Web design and development entails a huge variety of disciplines; from photo enhancement to code edits and having the tools to handle every possibility can become a costly investment. However, there are a large number of free web development tools available free for download or online, from photo editors to assimilated development applications that will help in the creation and design of a website. These are six free online web tools worth checking out, to assist your development suite of software.
Mockingbird is a free web-based tool for creating and sharing wireframes. It has a simple, user-friendly interface that makes developing mockups of a website quick and easy. Users just drag and drop interface elements, rearrange and resize to create a perfectly balanced page. Add as many pages needed, then link them all together to share with cohorts, clients or friends to demonstrate how users may navigate the site. Once the mockup is complete, a link is generated that allows users to share with others, or an embedded code is created for the user’s website. Mockingbird is a lightweight tool with minimal features (i.e. there are no templates for guidance), but that makes it easy and quick to use.
Created by Adobe, Kuler is a free web-hosted application for creating color theme inspiration and experimentation. Users can choose, modify, create, mix and match colors; creating their own color swatches with RGB and HEX codes. Save color swatch creations or download themes from thousands in the Kuler community. In addition, users generate a specific color palette based on an image or illustration selected from Flickr or uploaded. Not only is Kuler an integration of the Adobe Creative Suite but also it is accessible as a separate service in the browser and is available through a free app, Adobe AIR.
Pixlr is a free flash-based web application for mobile and desktop image tools and utilities. Since Pixlr has a Flash foundation, they are able to provide significant advantages over a HTLM5 base. If users have Flash 10 or higher any images used with Pixlr will not be available to the company or by anyone else. Currently users can choose from three applications in the Pixlr suite: Pixlr Editor (advanced), Pixlr Express (efficient) and Pixlr-o-matic (playful).
In the world of web development, it is always necessary end up with some image editing. GIMP is an open source graphical editing software, who’s main comparison is Adobe Photoshop. While not technically a web app, it’s development is open source, which means it’s completely free whilst providing some of the advanced characteristics of it’s comparative paid software. Some would argue that Adobe Photoshop is an expensive software that doesn’t have the efficiency that Gimp does for simple graphical editing. By comparison Adobe has a cluttered working environment for advanced users, while Gimp’s User Interface is much stripped down. Gimp also has a super fast program and a lighter footprint than Adobe.
SpritePad is a free web-application that simplifies CSS sprites creations. Working directly in the browsers, users simply drag and drop images to the canvas and begin working to create unique CSS sprites. Each time an image is added, a CSS code snippet is created; users can move images, change options and the CSS style will automatically update. Users can also save time and space with the integrated auto-alignment function, one button automatically aligns all images.
Favicon and Apple Touch icon Generator
Newly Launched! Our own tool by InMotion Hosting, is a favicon generator that also creates the iTouch web icon. Now you can have your website bookmarked on any ipad, itouch, or iphone with it’s own icon!
