Web Design Software List
Web design softwares are a unique software that allows the user to create a website and maintain it’s development so the site remains functional.
Here is a list of some amazing software to choose from
You can build websites using any of dozens of tools—some that run online, some that run on your local computer, some that run partly online, partly on your machine—but Adobe Dreamweaver 2020 stands alone as the only site-building app that’s just as suitable for individual designers as it for enterprise-scale projects.
It’s just as helpful when you build a site by writing actual code as it is when work in WYSIWYG graphic layout that hides all the code until you need it.
The app gets the job done for individual users or teams where different team members have different levels of freedom to add or change content, and of course it works smoothly with Adobe’s arsenal of graphics apps and web services.
Like all other Adobe apps, it comes in virtually identical Mac and Windows versions, and it’s available either through a Dreamweaver-only paid subscription ($20.99 per month with 1-year commitment, $31.49 month-by-month, or $239.88 for one year prepaid) or as part of the full Creative Cloud suite ($52.99 per month), which gets you Photoshop, Illustrator, and all the other creative software and apps.
Both the individual app and the full suite subscription come with 100GB of cloud storage.
Responsive Site Design
Dreamweaver excels at creating multiplatform (responsive) websites that work equally well on a phone, tablet, or computer.
Any private or corporate web designer looking to replace an ancient desktop- or laptop-style website with a modern multiplatform site will find Dreamweaver the obvious first choice.
I’ll describe some alternatives later in this story, but none of them comes close to Dreamweaver in terms of power and ease.
After more than 20 years of evolution, Dreamweaver still has some awkward spots where it can’t decide whether it’s a tool for advanced coders or for visually oriented designers, but these are easy for serious users to work around—and Adobe’s subscription pricing means that only serious users are likely to have it.
Dreamweaver isn’t cheap, but for professional-level web design, it repays the price in power and convenience. Adobe’s subscription model means you get periodic feature updates at no extra cost.
Adobe wants you to work with Adobe tools, so it’s easy to use Photoshop and Illustrator to edit images or Premiere Pro and Audition for video and sound files.
You can also use Photoshop to create a mock-up of what you want your site to look like and then use Dreamweaver’s Extract menu to drag elements from the Photoshop file into your web pages.
But Dreamweaver also works with just about any third-party site-building tool that you might want to use. For example, you can use Dreamweaver to design and edit sites managed by WordPress, Joomla!, or Drupal, or you can create a Git repository and use it keep track of changes in your site.
Dreamweaver uses the Bootstrap framework for responsive sites, and by default uses the latest Bootstrap version, 4.3.1, though the earlier 3.4.1 version is still built-in if you want to continue using that.
Dreamweaver guides you through upgrading sites based on the earlier version and tries to resolve incompatiblity hiccups by creating new CSS and JavaScript files that use the latest standard.
Bootstrap’s responsive sites are mobile-first, meaning that the Bootstrap framework is mostly optimized for phones or tablets, but Adobe’s built-in Bootstrap templates are well-engineered enough to look equally good on desktops and phones.
The Dreamweaver Experience
First-time users face a steep learning curve, but if you’re familiar with Photoshop or Illustrator, you should be able to climb it fairly quickly.
If like me, you get bewildered searching for some obscure feature, the Help menu can guide you to exactly the menu item you need, even when it’s deep in the menu structure.
Dreamweaver uses the standard Adobe interface, a main editing window surrounded by a toolbar on the left and multi-tabbed information panels on the right.
Unless you’re an expert coder who won’t need all the onscreen tools and panels, don’t even think of using Dreamweaver on a small laptop. This app needs all the screen real-estate you can give it.
PROS
Flexible and powerful.
Full support for third-party platforms.
Built-in responsive design support.
Tight integration with other Adobe apps.
Full IDE-style code editor with live WYSIWYG editing.
Real-time preview.
CONS
Steep first-time learning curve and a complex interface.
Undo feature doesn’t work in all contexts.
Promoted as having the “fastest graphic rendering engine” on the market, Xara Designer Pro offers a stable and fast workflow that enables illustrators to transform shapes from flat 2D items to eye-catching 3D designs in seconds.Change RGB lighting on your 3D objects Maya/3DS Max-style instantly. It only helps that the fast rendering is complimented by a minimalistic UI and a brilliant toolkit and property layout.
User Interface – 90%
Ease of Use – 90%
Features – 100%
Stability – 100%
Price – 80%
Xara has updated their illustration and design software program Designer Pro to version X (16). Regarded as the app with the “world’s fastest graphics rendering engine” , we took a look at the latest version to see if Xara has evolved or devolved over the years.
Xara is an international company founded in 1981,with headquarters in Berlin and a development center in London.
It’s first iteration of Xara was released for the Windows platform in early 1994 as Xara Studio.
After quite a few name changes (Artworks, Xara Studio, CorelXara, Xara X, Xara Xtreme Pro) and a couple of license acquisitions (from Corel to MAGIX) – the seasoned design software suite as come of age as Xara Designer Pro X3 (as in version 13).
The software is also now a part of the MAGIX suite of products, and offers a whole slew of features in one sleek package of software – that will put the Adobe to shame.
Amazingly, there is even a Linux version- known as Xara Xtreme LX available.
The Pen,Draw and Bezier-Curve Tools are intelligent and intuitive.
Tools that made Photoshop a household name, like Magnetic Lasso and Object Erase Tool are a clicks away.
Many more intensive bitmap and photo editing tools are available, if you’re into that soft of thing.
Transform,Warp,Transform, or add Bezels to your shapes/text/objects – even 3D to your designs in seconds.
To help keep the program bloat-free,the installation process quick and your Hard Drive clutter-less, all of the extra content is available through the Online Content Catalog.
And boy, is it quite a collection. Everything from your usual bland symbols like Arrows, email envelopes to social media brand icons to the unusual like Amazon and PayPal Cart Widgets.
There are also contact forms, even full blown website templates!
Designer Pro is technically at version 16, though Xara stopped keeping track at 13 (called Designer Pro X3). This version is simply referred to as Designer Pro X.
It comes at $299.99, with a year of free updates from the date of registration.
Illustration, photo editing, desktop publishing and document creation, web graphics and websites are all possible within one app, and it all comes in a slim – well coded program that makes you wonder why others like CorelDRAW and Adobe Creative Suite feels so slow and bloated.
There is simply no reason why Xara Designer Pro X isn’t more popular of a design program, it’s basically Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, and Dreamweaver in one package.
It’s even compatible with PS plug-ins. My guess is Xara is a UK based company, and the partnership with MAGIX was done in-part to help with awareness in the US market.
Here’s to my desire to see them succeed in this endeavor, because Designer Pro X is simply too good of a program to be ignored.
