Which Programs Do Web Design Professionals Use?
The first thing to consider is getting a code editor that will be able to assist your web designneeds. Having a good understanding of the underlying code used to create a website will give you a much greater flexibility when you produce your websites. The presentational languages I am referring to include JavaScript, CSS and HTML.
As far as the software that most professionals use Dreamweaver by Adobe is by far the most used and well known software for website designers. You will find that Dreamweaver has a lot of features and whilst learning it can be a bit harder than other programs once you get used to it you will see the benefits of this software. Although as far as code editing goes you can achieve most of what you need with simple text editor. You will be able to get the important features covered by a simple and free code editor like Notepad++.
Of course you will also need the ability to edit and optimise photos for use on the web. Again Adobe has Photoshop for some serious editing although you will find that Adobe Fireworks is geared more towards producing web optimised images. It is important to be aware of image sizes when creating web designs as non-optimised images can have a huge effect on the performance of a website. Your alternative here is the open source, which means it’s free, GIMP software.
An FTP program will also come in handy when it comes to uploading your new website or design files to the internet. Dreamweaver already has an FTP client integrated into the software so there are no problems there but an alternative would be FileZilla. FTP clients are not always the easiest to setup but there are plenty of tutorials online that can guide you through this process.
Whilst most industry professionals do rely on the more expensive software programs around you will always be able to find a cheap or free alternative until you reach that level. A good place to start looking is AlternativeTo.net where you can put in any of the high end software that you think you would like to use and find something that performs a similar task. After you get good with your web design software you can start using some SEO or internet marketing skills to get more visitors to see your amazing website design.
