Online Tools for Web Designers – part 1Web design covers a wide range of areas and the packages designers use can vary. From note editors for hardcore css coders, to Photoshop for image editing amongst a wide range of available packages.

However in recent years websites have sprung up with feature rich services that enable both coders, image creators and others involved in design to save time, whilst also saving on money while working on web design projects.

Web design isn’t just about visual appearance, but also file sizes, image formats and often java libraries amongst other elements that make up a web design. Plus even established websites can often have their designs improved.

This article is split into two and looks at online tools that focus on CSS, be it design, browser compatibility and validation.

If you want to hire a web design firm in the UK, then please get in touch.

A useful online tool that will check your CSS code for errors. However it will also highlight not just errors, but also when you are using older CSS code that has been superseded.

W3C Validator Service

So even templates / themes that load fast without issue in web browsers could have issues worth addressing. It is worth trying to stay updated with the latest css coding practices, but as long as you test your design with modern browsers and platforms, hopefully you will be okay. However the W3C Validator Service could highlight issues you need to urgently address.

Website:

http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

Want to not only be given the code to create some nifty CSS3 effects, but see a live preview? CSS3 Generator allows you to set some basic settings such as colours, pixel size etc and then will output the code and a preview for a decent selection of CSS3 effects.

CSS3 Generator

So next time you want a text shadow, border radius or a transformation code amongst other effects, visit CSS3 Generator to see if it can give you a helping hand.

Website:

http://css3generator.com

This online service takes colour picking to the next level. Before on the blog we’ve covered software and websites that help with choosing the right colours for a site, but Color Scheme Designer has some features I’ve not seen before.

Color Scheme Designer

The ability to choose multiple colours has been presented in a dynamic and clever fashion. Literally within minutes you can create a palette of colours that compliment each other.

Though it is still up to the user to use good judgement as Color Scheme Designer doesn’t correct for bad taste! So as long as you’ve got a good eye for colours, this is a colour picker, not to overlook.

Website:

www.colorschemedesigner.com

To read part two please click on ‘Online Tools for Web Designers – part 2

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