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Recently, I was asked to recommend a
good image editor that wasn't Photoshop. Now, I have used a number of image
editors over the years, and I prefer Photoshop to just about anything. Yet I
can understand people looking for an alternative, as Photoshop has a long
learning curve and a high price.
There are two graphic editors that I highly
recommend for Web work. The first is called GIMP, which stands for GNU Image
Manipulation Program. Funny name aside, it's an impressive tool. I've used GIMP
in the past and have always found it easy to work with. The second graphic editor
is Paint.NET, a relatively new product that aims to replace Paint, which is found
on most Windows computers. Yet calling it a replacement denies it the credit it
deserves. I was impressed with both its functionally and small size.
Both tools easily handle image resizing, cropping, color adjustments,
making new images, and converting images to different formats. Additionally,
both tools have easy-to-use image optimization features with previews, so you
can compress images for use in your sites. Finally, the best thing about these
tools is their price: free. Yes,
these great tools are available at no cost. Both are open source projects and provide
great alternatives to other commercial products that I would never recommend. So
load up your development environment with one or both of these graphic editors. Adding
some color and graphics to your project doesn't have to be expensive.
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One of the greatest things about Web development
is that you can customize the look and feel of Web sites and applications. But
many developers shy away from this, sticking with the default design of whatever
tool they're using. The more adventurous types might add a bit of color to
their pages, but it's usually nothing more than the client's logo. And who's to
blame them? Design can be difficult, not to mention subjective.
Yet developing an application that not
only works well but looks great is important. Humans are visual by nature; we
can't help but base a lot of our first impressions on looks. With that in mind,
consider developing your next application for the i.LON SmartServer so it's
both functional and attractive.
There are plenty of design options out
there, though most are commercial products that are expensive or difficult to
customize. However, this morning I stumbled upon a great resource for design
and inspiration: the Open Source Web Design project. This site contains over 2,000
free open source designs, ranging from those that simply use color well to full-blown
designs with images and navigation. And like I said, they're all free, so
there's no excuse for those default designs anymore.