Mar 26
Utility fest!
2004 at 02.50 am posted by Veerle Pieters
Yes, today is utility fest! I came across some great tools today that you might find worthwhile checking out. If you are a web designer and you do a lot of hand coding then Dimensionizer is a "must-have". Dimensionizer is a contextual menu plugin for the MacOS X Finder that allows you to discover the dimensions of virtually any image in a single click. Best of all, you don't even have to remember the dimensions to use them.
Just select the menu item representing an image, and Dimensionizer will copy the image dimensions to the clipboard. This cool tool is made by a friend and member of my blog, Travis Cripps who is the founder of SuperFly Software. Very nice job Travis and thanks for giving me the scoop! :-) It is free, but if you like it a lot, throw some donation his side so he gets motivated to start building other great tools.
xScope
Now that we're talking "measurements", here's a tip I got from another friend and member of my blog Serge. An app that a designer should have is a xScope from the makers of IconBuilder, CanyBar, Pixadex,... This app costs you only US$14,95 and gives you a set of 6 tools hat will help any designer do their job faster and produce more accurate results:
- Rulers - On-screen rulers that measure distances and angles
- Screens - A dynamic view of smaller screen sizes and web browser content areas
- Loupe - A magnifying glass that gives you a close-up view of your work
- Guides - Markers for precise horizontal and vertical alignment
- Frames - Markers for precise width, height & origin alignment
- Crosshair - Finds the exact location on screen
Since you all know I'm a Mac user I'm not really into tools like this for Windows, but maybe one of you know a few similar apps on the web. If you do, don't hesitate to share them with us.
7served
1
I have got another one for you: Quicksilver, all the info here: http://whatdoiknow.org/archives/001601.shtml
2
I have to thank you for this post, the Dimensionizer is just what I need. I love your blog btw.
3
Awwww… All I know of is the Screen Magnifier tool that comes with Windows XP. (I have it in my Quick Launch. It’s located here: %SystemRoot%system32magnify.exe)
Otherwise, no dice for us Windows users…
4
Thanks for the nice recommendation, Veerle. :)
Dimensionizer is a useful tool. I hope it will help make life a little easier for fellow web designers and developers. If you hand code, I think it will.
I also second the recommendation for xScope. Cool stuff, indeed.
5
I spotted Dimensinizer this morning too, and gave it a try… awesome! It’s so simple and out of the way, as the best ideas always are.
And I gave Quicksilver a try this weekend. Just as good! The email feature is a little touchy (I accidentally sent a file to the first person in my address book with no real warning) but other than that, it’s pretty nice…
6
Dimensionizer is a great and functional tool! Nice tip.
Any Dutch and or Flemish mebers considering taking Quicksilver for a testdrive, perhaps it is nice to read this: http://www.macosx.nl/?p=showarticle&art_id=1358
I really like the Clipboard history of QS, by the way.
7
@Dion, Quicksilver is super cool, thanks! I’m running it ;-) Thanks for this great tip.