I love the saying… The best things in life are free. While not always accurate, I’ve found that some of the tools I use the most, are free. And if someone decided to charge for them, I’d pay the price. They’re that good.
Filezilla FTP Client – There are several free FTP clients available, but my favorite is Filezilla. To me, it is laid out well and is very easy to navigate. I’ve been using it daily for a couple of years now.
Pixie Color Picker – This gem, developed by Nattyware, is one of the most amazing tools I’ve ever used. From graphic designers, to photographers, Pixie makes it easy to find a color in a site, logo, or photo and shows the number representations for HTML #, RGB, CMYK, and HSV. With a simple keyboard shortcut (CTRL + ALT + C) you can copy the HTML # number/code of the color you mouse-over. Then you can paste this into your HTML or CSS file, or your graphics or photo editing software.
Firebug for Firefox Browser – While I use Firebug primarily for troubleshooting a site, this plugin for the Firefox browser does so much more! I love that I can “inspect” an element of my site, and instantly see which line of CSS is referenced, as well as where in the PHP the item is located. From modifying a WordPress theme to troubleshooting a client’s site, Firebug is one of my most-used tools and has greatly increased my productivity as a web developer!
I’ll be creating and sharing tutorials for these tools in the near future! Be sure and sign up for my email newsletter to be the first to know when they go live!
What are your favorite free tools for graphic design, web development, and photography?
[...] The rest is here: 3 Free Tools I Use Every Day for Web Development, Graphic Design, and Photo Editing [...]
Seriously, without these three tools I have no idea how I could be productive at all!
I would add one more tool to the list though. Notepad++. It’s great for editing any type of code.
Thanks for posting about this. This is great for people to know that are just getting started!
Seriously, without these three tools I have no idea how I could be productive at all!
I would add one more tool to the list though. Notepad++. It’s great for editing any type of code.
Thanks for posting about this. This is great for people to know that are just getting started!
Chris,
Thanks so much for the comment! Glad to see someone else is also finding these tools useful. My husband is a full-time web developer and he taught me about all these little short-cuts.
I’m currently using Dreamweaver or Notepad to edit code, but I’ll have to try Notepad++ !!
Chris,
Thanks so much for the comment! Glad to see someone else is also finding these tools useful. My husband is a full-time web developer and he taught me about all these little short-cuts.
I’m currently using Dreamweaver or Notepad to edit code, but I’ll have to try Notepad++ !!
If interested, there are more free online webmaster tools to try. Visit http://www.webtoolhub.com/
If interested, there are more free online webmaster tools to try. Visit http://www.webtoolhub.com/
You should also try Colorzilla addon for Firefox will save lots of time.
You should also try Colorzilla addon for Firefox will save lots of time.
Thanks, Harsh! I’ll look into it right away!
Thanks, Harsh! I’ll look into it right away!