Entries Tagged as 'Tools'
40 Excellent Fonts to Use Through Google Web Fonts
Published May 9th, 2012 in Design, Tools - 2 Comments
In recent years the possibilities for using a wide variety of fonts and typefaces in web design has come a long way. There are now several different options for approaches that you can take when you want to use a font other than the basic, standard web safe fonts. Google Web Fonts has quickly become one of the leading options.
With Google Web Fonts it is quick and easy to implement a wide variety of fonts into the websites that you design and code. There are currently more than 500 fonts that are available through Google Web Fonts, and many of them are of sufficient quality to use in professional designs. In this post we’ll feature 40 fonts that you can start using today.
10 Resources for Creating Website Color Schemes
Published December 28th, 2011 in Design, Tools - 15 Comments
Choosing the right color scheme is one of the most important decisions of the website design process, and it can also be one of the most challenging. Fortunately, there are a number of great tools available to help with color selection.
Some of the resources mentioned in this post will allow you to browse through a variety of color palettes or schemes, many will allow you to create and save your own color schemes, and some are interactive, allowing you to quickly create an effective color scheme.
Kuler
Adobe’s Kuler includes a large library of user-submitted color schemes. You can view the color schemes online or download them to be used in Adobe Creative Suite products.
20 Awesome Thunderbird Addons
Published December 12th, 2011 in Tools - 5 Comments
Thunderbird is a popular and free email application from Mozilla, the people behind Firefox. Like Firefox, one of the reasons for Thunderbird’s popularity is the number of quality add-ons that are available for download. While Thunderbird includes all of the necessary features for managing your email, there are tons of add-ons that bring additional functionality that may make the application far more useful and productive for you.
In this post we’ll highlight 20 add-ons that can prove to be highly useful.
Lightning adds a calendar to Thunderbird so you can keep track of your schedule from within Thunderbird.
Organize your schedule and life’s important events in a calendar that’s fully integrated with your Thunderbird email. Manage multiple calendars, create your daily to do list, invite friends to events, and subscribe to public calendars.
Best Options for Real Time Analytics
Published November 8th, 2011 in Marketing, Tools - 21 Comments
Every business, large or small, has a need to know what is going on with its website and how users are interacting with it. There are a number of different options when it comes to website analytics, and this post will feature the leading options that provide visitor data in real time.
Real time analytics can prove to be invaluable when working with social media or viral campaigns that tend to send traffic quickly and in short bursts. In these situations you’ll need to be able to react quickly, and real-time website analytics allow you to do so. Here is a look at some of the best options.
Google Analytics
In recent weeks Google Analytics rolled out a new feature for real-time reporting. You can see how many visitors are on your site at the moment, what specific pages they are viewing, what sites referred them, where they are located geographically, and more. You’ll need to be using the new version of Analytics in order to view the real time data (read more about that in this post on the Analytics blog).
19 Resources for Getting Design Feedback
Published September 7th, 2011 in Design, Tools - 11 Comments
Designers have a constant need for feedback, whether it be from clients, users, or team members. Gathering and organizing feedback can become quite cumbersome without an organized approach. Fortunately, there are plenty of apps and resources available to help with this issue, and we’ll look at many of them in this post.
As you look at the resources covered in this post you’ll see a great deal of variety. Some are intended to assist with feedback from clients, while others may be intended for team members or users. Some focus on simplicity and ease of use while others have extensive feature lists. Find one that works well for your needs and you’ll find that you have a much more efficient process for managing feedback.
The Best Resources for Getting Design Feedback
ProofHQ
ProofHQ is a full-featured web app for managing feedback and collaboration. You can upload and manage over 50 types of files that can be commented on and marked up by reviewers. You can manage multi-page files, easily share your proofs with anyone, manage contacts and groups, and more. Prices start at $17 per month with a 14-day free trial available.
Magic 3D Photoshop Action
Published August 24th, 2011 in Free Resources, Tools - 60 Comments
Today we have a free Photoshop Action for easily creating 3D effects. The action was created by Damian Watracz for the readers of the Vandelay Design blog. With the help of the action you can easily give 3D effects to layers, vector shapes, and text.
Damian has also created a video to demonstrate how to use the action.
Download the action and associated files (1.3 MB zip file).
25 Useful jQuery Tooltip Scripts
Published August 17th, 2011 in Tools, Web Development - 11 Comments
Tooltips can be a helpful way to provide information to visitors without creating clutter in a design. If you would like to add an attractive tooltip to your website it doesn’t have to be difficult. There are plenty of quality scripts available for use that will allow you to set up tooltips without coding it from scratch. In this post we’ll present 25 different jQuery tooltip scripts.
You may also be interested in:
- 25 jQuery Slider/Image Gallery Tutorials and Plugins
- 25 Excellent jQuery Sliders Tutorials and Plugins
- 25 jQuery Drop Down Menu Scripts
- 35 jQuery Animation Tutorials
Easiest Tooltip and Image Preview Using jQuery
Project Management Apps for Freelancers and Designers
Published August 10th, 2011 in Tools - 35 Comments
Managing client projects is a major requirement for efficiency and for creating a positive experience for clients. Regardless of whether you freelance, work for a small agency, or work for a large agency, there are a lot of details and communication involved in client projects. Having an efficient system for managing those projects is essential.
In this post we’ll look at 10 project management apps that can help. While many of them have similar features, each has it’s own unique way of doing things. Some are web-based apps that involve a monthly fee, and others software with a one-time fee, and others are open source and free.
Basecamp
Basecamp, from 37signals, is one of the most popular options for project management. Communication with other group members is easy with Basecamp, making it much more efficient than email. Other features include file sharing, to-do lists, assigning of due dates and responsibilities, project templates, and more.
Pricing for Basecamp is based on the number of projects and the amount of disk space needed for storage. The basic plan starts at $24 per month (15 projects, 5 GB of storage). A limited free plan is also available.
20 Highly Useful Google Chrome Extensions
Published August 1st, 2011 in Tools - 14 Comments
When it comes to extensions and add-ons, Firefox has been far ahead of other browsers for quite some time. But as Google Chrome has taken an increasing share of the market over the past year or two we have seen a significant increase in the number of Chrome extensions that are available.
Many users have been impressed with Chrome’s speed but have been hesitant make the switch from Firefox because of add-ons that they use regularly. In this post we’ll take a look at 20 Chrome extensions that are available. This is just a sampling of what’s out there, and more extensions are being released all the time, especially with Chrome’s growing user base.
Mail Checker Plus for Google Mail
This extension allows you to easily manage your Gmail accounts. Features include:
- Mail preview window, read mail without leaving the current tab
- Delete, archive, spam, star and mark as read functionality
- Desktop and sound notifications when new mail arrives
- Support for multiple Google and Google Apps accounts
- Mailto-links open in your Gmail or Google Apps Mail account
- Monitor all your labels or priority inbox
Ultimate Collection of Free Photoshop Styles
Published June 7th, 2011 in Design, Tools - 23 Comments
Photoshop users can save time during the design process by making use of layer styles. Whether you are saving your own custom style to be used multiple times throughout your design (such as with a button), or using pre-made styles created by other designers, taking advantage of this feature in Photoshop can greatly speed up your workflow.
In this post we’ll link out to a number of useful Photoshop layer styles that can be downloaded for free. Many of them have been created especially for text, others for buttons, and some are more general. Download the styles and apply them to your layers for instant results.
