home, and travel!… |
|
|
West Paw Design Zogoflex® Dog Toy, Bumi Small (Colors Vary) $7.09 Introducing B?mi – the interactive toy that your dog won’t want to put down! B?miTM is the active dog’s dream come true, charged with energetic fun! B?mi is so much more than a tug toy – pull, flex, throw, float, and repeat! Guaranteed to last, even against those “destructive dogs” we love! Since B?miTM is 100% recyclable, this dog toy will never need to be thrown away… except during a game of f… |
|
|
Zippo Black Widow & Spider Web Chrome Lighter, 9202 $19.25 Zippo “Black Widow & Spider Web” Chrome Lighter, 9202… |
|
|
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 $125.20 With the Adobe 65064073 Photoshop Lightroom 3 Software, create superb image quality that captivates viewers with its state-of-the art editing tools and easy-to-use management functions. Achieve clean, natural-looking results at any ISO with its noise reduction technology, eliminate image distortion with the non-destructive perspective correction, control the roughness of the images with the film g… |