Useful Applications

I have listed here several applications that I use in my work, so they come with my recommendation. If you find something better, or that you think just has to be added to the list, let me know. Some of these applications are free, but others cost money. If I use a program in my work, I pay for it—so should you.

FTP Program

An application that will allow you to connect to a site via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). You may then use the program to drag and drop files to and from the site. I recommend:

SmartFTP: www.smartftp.com

Screen Ruler

This tool places a ruler on your screen. The ruler uses pixels as its measuring unit. Size and place the ruler over objects on-screen to measure their size. I recommend:

JR Screen Ruler: www.spadixbd.com/freetools/jruler.htm

Calipers

Similar to a screen ruler, this caliper program provides easy sliding adjustments to measure the exact size of on-screen objects. I recommend:

Screen Calipers: www.iconico.com/caliper/index.asp

Thumbnail Creator

Web designers often need to create small versions of large images, called thumbnails. This application will handle large collections of images using a batch process. It offers a wizard style interface that makes the process easy to handle. I recommend:

Batch Thumbs: www.harmware.com/bThumbs.htm

Eyedropper

This type of program is used to tell you the color of the pixel over which your mouse pointer is hovering. It’s very useful to pick up colors from images you did not create, but need to color-match. I recommend:

EyeDropper: eyedropper.inetia.com/HTML/eng/default.asp

Color Picker

This color picker program (Cpick) offers more features that the eyedropper, and I tend to us it most of the time now instead.

CPick: home.hccnet.nl/s.j.francke/software/software.htm

Color Schemer Studio

This wonderful shareware tool (it does cost money, but not very much) helps you to create coordinated color schemes very easily. A wonderful way of choosing colors that match other colors.

Color Schemer Studio: www.colorschemer.com

General Text Editor

Notepad is your everyday text editor, but I don’t like it very much. It’s limited in the size of the documents it can open; it can only open one document at a time, and so on. I have replaced my Notepad with a much better application that is an excellent text editor. Its free version is somewhat limited, but quite adequate. However, the full version is well worth the small cost! I recommend:

EditPad: www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html

Screen Capture

Sometimes you just need to capture the image on your screen. It's useful for a variety of reasons when there's no simple way to just save what you see on the screen.

Gadwin PrintScreen: www.gadwin.com

Icon Editor

Use a program like this one to create program icons. Is also perfect to create the small website icons you see in the address bar and in the Bookmarks menu of a webbrowser.

Snico Edit: www.snidesoft.com

Power Menu

Did you ever just want to make a window stay on top of other windows, but it keeps dropping behind them? Well, this ultra-simple little tool adds this feature and a few others to all windows.

PowerMenu: www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/powermenu/