I thought I would put together a quick and dirty list to let people know about some of the tools that help me with my designs. Here you will find some handy dandy links, add-ons and free web apps I use on a regular basis.
1. Firebug (add-on for Firefox)
My lifesaver. If you haven't used firebug yet you are missing out. It makes coding those designs that much easier as you can edit a lot of items on the fly. It's also very helpful for troubleshooting problems.
2. Web Developer (add-on for Firefox)
My other lifesaver. Before I discovered Firebug I only used this little add on. Though it might not be as handy as Firebug there are some great features that simply cannot be ignored. It adds a slick toolbar with many highlights such as browser resizing, a measurement ruler and a great information drop down menu which provides everything you need when it comes to editing and troubleshooting code.
3. FireFTP (add-on for Firefox)
Simple... it's a free FTP manager for uploading your work to an external server. Highly recommended!
4. Icon Finder
The ultimate Icon search engine. You can find many free icons on this site for personal and commercial use. It's also a good source for inspiration when you are creating your own.
5. Google Apps
I cannot say enough good things about Google Apps. Not only is Gmail simply the best email solution out there but Google Docs just might be Google's MVP. Google Docs sharing ability makes it very easy for multiple people to collaborate on a single document file. It's fantastic! I haven't used Microsoft Word in years and do not miss it one bit.
6. Adobe Kuler
Not a lot of people know about Kuler. It's a fun and intuitive way to create color schemes and find the perfect RGB, CMYK and Hex values for your project.
7. Convert ICO
The perfect favicon solution web site. I use this to convert my 16x16 png files to .ico files.
8. Vecteezy
A great place to find personal and commercial use vectors for your projects.
9. Slick Plan
Create site maps and flow charts all within your browser.
10. Go Mockingbird
Another great online tool for creating those crucial wire frames for web design.
What free tools do you use for your designs? I'm always on the hunt for more so feedback is certainly welcome.
