elbowruminations | Graphic Design Trends, Tips and Reviews Graphic Design Trends, Tips and Reviews

You don’t need to be a Graphic or Web Designer to appreciate this list of mostly free tools you can use to transfer files, tracks stats, and interact online. Check out this list and add what’s missing.

Mozy

I personally cannot recommend this online back-up service to more people. Mozy is an easy to install program that syncs your computer or multiple computers to a remote server. With unlimited data transfer for $4.95/mo. and the unlimited peace of mind that comes with knowing all your artwork is safe from disaster is a deal you can’t refuse. And if you do refuse this deal, they have a FREE 2GB storage account as well. How can you refuse free?

Dropbox and Dropio

Both Dropbox and Dropio offer you the ability to share files with other people and users. Dropbox gives you the ability to sync files between multiple computers. I use the free 2GB account on a regular basis as I’m typically working between various work stations around the office. Both are easy to use and offer a great way to get your print ready files to the printer.

Firefox/ColorZilla/Measureit

I’m almost positive that you’ve heard of these extensions for Firefox. Measureit gives you the ability to size up any on-screen object that needs to outfitted with a specific graphic element. Just drag the ruler and take your dimensions to Photoshop. Colorzilla is another useful tool that picks a color off a website for you. Great for matching specific shades.

OpenX

Similar to Google Ad Planner, OpenX is built by a well supported community of open source developers who have created an awesome ad sever for the web environment. Host affiliate ads or paid ads on your site with full control over how often an advertisement displays and to whom it displays. OpenX has been configured to serve ads for our advertising purposes and it comes highly recommended.

Woopra and Click Density

In addition to the mainstay of Analytic world, that being Google Analytics, there are a variety of up and comers that offer stats and behavioral tracking for your websites. Woopra is a free option which offers WordPress implementation through a plug-in. Click Density is another that shows heat map overlays for your sites in an effort to help you discover what content you have is hot and which is not.

Hootsuite

If keeping in touch with tweeps is a priority, check out HootSuite. It’s a Twitter management application that gives you the flexibility to tweet to multiple accounts at once or at a time. You can also track the actions of your followers and create nice looking charts and graphs to put up on your filing cabinet.

TinyChat

Have you been looking for an easy way to video conference or chat with colleagues and clients in a private online environment? Well you’re reading the right post. TinyChat supplies the world with free, disposable online chatrooms. When used carefully, this can be a great tool for video conferencing with a number of people at once. Be forewarned however, that the public chat rooms are unsupervised and can contain some strange and perhaps disturbing behavior.

ProofHQ

Go green, save paper and impress your clients with this online proofing platform. ProofHQ can provide the tools you need to collaborate, revise and approve print proofs or online mock-ups. It’s full of a wide array of functionality that will make you wonder why you didn’t use this service sooner.

What the Font/Font Burner

Met your match with a font that will not be identified? Try uploading it to What the Font. It will detect its distinct characteristics and render a verdict. If this does not provide the desired result you can also post your mystery font to the forum where a number of font enthusiasts will solve the case before you can say “Arial Rounded MT Bold.” Another useful font site is FontBurner which is a service that embeds non web-friendly fonts for easy inclusion on your website.

Icon Finder

If you are on the hunt for an icon, start your search at IconFinder.com. Recently outfitted with a shiny new robot mascot, this site will locate the icon of your dreams in seconds.

Please feel free to make additions to this list in the comments!

Popularity: 25% [?]

The abbreviation FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is a system that enables website owners to upload and delete files easily on web servers. Typically, the website owner downloads ‘client’ software, and uses this to connect to a server, the details of which are most always provided by the host of the site.

However, there are many different FTP client software packages. Some of them are paid, while some of them are free. This list will narrow all the tools down to five which you should really consider using.

FileZilla

FileZilla is one of the most popular FTP clients. One great thing about it is that it’s cross platform, meaning that it is available for a number of operating systems. FileZilla has some cool features, such as “Site Manager”. Site Manager allows you to save all of your FTP details, rather than having to re enter details every time you want to connect to an FTP server. There is also a log shown at the top of the screen, and a transfer queue at the bottom. The transfer queue allows you to see failed and complete transfers, as well as how many files are left to be transferred. Finally, FileZilla has a File and Folder view, which shows the folders of the PC you are using on the left, and the folders of the web server you are connected to on the right. FileZilla was originally started as a class project in 2001, and it has clearly evolved a lot since then.

Notepad++

Notepad++ is a great free source code editor. It has many great features, but one of the lesser known is the fact that you can easily install a plugin which will integrate an FTP client in to the software. The plugin can be downloaded free here. Many other free plugins can be downloaded for Notepad++, all completely free of charge.

FireFTP

FireFTP is an FTP plugin for FireFox. It’s available in over 20 languages, has support for a large number of character sets and has many other features. However, my favourite feature about it is the fact that it can be opened in a tab and you can run it while you’re surfing the net, meaning directories can be in synch without having to have 2 windows open. It is built for seamless integration and is available for all operating systems.

Cyberduck

Cyberduck is a Mac only FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Mosso Cloud Files and Amazon S3 browser. It features a slick interface, with file editing features, as well as a bookmarking system. You can synchronize the bookmarks with your Mac iDisk if you wish, as well. Best of all, it’s open source. A great option for Mac users.

Coffee Cup FTP

Coffee Cup FTP is very similar to FileZilla. What sets it apart however, is the user interface. It’s very friendly and easy to use. With big status panes, as well as a ‘shiny’ feel, it makes for a better experience. It has a very “Apple” feel; works right out of the box.

Dropbox

If you are looking for a great way to share or store files, Dropbox is an easy way to do this. Using software as well as a simple online interface, Dropbox enables you to drag and drop files from the web to your computer and vice versa. It also gives you the ability to store files privately or share them publicly. I use it all the time!

What’s your favourite FTP client or transfer tool? Let us know!

Popularity: 14% [?]