Photoshop 5.5(our full review) - Latest version of the classic graphics program. It's a challenge for beginners, but once you've got your head around it you can do anything you like to an image.
Canoma - Take your regular photos of a building and glue them to a wireframe model. Hey Presto! A 3D graphic. The user interface is a joy.
FreeHand - Illustration program famed and revered for its WYSIWYG output. Now in version 8. The trial is 30 day and fully functional.
Image Optimizer - Excellent file size reduction system allows some parts of a graphic to be heavily compressed while other parts retain their detail.
Illustrator - Major-league illustration software from Adobe. Unfortunately the tryout version doesn’t allow saves, exports or printouts.
Macromedia Fireworks(our full review) - Brand new version 3 of the Macromedia graphics production tool. Now with additional tie-ins to Dreamweaver 3.
Web Hotspots 4.0 - Imagemap editors for static and animated imagemaps.
Texter - Create dazzling text animation Java applets in seconds with Ozzino's award winning Texter. Easy to use interface and no programming required.
Calendars for the Web - "The software creates HTML Table and/or Image
Map calendars. I've downloaded many competing
calendar programs and I think this software is much,
much better."
Ozzino Studio - "Let your web pages come alive with exciting animated interactive java applets. Easy to use interface and no programming required.Tons of functionality:- instant animated 3D objects from static images; rotating applets in same location; add interactivity to animated objects and
animated gifs; spectacular drop-down menu bars; and much more."
Spirit - "Spirit can build almost any kind of GUI and deal with interactions. You can build components, vector graphics, spinners, databases, etc."
Paint Shop Pro - Version 6.01 of this great value for money graphics program.
SPG WEB Tools for Photoshop - "The SPG WEB Tools for Photoshop is a suite of 23 award-winning SPG WEB Tools that instantly transforms Photoshop or any plug-in compatible program into a Web Graphics POWERSUITE! This awesome plug-in suite is loaded with
fantastic web graphics features and capabilities not found in any other program or combination of programs."
VIMAS
Web Imaging - Image processing tool for Web designers. JPEG compression, automatic home page generation, image export and batch processing, compound images, thumbnail generation.
WebRazor Utilities - Plug in utilities for PhotoShop for creating low-bandwidth images, buttons, optimizing, etc. Trial version available.
Applet CoolText Wizard- We haven't checked this one out yet. The company blurb says: Tool to create java scrolling banners for web page without coding.
Gif Wizard - Shrink your GIF file size up to 90%. This isn't exactly a program download, it's more of a long-term service provision. But there is a free site check on the page.
Need to convert your images to transparent and interlaced GIFs for the Web? Click here to learn how to do it, or download the tools below.
Image Alchemy - converts over 75 image formats. Available for DOS, OS/2, SCO UNIX, and Mac.
Need to make some whizzy Java buttons? As I had need of some special buttons, I tried out both of these button creation tools recently. Although both produce buttons that work well on your hard drive, neither will produce anything you can use on the Web without paying a registration fee. I imagine they will both improve dramatically in the near future. You can see the mess I made fiddling with them on our Wacky HTML pages.
1 Cool Button Tool - Makes cool Java buttons, has many more features than Applet Menu Wizard (add sounds, more precise positioning, greater control in general) but sadly produces buttons that are a bit on the crashy side with some severe Nescape quirks.
Applet Menu Wizard - Much simpler than 1 Cool Button Tool with fewer features but works smoothly in both browsers as far as I can tell. This is the one I ended up actually using.
If you're interested in free Web tools, it's likely you'll find the rest of our site interesting too. Here's a small sample of our latest features on Web techniques and Internet business:
Developer's View: Roland Lim
Roland runs Cyberengines in Singapore. The country has high broadband availability and other interesting stuff like HDTV. The big surprise is that few people take up these options.
The Case for Object Detection
David Blakey makes the case for a pure kind of JavaScript object detection, aimed at checking the browser can cope with code that follows, but without making assumptions about its type.
Using Scripting.FileSystemObject
The FileSystemObject is a component often used to access the server's file system. But be wary of the security implications for your Web site.
Paying The Search Engines
Many of the top search engines now accept payment for improved listings or fast appraisal of your site for inclusion in their directories. Here are six options.
Internet Predictions For 2001
Now that January is over and most industry pundits have made their predictions for 2001, Andrew Starling is able to steal their ideas and present them as his own.
Misuse of Administrative Logins
How many times have you set up a connection to an SQL server database with username sa and a blank password? Or to Oracle using the username system and password manager? Go to jail immediately and do not pass GO!
Developer's View: Joe Duncan and Bruce Trevarthen
Joe and Bruce specialise in back-end work, including legacy solutions. Here they give their views on company information systems, primary data sources, and how this kind of stuff translates on to the Web.
Anatomy of a JavaScript Picture Puzzle
This simple JavaScript picture puzzle uses DHTML techniques to show individual sections of a single picture, so it doesn't need multiple graphics files for the various slices. Here's how.
Why The Web Still Isn't Ready For Consumers
Despite early projections, consumers have not been overwhelming e-retailers with business. Why? And is there anything positive we can do to improve the situation?
mmsystem006 problems with Windows drivers? We have the answer!
Not only does this encourage developers to keep creating nice software for you to use, it is usually well worth the price, giving you access to additional features, upgrades and such. The Web Developer's Journal just provides links to these download sites. We're not responsible for the programs in any way. If you know of other Web development tools that we should include,
please let us know.
