IN this section I plan to consider not only programs for creating website design, but also any other software that a web designer encounters in one way or another in his work. The most popular design program is probably Photoshop, but, as they say, it’s not the only one. There are many more nuances and areas in web design where you can use specific software - layout, fonts, working with browsers, FTP, etc.
In general, using web design programs will not only allow you to “do your job well,” but it is often a good opportunity to save some time, automate and simplify some processes. I'm glad that in Lately There are more and more similar solutions and programs for designers - I will talk about all the new products and old proven software.
Designers are those people who are constantly looking for something new: interesting sources of inspiration, specialized online services, offline programs like CSS editors, as well as all sorts of tricks/scripts that help speed up and improve the workflow. You've probably heard about one of the largest software products for this browser - built-in tools Chrome developer Devtools, however, at the same time you can find dozens and hundreds of smaller, but very useful applications. Exactly about...
The effectiveness of any web resource largely depends on the degree of success of its interaction with the user, i.e. usability and successful UI/UX design. If a site is difficult to use, then its visitors are highly likely to find and choose something else. However, if the user receives a positive impression, he will not only use this product himself, but will also recommend it to his friends. In this article we will look at best tools to create good usability….
When the need arises to edit/improve photographs, not every user will be able to solve the problem using professional software like Photoshop. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to figure this out without additional knowledge or searching for information on Google. However, as an alternative, we advise you to try simpler photo editors, which are specifically designed for quick and easy processing of graphic images. One of the most popular such tools is Movavi. It was previously talked about in...
Modern graphic editors have long moved away from the old desktop versions and launched their own online services and various mobile applications. For example, we recently reviewed more than 10 full-fledged and self-sufficient design programs for Android; there is similar software for iOS, you can recall vector editor Vectr and much more. Google decided to keep up with these trends and launched its online web application for drawing on browser pages - Canvas Chrome. Despite...
A watermark is a transparent logo or emblem on images and photographs. Designers and photographers place them on their work to protect copyright. You may also have come across them in various online stores. Today we’ll look at the Visual Watermark program for quickly and easily adding watermarks to photos.
This task arises when, for example, you want to transfer your ancient family photo collection to digital format by saving the pictures on your computer or reprinting them. Unfortunately, over time, the original version of the image may deteriorate: bends, abrasions, cracks and other artifacts appear. In general, this cannot be done without additional processing. Theoretically, many graphic editors can be used as a program for restoring photos, but to perform this work you will need special...
For a long time tools for creating/editing vector graphics were difficult to access for webmasters, bloggers and content marketers. Firstly, special software was often expensive, and secondly, it was too complex for ordinary users (not designers). Now the situation is better - you can find different analogues of Illustrator in the public domain, not much inferior to the original. We’ll talk about one of them today - the Vectr program. Use this free vector editor on a regular PC or…
We've discussed Wordpress mostly in terms of templates, but the system has another big advantage: modules. Because of them, many webmasters who make money online choose this CMS to realize their ideas. Today we’ll talk about the Wp-Loaner plugin, which will be useful for those who deal with credit affiliate programs in the CPA (Cost Per Action) niche. Let's briefly look at the capabilities of the tool and customize the appearance of the data displayed in it. If…
There are several interesting alternative programs to Photoshop for processing photos on a computer. They make it easy to edit photos, giving them uniqueness and individuality, just like using professional software. Today we will tell you about one of these solutions called PhotoMASTER. The main advantages of the program over Photoshop: The most simple / user-friendly interface. You don't need professional skills in working with graphic editors. If anything is unclear, the official website has free training...
Android is the most popular mobile OS, which is installed on millions of devices around the world. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are quite a lot of games, utilities, applications for it, including various Android Apps for designers. You can use them on average Chinese smartphones, top devices by type Google Pixel 2 XL or Samsung tablets with S Pen. This article will be a kind of logical continuation of the selection...
Software plays an important role in creating web designs. Maybe this is why various applications are gaining more and more popularity lately. Which ones are the best? Let's find out.
Create websites for desktops, phones and tablets with these free programs web design.
Make your own professional website in minutes
CoffeeCup's paid products are excellent, but CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor is just as great. It combines coding and WYSIWYG design. And all this in an app that's fast, easy to learn, and can create great websites.
Of course, it lacks some features like its siblings. For example, such as Color Schemer and built-in FTP upload, were intended for paid products. However, unlike some of its competitors, the app is constantly evolving to stay up to date.
If you're looking for an app to "do it all" on Windows, then CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor is worth a look.
Powerful editor with additional tools for web developers
The PSPad may not be sexy, but it's pretty good. Inside the defiantly old school Windows interface- a powerful editor for the programmer that includes an FTP client for server editing, templates for common languages such as HTML, PHP and VBScript and many others, as well as multiple document editing and macros that can be used to create and run commonly used codes .
This app is not for people who prefer a WYSIWYG interface, but if you are an experienced coder, then this is a great tool for you.
Create stunning HTML5 animations for your website
The name Google Web Designer is a little misleading because it is actually an advertising and animation designer. It is best suited for people who need to create cross-platform animated elements that can then be used in another program. If you are one of these people, then you will undoubtedly like a lot, including integration with Google Drive, 3D objects, layers and events.
It is worth noting that the application is capable of producing truly impressive results.
An old website builder, but still a favorite
We have a bit of a soft spot for KompoZer, which is a fork of Mozilla created by Firefox. But if Firefox has been in constant development since its very first day, then KompoZer has not been updated since 2010.
This serious problem, because the languages used on the Internet have not stood still. While it is still possible to create websites in KompoZer, we do think there are much easier and better ways to do it. For example, the BlueGriffon app, which is also based on Firefox and offers a more modern approach. However, unlike KompoZer, BlueGriffon requires a paid license for its most useful features.
Text-based editor for more experienced web developers
The app will be overkill for beginners, but if you're a seasoned coder, SynWrite is worth a look, and not just because it's small enough to be carried on a modest flash drive.
It is a full-featured code editor with macro recording, plugins, clipboard history, text clips, helpers, color palette, preview, file search and replace. The application has been designed for all types of work from layout creation to programming, and it a good choice for experienced users.
Create responsive websites that look great on desktop and mobile devices
How it works: You select the block type you want, drag it where you want it, and change the default content to suit your requirements. You can easily see how your design will work on desktop computer, smartphone or tablet, and you don't have to use predefined styles if you don't want to.
Another responsive design tool, but be aware of the limitations
Free version TOWeb was created to promote more powerful paid versions program, so as expected, the application has its limitations. You can only create one website and the size limit is 10 MB. The application is quite simple, based on customizable and generally beautiful templates, and supports many languages.
If you can live with limitations free application, TOWeb is decent option for simple sites.
A simple editor that's ideal for creating your first website
We avoided online services in our review as they tend to be aimed at web developers rather than web designers, but Weebly is a little different as it allows you to create the content of your pages using drag and drop.
You also get free hosting and unlimited pages, and although you can't remove Weebly branding, you can pay £5 a month for a starter pack that allows you to use your own Domain name.
A web site builder that can do a lot, but is intimidating for beginners
The dark, dense interface can be a little uninviting for absolute beginners, and it's not as easy to use as other competitors. But there's no doubt that openElement can offer enormous power to more confident designers.
The program does much more than most other WYSIWYG apps, and in the right hands it can do great things. However, we still think the interface is a bit confusing compared to similar useful applications, such as CoffeeCup Free.
Stylish online web builder if you don't mind ads and limited views
Like Weebly, Webflow is an app that is part of the suite paid services. So there are also restrictions on what you can do with it. The free version will not allow you to export HTML/CSS code for use outside of Welblow hosting, your site will contain advertisements, no technical support, except for forum discussions and you are limited to 1000 page views per month.
A good web designer needs to have skills in working with various software tools to develop professional layouts. And this applies not only to graphic editors. In this article we will list the main categories of programs with their main purpose specifically for the purpose of creating a website design.
Raster graphics processing program
This is the most important category of programs that must be mastered sufficiently high level. Ideally, one is enough. Their main purpose is editing graphic files and creating a wide variety of effects. For this class of programs, you should first master the following concepts and actions:
- Harmonious tonal and color correction;
- Photo retouching;
- Crop tool;
- Differences in structure and work with various formats graphics;
- Competent work with filters;
- Using layers.
The most common programs here are:
- Adobe PhotoShop is the absolute leader among graphics programs of this kind. However, it requires quite large amounts of computer resources.
- Paint.net - good alternative Photoshop. Convenient interface, where everything is at hand and the ability to expand it with third-party plugins. Works under Windows.
- GIMP- which stands for “GNU image manipulation program”. This is a long-known cross-platform replacement for Photoshop, also with powerful functionality. There is a version of GIMPShop that is closer to the Photoshop interface.
Vector graphics processing program
Proficiency in this type of program will also be a significant advantage for a web designer. They allow you to create buttons, images, labels and other elements using clipart or from nothing. At the same time, working with vector graphics is fundamentally different from working with raster graphics, so you need to master them separately. To practice, you can create your own business cards, forms or brochures in vector - it will be a useful benefit to learn the editor. The following skills are required:
- Working with graphic objects: overlaying them, grouping them, creating unusual shapes;
- Skills in working with curves and curve nodes;
- Mastery of guides and working with mesh;
- Understanding color models - RGB, HSB, CMYK
- Ability to place text on any curve;
- Mastery of effects;
- Gradients and fills, including fractal ones.
The main representatives of this class of programs are Corel DRAW and Adobe Illustrator. They are approximately equal in their capabilities and use the latest advances in vector graphics. However, both of these programs are quite heavy. More easy option is Corel Xara, but the ease comes at the cost of not being able to perform some effects and commands.
Web browsers
These are our usual browsers. There are currently quite a lot of them and there really is plenty to choose from. In the standard set of the most popular operating room Windows systems Browser included Internet Explorer , however, it is considered far from ideal and most Internet users prefer to install other products. It’s hard to say which one is better - all modern browsers contain many useful tools and functions, but the most popular are Google Chrome and Mozilla FireFox. For a designer, they will be needed not only for surfing the Internet in order to find images for the site. They have a special tool for inspecting web page elements - Firebug, which provides a lot of useful information about the structure of the site.
Simple text editor
If your goal is not just to learn how to draw layouts, but also to program them to create a full-fledged website, then you will need knowledge of HTML and CSS layout. Familiarization with at least their basics will be a big plus for understanding the structure of sites. To do this, you can use the most a simple editor with backlight HTML tags - NotePad++.
Text recognition programs
Quite often, text is presented as a picture, but this is not such a big problem when you have a text recognition tool at hand. Here we can recommend using FineReader, if possible the latest version.
Some special programs
Some effects or actions cannot or are very difficult to perform in the listed programs, so you will need some additional programs, for example:
- Colormania- a useful and easy tool that allows you to determine the color in one click RGB format any point on the monitor screen. You can also use a browser extension, such as Eye Dropper for Chrome.
- Adobe Flash- a well-known tool for creating banners and other animations for websites, for example, interactive buttons, cartoon characters and many other things.
- Ruler - allows you to measure the size of any elements you need. Software solutions there are many, for example SPRuler, Code-V Ruler. You can also use a similar browser extension such as MeasureIt (Coogle Chrome).
- GIF Animator- simple program to create animated images in GIF format. Although this work can be done in Photoshop.
As you gain experience, you will develop your favorite and familiar tools for work. This is only a recommended list for use. There is no need to install them all at once. To get started, it’s enough to have one of the visual editors and a browser, but start to thoroughly study the possibilities and master practical work.
Applications have revolutionized the way we approach computers and what they can do for us. They help with your end-to-end management, and over time you may discover how difficult it is to get by without your handy app that gives you necessary information. As a web designer, an application can be a very beneficial tool and help you achieve more in a short period of time.
Lately, a lot of people have developed amazing apps that act as resources to help simplify the web design process and provide practical solutions.
In this article, we will tell you about the most amazing apps that web designers should pay attention to.
It's highly likely that you'll be looking for something to create applications that are neat and simple. Blocs was designed specifically for designers using Mac system. The main benefit of using this app is that you save yourself the hassle of remembering or understanding coding when working on a website. If you have a website that is static, you need blocks to ensure that you get the best quality from the application.
If you're designing a website using vibrant colors, you'll find that with ColorPic you can get the exact type of color you need. For example, as a designer, you may be required to come up with a website with just one element - a logo. Using this application, you will be able to extract the maximum information from this logo, as well as create a website that will be unified and a reflection of the primary element.
When you want the best of both worlds, Codepen is the perfect app for you to try. It allows you to do front-end development, which can also be called a playground. Plus, you can access a code editor that has incredible support from a lot of people. Having both these features increases its functionality for use. Advanced coders will appreciate having access to all the techniques they can explore with ease.
Taking into account the changes in the environment and customer behavior, Pixate is an application that is specially suitable for those who are looking for something for mobile development. It works great on both Android and iOS devices. Additionally, the app can be used on these devices to create a website, from the very beginning when you start with the design, right until you finish your project. With this application, you can create animations that are quite complex. Agree that it encourages other people to interact with your site once they have visited it.
Sometimes you need to get specific information from the screen, and by capturing it you will get an image with much more information than you actually need. Using this application, you will be able to select a specific area on the screen, so that it will be possible to get the exact information that you need. Once you view the image, it will be moved to the clipboard so you can easily access it whenever you need it. You can store dozens of such images. Additional feature of this application are the widgets it contains that can transform any design.
The most powerful marketing and communication tool on the Internet is email. When creating websites, you can ask people to follow you so you can get in touch with Email or newsletters via mailing list. This app will help you create amazing email templates. They can be customized however you want and are suitable for those who don't have any programming knowledge. Being a public suite, you have the added benefit of being able to access this amazing app for free.
Having Adobe family of products is a must for any designer, and for the most part, they are used on a desktop computer during the design process. When do you want to use your mobile device For design purposes, you need to install this application. It gives you the ability to come up with layouts using your iPad. Alternatively, you can use the application to make a drawing, which will then be converted into a clean and crisp graphic image. To enhance your design, you can use the different assets available, which include different fonts, colors, and images. You can also pull what you need from your creative cloud.
When you use CSS files in your design, you may notice a large number of files that are created with each element you come up with. Many of these files are unnecessary, but they accumulate and can cause problems with your system. This application will go through all your CSS files, detecting CSS selectors. When this happens, it will be created special file, designed to help you get rid of all the files that are considered unnecessary. This way, you will find that your system is much more efficient and you can complete your tasks with ease.
Applications are an excellent choice that allow you to save significant time in various processes work. Let's face it, web design can be time-consuming and requires a significant amount of attention and effort to do well. You can get great results using the most best apps presented in this article. Plus, they will help transform your entire design experience, making it much easier.
Want to learn how to become a web designer yourself? Or maybe you already have several of your own designs or even, and you would like to take your skills to a new advanced level? Then you are moving in the right direction right now, since the topic of the article is “Web design, where to start” and in it we will look in detail at all the necessary stages of preparing a web designer and will help you become a web designer yourself, with a little diligence and creativity.
One article, of course, cannot tell you how to become a web designer and talk about all the skills necessary tools and technologies you need to master on the way to your dream job. If you think that the path will be simple and fast, then I must disappoint you. Working as a web designer is about constant self-improvement, development and the pursuit of new trends and tendencies. But, despite all the professional difficulties, learning and gaining new knowledge is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this work.
First, a short lyrical digression for designers who accidentally wandered into reading this article. " I do web design", you've probably said this phrase to someone more than once and felt cold fear when they answered you something like: " Cool! Can you teach me how to do this? How to become a web designer from scratch?"Many people just assume they'll click a mouse, drag a couple of icons onto the screen, and the design is done. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. So, the next time someone asks you how to design websites, just show them this article.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to MotoCMS's guide for beginner designers. Grab your mice and sit back at your keyboard, this is going to be a long post. It's not necessary to brew coffee, but it's worth it.
Who is this article about web design for?
This article is intended for everyone who is wondering “How to become a web designer on your own?” It will also be useful for people who want to start creating websites and have some experience in design and . Everything will be very accessible and step by step. The article is designed for the fact that you do not have any special artistic or technical education, no coding skills at all, and no experience in the web design industry.
Requirements for beginning web designers
The “minimum requirements” for people who are thinking about becoming a web designer and want to create their first website are quite simple. If you know what folders are, graphic text files, you can start.
However, although getting started is simple, creating a really good website is a real art. There are many skills that you will need to learn. You will need to learn about color theory, graphic hierarchy of elements, fonts, and general website organization.
Also, you will need knowledge of the main coding languages, namely HTML and CSS, we'll talk about this too.
Then you might want to learn some basic JavaScript programming and figure out how to use it to manage different parts of your site. And desperate strikers who want to dig even further will be able to dive into the systems content management, search engine optimization and marketing.
But you shouldn’t rush into everything at once, skills will come with experience and necessity, I’ll just try to point you in the right direction. And if you have read all the way to this part of the article, then I can safely say “Welcome to the wonderful world of web design, newbie. Be prepared to screw things up repeatedly and don’t forget to have fun!”
How to use this web design guide for beginners
Read it! This will be enough to get started. Make your first, most likely, clumsy website. Go back and read it again. Correct the mistakes. Repeat.
No, you probably don't want to read everything at once. There are many other resources, many different approaches that can be taken. It's okay, but I still recommend reading a little and trying to take the first steps.
Browser design for beginners
You may know that most designers first use graphic editors, and only then give their projects to a coder for layout. Photoshop is the most commonly used tool, but designers also use programs such as Sketch, GIMP, Inkscape And Illustrator.
There's no doubt that you should try a few of them and use the tools that work best for you. However, if you want to create websites, then try to do it right away in their natural habitat - in the browser! Ideally, do this in multiple browsers - because people don't view websites in Photoshop and see them the way you do through a graphics editor interface.
The browser-based workflow has a number of other advantages:
1) You see exactly what you are getting. Even professional mockups don't convey the interactive or animated parts of websites. By creating a browser-based design, you can see exactly how it works.
This is especially true when it comes to responsive design. (For the uninitiated, a responsive or adaptive design is one that displays correctly on different screens and devices, be it mobile phone, tablet, or PC).
2) Browser-based design can make you a better designer. When you know the whole process yourself, you can understand what works and how it works, and prevent yourself from many mistakes. The nightmare of any designer (or layout designer who has to do this) working in, say, Photoshop is the subsequent “stretching” of it onto a live site.
In any case, here are some resources that may be useful when working with graphics editors.
Designing in the browser can change the way you work in many ways and encourage you to learn something new about HTML and CSS. Basically, the more you tinker with dirty code, the better you will understand how websites work. It won't make you an amazing designer; but this is a great start.
Skills you need to become a web designer
If you want to become a professional web designer yourself, you will need some special skills. In this section, we will answer the question “How to become a web designer on your own?” and also focus on the skills needed to actually design and create a website. Of course, you will also need business and communication skills, but that's a slightly different story. So, to become a web designer yourself, you need to know the following.
UX/UI design
User experience design, or UX design, is how the overall user interface will look and function. It's a process, it's a philosophy, and it's big job. A truly good website can only be created by knowing what path a visitor takes on it, and how his behavior changes depending on changes in graphic elements.
More information about this can be found in the article “What is UX/UI design really? »
Aesthetic skills
Aesthetics is a complex thing. It seems like a great color scheme for some people can look completely weird for others. Fonts that look “just right” for you in this place may not be liked by the customer at all. This seems very, very subjective, but still, each of these aspects has its own rules, which we will talk about now.
Font combinations and typography
The Internet is text. These are words. And these words should look amazing. However, there is more to typography than just choosing the right font. This is, first of all, ease of use. It is necessary to properly select and combine font sizes, types and styles in a design to create a graphic hierarchy in the design.
To take you “from A to Z,” I suggest looking through the book “Typography” by Emil Ruder. Reading can be quite long, so for those who want to immediately start practicing, here is a short video on the topic, as well as (this is in case you have already found good example text and would like to identify its font).
Once you've learned the rules of typography, you can try out some fonts for your project. There are actually a lot of good free fonts online, so take a look around.
Many people, including myself, choose their fonts from . Google fonts can be “embedded” into a website, and it's quite convenient. Moreover, you can use ready-made font combinations:
Other similar examples can be found on the Internet.
If you want to create your own Google font pairs, try the "Web Font Combinator". This is a tool that allows you to quickly preview font combinations in real time by changing the font, size, color, line width.
If Google fonts are not enough, then you can look at WebDesignerDepot, Fonts-online, and other sites.
Color theory and color schemes
Color theory has little to do with the technical names of colors. If your client asks for fuchsia but really wants hot pink, the choice is yours. Color theory primarily studies the relationship between color combinations and the emotions of the person who perceives it. This is real science.
To understand the basics of color theory, there are several excellent publications:
Required tools: Adobe Color CC
Remember that color theory is closely related to typography. For example, if the text color is too close to the color of the selected background, it will be difficult to read and visitors will most likely simply pass by that part of the site, or leave it altogether.
Composition and general organization
How to become a web designer without knowing the basics of composition? No way! For me this part is perhaps the most important. After all, you can choose wonderful fonts, an excellent color scheme, and then simply mess with the correct arrangement of blocks, hierarchy and proportions and get “the most disgusting dish of excellent products.”
There are several useful publications on this topic, after which you get it right the first (or almost the first) time.
- Using the Golden Ratio and the Rule of Three in web design
Web design trends
We can talk endlessly about trends in web design. What role do they play? All customers, most likely, before coming to you, have already looked at several examples of cool fashion sites, and perhaps even read a couple of articles with web design trends. Knowing fashion and popular design elements is simply necessary in order to understand what they are asking for and to have something to offer them.
Since trends in web design are constantly changing, there is no point in citing any specific publications as examples. Here I can simply advise you to keep an eye on websites for web designers, here are some good examples:
- www.abduzeedo.com
- behance.net
- noupe.com
- webdesignerwall.com
- flickr.com
- wwwards.com
How to become a web designer: HTML and CSS
HTML It is "Hypertext Markup Language". Every website you've ever looked at is built on HTML. HTML is the language that your browser uses to understand that a site contains text, an image, a link, a video, or other elements. Your browser then translates the code into what you see on your screen.
Another language that in simple words makes the site beautiful, it's called CSS, it stands for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS tells the browser what font the text is set to and what colors are used. CSS, simply put, defines appearance your site (buttons, styles, colors, animation).
Learning these languages on your own, or at least getting a basic understanding of how they work, is quite easy. These are the simplest computer languages. However, they are also quite extensive and can be used in different variations to create stunning designs.
For those who want to start right now, we have selected two good textbooks with detailed lessons.
Once you know the basics, there are a truly amazing number of sites where you can learn more about how to become a web designer and teach yourself programming languages.
Live pouring
Ready to put your website on the Internet? Do you have a domain name (for example: mywebsite.com) and hosting (space on a computer permanently connected to the Internet or online hosting purchased from third-party providers)? Upload your files to your hosting, sit back, relax and...
What to do after launching the site
Correct mistakes and finish what you forgot about
“Oh yes, that’s it... I definitely wanted to fix that.”- It happens to everyone. It is almost inevitable that after launching any website, errors will pop up. And the larger the site, the more likely it is that you missed a mistake or forgot something. For your convenience, here is a fairly detailed checklist:
Collect feedback
You can't improve if you don't know where you made mistakes. Time and experience can teach you this, but others can teach you faster.
When you're trying to become a web designer from scratch and learning on your own, I encourage you to join communities to connect with other designers who can help you and give you professional advice.
How to become a web designer - summary
The article was quite long, but it would have been difficult to fit it all into fewer words, so I would like to congratulate everyone who read to the end and sincerely thank you for your patience. If you want to learn more about web design training, or about specific tools and work strategies, write it in the comments, and we will definitely create more useful materials on the topic. Good luck to all!
And if you are ready to test your skills on a live project, and you need good hosting– as a bonus, you can buy hosting for a year from our partner Inmotion for just $1.
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