Out of curiosity, I was wondering what tools you use to design, and what ones you think are the best to use.

Personally, I use Notepad ++ for all of my coding.. because it keeps it nice and clean, and I use Photoshop for my graphics, just because it's the best image program out there.

Tools such as Dreamweaver and Frontpage seem useless to me, but I'm sure some of you use them.

So, what ones do you use, and why?

I primarily use my brain and my left and right hands. Notepad++ gives me some beautiful coloring, though. I use Dreamweaver, however, I do NOT use the WSIWYG editor. It writes horrible, ugly code. Dreamweaver just has auto-complete features, as well as built-in FTP and site management, which is awesome.

Edit: Oh, I use Fireworks for my images. It works great for these little web images you see all over the site.

True that. I really don't like things like it, though. Just personal preference.

I use both Notepad++ and Dreamweaver. However I don`t use WYSWYG part of dreamweaver, i just use it because of the intellisense feature(auto-complete).
For designing a layout, i use photoshop cs2. The best tool so far!
And for uploading, i have installed FilleZilla..

Photoshop CS2 is the best for designing, hands down.

I use SmartFTP as my FTP client, by the way.

FileZilla for the win! Dreamweaver has built-in FTP, just in case you didn't know... but I like having mine separate for some things.

Tools i use are

Photoshop CS at home
Photoshop CS3 at work
FileZilla
Notepad++
Dreamweaver (as others i use it for the auto complete, but having a memory like a sieve i also use it to remind me of code :P)

I also have the full AdobeCS3 (Macromedia) suite at work , but dont know the other programs.

Cadet

You should play around with Fireworks. It is great for web graphics, I think. Sometimes being bigger doesn't mean better...

I tried to play around with it earlier today.. and I really didn't like it. The tools weren't working for some reason, so I just gave up. I couldn't even get the eyedropper to work.

On my Mac I use: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Color Schemer Studio, and Transmit.

Brant, do you have any SEO tools you use?

hi.....
I use Dreamweaver 4 and TextPad. Dreamweaver for it's WYSIWYG feature and common UI and integration with Fireworks and Flash. I don't like some of the proprietary technology which FrontPage uses and the zillion little files it leaves on your server. I also like Dreamweaver's "split screen" view of the code and the page for quick edits. Dreamweaver doesn't change my code like FrontPage does. I even used it to modify dozens of the vBulletin templates you are using.

TextPad is great for little snippets of HTML code and has some features that a bulky HTML editor does not. My favorites: join lines, a zillion documents open at the same time in a single window, line numbers, a fast search and replace, and compare files. I also use this tool to edit scripts.
web development company

Hello, and welcome newage123.

I, personally, don't like any WYSIWYG editors, because it seems to not code things as nicely as I would by hand, if you know what I mean. They are decent if you're doing just a quick job and plan to fix the code later on, if you know what I mean. Dreamweaver is a good tool, though. Some of it its autofill options seem to be very helpful at times, and I use it if I have it on the computer that I am on. If I don't, I will usually download Notepad++. If I feel like I am in a lazy mood, I will skip the download process and just use good ol' Notepad.

Notepad not ++, Paint.NET for graphics, and SmartFTP for file transfer.

I really like Photoshop, but it is so expensive. The principles of design, however, are the same regardless of which image-manipulation program you use. It is far quicker do design it in a program than to code and play.

I'm becoming a fan of GIMP over Paint.net, though.

Hi,All
Start in Adobe Photoshop, and graphically work out the design (do a mock-up). Once you're satisfied with the look of it then you visually break it down, as to how it will be placed in the code.

Best Wishes
Jorseyy
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carbon footprint software

Photoshop cs4, Dreamweaver 4, .NET for graphics, and SmartFTP for file transfer.

mlm software development

Wellstyled’s Color Scheme Generator is a simple web tool that helps designers produce color themes. It has an intuitive interface and the ability to bookmark generated color themes.Typetester allows you to test, tweak, and compare screen typography. It has a variety of typefaces that include web-safe fonts like Arial and Verdana – but it can also use your personal fonts.The Dummy Text Generator is a versatile and useful web application for generating dummy text. Though branded as a "Lorem ipsum generator for web designers", it will also come in handy for designers working on print layouts.

thanks

seo agency

Hello,

When it comes to design, there’s a plethora of free web-based tools to help you accomplish tasks such as color palette selection, creating unique fonts, editing images, and testing typography. Every day, however, thousands of people are releasing mobile versions of their websites and seeing greatly increased levels of traffic as a result. Unless you optimize your website for mobile phone users soon, you could be left behind by the competition.

Thanks,

seo services

Hello..,
There is nothing particularly special about making icons - they're just bitmaps on small canvases. And there’s certainly no need to submit yourself to the torture of MSPAINT (which should be reserved for free-handing intentionally bad drawings. ;-) ).

Depending on your budget, I would suggest these programs:

Paint.Net (free!)
Relatively simple & easy to use. Feels like MSPaint with enhancements. Good free program.
Photoshop ($700)
King of the hill, but priced accordingly. You can do just about anything with Photoshop.

Other programs that are commonly used (but I don't personally use):
The GIMP (free!)
I find the interface confusing and obtuse, but this could be the result of years of Photoshop training me to work a certain way. Many people swear by this program. S.gfx also pointed out that has many advanced features and allows saving as ico. Even if not chosen as primary editor, it is a good idea to have it installed.
CorelDraw ($325)
I know that people use this program, I just don't know people that use this program.

If you want to create icons that will easily scale to future monitor resolutions (which seem to always be increasing), you'll want to create in a vector-based design program:
Inkscape (free!)
I've only toyed around with this but it looks cool. There are some cool examples in their gallery.
Illustrator ($600)
Like Photoshop, this one is the big dog of vector programs and, like Photoshop, its price tag reflects this.

If you need a program to convert your bitmaps to ICO files, IcoFX is great and it has a shareware version. Update: I forgot to mention (because it's not part of my workflow), IcoFX also has editing capabilities so you can create an icon from scratch without using any other programs. Interface is similar to MSPaint or Paint.NET.
and thanks for share with us your post..,